Work
- Life as a Computer Salesman
This is actually the first real work I did after I left
college and as it has been a long time since I attempted to sell
a computer I'm sure my memories of this role are not going to be
great. I mean that in the "I did this job ten years ago so I
honestly cannot remember" way.
I don't think any kind of sales job is for the feint hearted. At
the end of the day you are bringing money into the company that
you work for and if you don't bring that money in then the
company will eventually fail - all companies are there to make
money.
One of the biggest problems I have is that I can be just too
honest when it comes to this kind of thing - generally speaking
I do not class myself as a very good salesperson, although at
the time I thought I was one of the best, rather enjoyed the
work and once we did all start finding out how well we were
doing compared to the other salespeople it did get a little bit
exciting.
The company I worked for thankfully were very good when it came
to selling things and we certainly weren't encouraged to sell
things to people that they didn't need, we weren't encouraged to
"aggressively sell" or jump on customers as soon as they walked
in the door, but at the end of the day we were there for one
main reason and that was to make money for the company - there
was little point in me being paid a salary if I was going to
bring less than that amount back into the company.
So what is life like as a computer salesman? Well the first
thing you need to remember is that everyone out there is looking
for a bargain. People want to pay as little as possible but get
to take home with them as much as possible and although we know
that generally speaking you do indeed get what you pay for this
doesn't put people off. With computers you find that a lot of
people assume that the price quoted in your magazine and
showroom are simply start points for negotiation and that like
with car purchasing they are not going to be paying that figure
at the end of the day - they couldn't really be any more wrong.
There is actually very little profit in computers and you'll
find that like with the large "box shifters" just because the
company you work for custom build PC's to individual needs does
not mean there is much room for negotiation.
Once a
customer realises that there isn't going to be any kind of
significant change in the price for them they will attempt to
hit you with "free upgrades" or "free items" with their
purchases. "Oh go on, you can give me a couple of free ink
cartridges for me new printer" - no we cannot, there is a profit
margin on those that we need to make up for the fact we've
practically given you the printer in the first place. We cannot
simply upgrade your Hard Drive or Double your memory for the
same price as we need to make a profit to stay a company (when I
was in sales a PC on average would carry a 15% profit margin and
that isn't very much at all).
Your next problem in sales
is that if anything goes wrong you are the first port of call
for the customer and if that is an angry person who bought a
computer as a Christmas present for somebody you can imagine the
kind of mood they are in and how reluctant they are to accept
the fact that there is very little you can do about things - let
alone try and get the point across that it really wasn't your
fault that a machine failed to function correctly.
The
majority of the time you really do want to help these people, I
know that the majority of the people I sold to were really nice
people and I wanted to see them again at some point, I wanted
them to recommend me to their friends by name and so when
somebody bought a computer and it didn't work I wanted to bend
over backwards to get it sorted out even if it meant taking a
screw driver to the machine myself and that is when I first
started the transition from Salesperson to Technician.
Good & Bad Points of working in sales
- If you like people
then you get to work facing the public.
- If you like helping
people then any kind of sales job can be extremely rewarding.
- The job can be very rewarding, especially when you know you've
sold someone exactly the right computer or equipment.
- You can
boost relatively low retail pay by working for a company that
pays good commission.
- Everyone wants a bargain - if you find
it difficult to say "no" then don't consider a job in sales.
- People will see you as the first port of call which means you
will get angry customers.
- Many companies will encourage you to
make as much money as possible rather than correctly qualifying
the customers needs.
Just a note about "Qualifying The Customer". I first learnt
about this on my BTec course on Moor Vehicle Technology - we had
to do a module on selling cars and this is where I first heard
what it would be like as a salesperson. I feel that this is
quite an old-school art but one I'd still like to think I could
do now if I was ever thrown back onto the shop floor and asked
to sell computers again. Qualifying the customer is exactly
how it sounds, you listen to what the customer has to say, what
they are planning on doing with the equipment in question and
once you've listened you can then judge what would be the best
piece of equipment to suit their needs. Cost of the item doesn't
come in to play at the moment (unless the customer has mentioned
their absolute budget) and things like largest profit margins or
biggest bonuses to the salesperson shouldn't be going through
your mind. You've simply listened to what the customer needs,
asked a few questions at the technical level they are at and
from that information you know exactly which machine, machines
or equipment will be perfect for this person. In my eyes only
once you've mastered this can you consider yourself a good
salesperson. Sure you won't necessarily make the largest profit
every month, you probably won't be the top salesperson and you
won't be continuously selling the items with the largest bonus
for the salesperson attached to them but at the end of the day
you will feel that the job is a lot more rewarding.
Customers will leave the shop with exactly what they need, not what they
think they need or even worse what a bad salesperson thinks they
need. <Back to Work Information> |