I really think 50 Everyday Wins points should be good enough for sales people the “push the boundaries”.
18 replies (most recent on top)
@wb You’re confusing product expertise with the ability to generate business. Nobody is disputing the value of AEs, Quality, or Customer Service. But having technical knowledge and knowing how to turn that knowledge into revenue are two very different skill sets.
Salespeople don’t simply sit around waiting for customers to call with problems that need solving. They prospect, develop relationships, identify opportunities, navigate complex buying processes, manage distributor channels, negotiate, overcome competitive objections, and ultimately convince customers to spend money.
An AE might know exactly which product is right for an application, but that knowledge doesn’t generate revenue if nobody gets them in front of the customer in the first place.
And yes, salespeople rely on other departments. That’s how organizations work. Engineers rely on manufacturing, Quality relies on operations, and Customer Service relies on logistics. By your logic, everyone is just an administrative assistant coordinating someone else’s work.
Technical expertise helps solve problems. Sales creates and develops commercial opportunities. Both matter, but pretending one replaces the other demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how businesses generate revenue.
And if you think sales is such an easy gig, try building a territory with a quota hanging over your head. The phone isn’t always going to ring
@v3 ok but. AEs have all of the product knowledge and can show customers how to actually use the product...and make sure it's the right product for the application,,not just the closest fit and roll the dice .... Sales reps do grind a lot but they rely heavily on AEs, Quality and Customer Service. What's the right product, is there a history of quality issues, is it in stock, none of those tasks are directly done by sales reps without assistance. So I guess Sales reps are designated admin assistants helping coordinate between their customers and the departments that do the work. And if successful the sales reps get the commission ... great gig.
Is that why management wants science/engineer educated sales reps complimented by cSRs?
While those saying AE’s do most the work. The AE’s are the driver of the support needed for sales to do thier job. The sales people fight and die everyday trying to accomplish anything when thier biggest competition is 3m itself. We make it so hard for our customers to buy its a miracle anything gets done.
Our job is ultimately to supply products.. it doesn’t matter it we have the best. We can never supply. I dont understand why customers would trust us.
Majority of our sales peoples metrics are not aligned to how they get paid. The parts that are aligned affect actual pay minimally.
This does not incentivise salespeople to work hard. They cannot eat what they ki-l.
This “award” will not be a driver for sales people to push. They are more inclined to work hard for actual pay or awards within their divison. Sales people want to make money or be recognized in thier immediate divison.
This is why we seee so many new Buisness development roles. Those people are the ones d-mb enough to push hard at largest customers thinking they will make money, a difference, or even have a future in this company.
@rq
I agree with you. BT is a bad choice for Carlton. They are not able to find people for the award.
BT has his friend as boss who seems to have influence on SR….. who talks and talks. Then you have MK who has no idea but agrees
I know BT made $$ for the company. Is that the only criteria for Carlton. I had attended one his recent technical talks ; it seemed rather underwhelming to be frank. Patent record is not that impressive for a T7 and dude is not know outside 3M. What gives !
@b7 Forget Everyday Wins by points, maybe if you’re lucky the company will give you a rock.
@h0
Confused message.
Just one more year, 3M will take away CTO title. Just SVP like before and move TK back to business. He has to do his dance until then
@g4 That seems to be changing with the new CTO. His townhall tour includes that sales should be technical sales not dependent on AEs. But also watch out. Another key takeaway is they want to continue outsourcing jobs.
AEs do most of the work. They should be getting the sales perks/awards over sales people.
@f2 I'm not sales I'm lab. But I hear about it from our AE's Just more d-mb policy to superficially save money..
Sales people whining about how they don't get to travel anymore...
We have like 5 key accounts that matter, and everyone else can go to Amazon/bCom.
@aa Maybe they could start by allowing sales reps to actually travel to their customers. That might help sales for real! But no, we must cost cut until the company is dead.
Vanguard owns 3M, 43.61 million shares. Conflict of interest? More sales, more money for Vanguard and the C-Suite. And the sales team will do whatever it takes to get the award.
@OP the company won't pay for your performance, but you do get a trinket for your desk.....so it's a win win!
@b7 If only we were allowed to give points anymore, this might be an option.
Why not all of us give BB 50pts each and ask him to leave us alone. LOL.
Current status of the company requires sales to survive. Carlton is getting so common , people like BT getting it. Stop Carlton and give it to business and sales.