From: raolson@cornflower.wpd.sgi.com (Robert Olson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
Subject: Re: make and SGI sales (unrelated)
Keywords: make sccs
Date: 30 Jul 92 16:36:48 GMT
Reply-To: raolson@cornflower.wpd.sgi.com (Robert Olson)
Organization: sgi

In article <1110@shrike.com>, flash@austin.lockheed.com (James W. Melton) writes:
|> 
|> Second topic. Recently, I tried to call my local sales rep. It
|> turns out that he didn't meet his sales quota and SGI let him go.
|> This is a shame, because he was one of the best salesmen I have
|> ever known. He was personally responsible for convincing me that
|> SGI is a reputable company with solid support behind the product.
|> He is a lot less greasy than your typical sales lizard.
|> 
|> The question is: is this normal procedure for SGI? Miss a quota and
|> hit the road? Does this imply anything about SGI's current or
|> future financial picture? I really need a local sales rep. We are
|> in the midst of a pitched evangelism campaign and I can't do SGI's
|> sales job for them. Calling some guy in California won't cut it.
|> What is SGI's policy for local sales reps?
|> 
|> Just curious.

I don't know anything about this specific situation, and wouldn't
comment if I did.  Further, I'm not speaking from any particular
knowledge of SGI Field Sales management practices.

That said, I've had close contact with various sales organizations
over the years, and in general this is the practice throughout the
industry.  There are a lot of reasons for failing to hit quota, and sales
management (just like any other management) will try to be 
understanding about occasional failure.  For example, the economy or
the particular industry (defense?) might be in a slump, and no 
manager likes to get rid of good people for short term reasons.
Another example is spending too much time on evangelism 
campaigns and not enough time tending existing volume customers.
Sales is a profession, just like what the rest of us do, with its own
set of performance standards, things that make resumes look good,
and standard practices.  Many sales reps move from company to
company, taking their existing customer relationships with them.
This motivates them to not burn you in one company.  After all, if
you bought $100K of cars per year from the same guy, you would
get much different treatment at the car dealership than you get
wandering in off the street every 10 years.  But, in the end, sales
people (and sales management) are compensated through 
commissions on the products they sell.  Failure to hit quota hurts
the sales management in the paycheck.  Sometimes the failure
is an inability to apply the standard tools of the trade, such as an
inability to close deals, or an inability to sort through the welter
of tire kickers for the deal that will actually close.  The good sales
guys, just like the good engineers, have an amazing ability to make
their time productive, their customers happy, and their bosses
look good.  Conversely, unsuccessful sales people, just like 
unsuccessful engineers, make their bosses look bad.  We all get
people in our group who are unsuccessful for one reason or another.
The best managers figure it out quickly and deal with the 
situation.  Sales people, by nature, generally have a shorter horizon
than those of us who nature destined for engineering.  Sales 
managers are ex-sales people.  They tend to make decisions about
people faster than engineering managers.  So you tend to see people
move around faster in sales.  I believe this is accepted as part of
being in sales, which generally is a much faster paced profession
than engineering.

Bottom line:  Sales people are measured by their ability to rack up
sales.  Business plans are based on most of them hitting their sales
quotas.  Some consideration is made for "investment" in customer
relations or new industries.  Evidence that you can't measure up
by the standards of your profession mean you should move on.

Again, I don't have any idea if this was your situation.  Just an
attempt to interpret a foreign culture for engineers.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi