Become the kool-aid and let others drink you. Some guy did that a while back and I hear his company has been pretty successful over the years (this is a Jesus thing). A joke, but still . . . . . . yeah, I can't be the only one who inferred that you would be that type. It's not a bad thing. Hell, I've been like that too, especially in roles where I had a personal stake in the thing. That job I was talking about elsewhere in the thread, I was pretty tough on both my employers and on my clients and at times it did hurt the way that things went. I think that this is something a lot of young professionals go through.As kleinbl00 mentioned I generally drink the koolaid while trying to be fully aware that I am drinking koolaid. I think what my boss was trying to tell me, in many more words, was essentially that I need to drink more.
For those of you that know me on Hubski it may also tickle you to know that my boss told me, essentially, that I need to be less of a hardass. "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." (I did actually say "Let me put this in my own words...Don't be a hardass, right?" to her.)
It's important to me to represent myself as accurately as possible on Hubski, and also as honestly. I recognize that not everyone will like that, but it's more important to be true to myself and my opinions, and speak up even if I'm some what asshole-ish, than to bite back the bile - for many years I bit back the bile and I realized that it implied at minimum acceptance if not agreement. What doubly-harms me in work is that I do tend to get passionate about how I spent my time, even if it's not my passion, and as a result I can get very agitated about perceived injustices or law-breaking. I tend to be very black-and-white about financial regulations: either you have broken the law or you haven't - and I don't favor interpretations that are more forgiving, such as "Well we technically broke the law but it didn't actually hurt anyone so it's okay." I'm more like "these fuckers are trying to get away with shit, let's NAIL THEM!" Considering that I am working for a Big Bad Evil Corp., I would rather try to get them in trouble for their transgressions any day over letting them go because technically what they did wasn't harmful. My secret goal is to write student loan reform as I think I'd excel at that but alas, I shall never be a politician.
Right. Well, there's this: The pharma reps I've known have been Barbie and Ken dolls. Nice people, but the ones that actually care whether or not their shoes are Mephistos or Claibornes. The ones that have four different kinds of cologne and wear different ones for different clients. The ones that not only know how to get the good table at Spago, but are very proud of the fact that they have a career path where it's actually an asset. None of them have nose rings. Do I think you could do it? Sure. Do I think it'd kill you on the inside? A little.
I know a lot of pharma reps. It's a crappy job, it pay pretty well but then there is a fast ceiling that you cannot go beyond. Your job is essentially that of a cheerleader. You're not really "selling" anything, but handing out free samples and catering office lunches. Lame. Also, like you mention, it's about looks. Your job has a shelf-life based on how good you look. No kidding. I've known several good looking women that went in to Pharma sales to meet a doctor to marry. They did, it worked. Now, Med-device sales is a totally different ballgame. In Med-Device you can make a shit-ton of money. $250k a year plus. This requires you to really know a device though. I have a friend that sells a special table made for spinal surgery. He has to know the engineering of it etc and he's in the operating room when the surgeries occur for the first few times. This is a cool job imo. That said, the Pharma job requires very little sales experience and the Med Device job requires a lot. Interestingly, most good organizations to sell for won't even consider former Pharma reps. If _refugee_ was serious about getting in to Bus Dev, I would suggest something in her field, i.e. selling software to banking institutions. There are companies that would pay her $80k base, company car etc with rev share that could equate to $50-100k a year depending on how she does. But it's a busy, stressful life with a quota that never goes away or gets smaller. Bus Dev is where the money is, but it's not for the faint of heart. There's never a break and if you don't produce, you are gone.
For the record, I'm perhaps a surprisingly good salesperson. (Good enough to surprise me when I did it, anyway.) However - no, not really serious. But sometimes an idea comes along and I like to think about it for a while. It sounds appealing - even though in reality it's not. And yes, I get uglier the older I get, and I'm well aware you need to be model-pretty to be a pharma rep.
Who would want a job that superficial anyways? And for the record, you are far more beautiful than the women I was referencing in my comment. I have no doubt that you would be wonderful at most things that you set your mind to, sales being no exception.
3 biggest assets for being a good sales professional: 1. Listening skills 2. Not afraid to challenge assumptions 3. Follow up Simple stuff really. Dig the audio in that ad, nice work! I remember those "side kicks." -I have a number of friends that are talented artists that are in advertising/branding.
Hubski: Get the vote out (Seriously, it's the piercings, tattoos, and way-too-liberal/way-too-legally-damning past history that too many people know about, as opposed to my personality itself. Maybe things will change, I mean it's all just hearsay anyway right? In addition I'm not good at playing power games, but that's not really here or there.)