Today the VP gave me the skinny on all the accounts including all the dirt… who got caught sleeping with the staff, who drinks too much and who doesn’t drink. It was an introduction that I don’t think many people would get when starting an new Sales position. The only reason I was privy to this information is that I’m from within the organization and I have a friendship with the VP.
I am wondering if I would benefit more knowing what I now know vs. finding out on my own. When you discover the details of a client first hand you build a deeper memory… however with my current knowledge I can target better and sooner… or…. will I avoid the account the VP told me ‘will have nothing to do with us’ or will I be better off going into a meeting with this account knowing it may be hostile?
What I do know is that that this is the hand I’ve been delt… an it looks like a good one so I wont worry about ‘what would be best’.
The common theme of today is that the past two reps did not have the number of visits (or any visits) that they should have. Lucky for me the territory has slipped and all accounts have lower sales numbers over the past 2 years. Sales is about seeing people and then adjusting to what happens in that meeting… the first step is seeing people.
Part of my plan is to determine who are my A, B and C accounts then figure out how often I should see each. For now it looks like I would be best to see my A accounts twice per quarter or 6-8 times a year, B once a quarter or 3-4 times a year and C 2-3 times a year.
First 90 Days of Outside Sales 