Saturday, May 12, 2007
Sometimes I Have A Weird Way Of Making A Living
When I first started in sales, I would get in my car with a customer list and go make sales calls. As the years progressed, technology gave us many more tools to use- cell phones, computers, and pagers. On the front end of my career, customer entertainment was, lunches, dinners , technical dinners with speakers, etc. and golf. Now,the business groups have lost so many members, people don't go to the dinner meetings, putting together a 4some for golf is almost impossible(someone will cancel 'cause of business) and because there is more"team" building in industry along with people being so busy they won't go out to lunch-we bring lunch to them as a group. Earlier this week I had to meet a group from one of my customers and buy drinks and appetizers after work. During work, they don't even get a long enough lunch break to bring in food! Then yesterday, I lugged pop, munchies, and cookies, had a pizza place deliver 14 pizzas to another good customer. I don't mind being nice to good customers, but life sure used to be alot simpler!
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11 comments:
funny... you are now the event planner as well as the salesperson!
Ya times have changed. I have been in sales and marketing my entire career... I still see loads of dinner meetings happening and I actually do have client lunches frequently. I see a difference in that they take their business with them... I may be having lunch with one person, but they have 2 cell phones they are fending and sometimes even a laptop they check or refer to during lunch... I hate not being the center of attention! hehehe
I remember 2 hr lunches (with drinks!)all day golf outings,etc. Now I'm just a wallet with an ass attached!
hear, hear. i'm old enough to remember when theere was *GASP* no Internet. One thing I hate at work is IM. It's as if not one second of your work time belongs to you.
I'm glad you got to feed your customers..bet they felt like actual human beings again, thanks to you
FOURTEEN pizza's? That must be a helluva customer!
bob dylan said it "times they are a changing"
I dread working for a company with IM too! I know I'm going to have it, but I know it's totally going to get on my nerves. Just call me on the phone already!! And you're right, now with cell phones and being able to be reached everywhere, we have less leisure time and more work time cause even when we aren't working, we are! No wonder everyone is so stressed out! :P
Ironically, my uncle who is also in sales just like you was talking about this VERY same thing today.
Such a small world!!
--snow
UrbanV- The trend I see is less talent required, therefore less pay, with computer technology taking up the slack.
DutchBabe- They buy about $400k(USA)from us a year. You bet they get pizza!
DogB- Change is funny-If it's your idea, it's fun! If it's being done to you, it ain't!
Snow- I didn't even touch on how
we can be tracked today! Cameras everywhere, GPS w/out your knowlege in a lease vehicle, Cell phone tracability, etc. Orwells' "1984"? We're livin' it!
looking back is always deadly. we think life was simple then but then we used to think life was simple even further back.
we need a time machine...
what?! why can't 14 pizzas be delivered to ME?!
PIZZA NO salad!
I think work has gotten to were even your formerly free time is work time. I can understand being on call 24 hours if you are a doctor, but does a low level executive need to be on call for the widget factory. Yet, it seems to happen more and more.
When I have looked for jobs, I always avoid the "must be willing to work overtime" salary positions. I want my free time.
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