Just a quick shout out that the San Dimas, CA company owned by Anthony Chiapetta is beginning the search for a Sales Manager.  AMC is a managed services provider whose performance in the last 12 months has been remarkable.  Under Anthony’s leadership they have grown tremendously in both revenue and profitability.  Anthony has taken the very bold step of creating a top down sales department.  One of the most prevalent hurdles to real growth of managed services providers is the lack of a dedicated sales force.  Typically the owner is the best and only sales person but unfortunately that model does not seem to scale beyond the $1,000,000-$2,000,000 mark.

This is an aggressive move on AMC’s part.  The Sales Manager will be tasked with building the sales infrastructure, recruiting four sales people, training them and getting them all up to quota and beyond.  This is not something that has been attempted by many MSP’s.

Soooooo…if you are a seasoned sales manager who wishes to work in a company with a phenomenally motivated and positive culture, consider contacting AMC.  No bullies, intimidation, or lameness will be considered.  This is the opportunity for high performing sales managers to finally build their dream team from the ground up.  Could not ask for a better scenario.

Visit http://www.amcsolutions.net/articles1-60/HiringSalesManager to find contact information.  You should be able to find the job posting on the Ladders, Craigslist, and Linkedin shortly.

Best of luck to Anthony and all you looking to take on this role!

Tags: amc, growth, managed services, sales, sales management

Dear Josh,

Work has been great!  I haven’t produced anything lately but I still have a high salary so I can maintain my current lifestyle.  I would like to touch on 5 mistakes that managers make on a daily basis:

Not checking in with me during the day.  I have the freedom to do whatever I want.  Am I working?  Sometimes.  In between lunch and visiting with friends, it’s hard to put in an 8 hour day.

1. Making me work from home.  You pay for an office.  You may think you are saving money by not paying for my mileage to go to the office, but think about how much it is costing you in my lack of production.
2. Making me do the old song and dance of “Lunch & Learns.”  This is so played out.  1-2 people including myself get to enjoy a fabulous lunch at $1,800.00.  The people that come have no intention of buying.  This also takes up over half of my day.  How many of you could take 4 hours off to attend a luncheon?
3. I need my manager to make me use my CRM.  I am lost without it, and am all over the place with following up and setting appointments.  If you don’t keep track of it, why would I.
4. You have a scheduled sales call every Friday, but usually it’s canceled or there is no agenda for the meeting.  I have no idea what to expect therefore why do anything.  I know I can BS you over the phone and you will fall for whatever I am saying.  Again, you don’t ever check up on anything so I know you will not question me about it.

I hope this will help managers out there manage their sale people better.  We need you to care about what we are doing.  We love structure and someone that holds us accountable!  It makes us feel like we are accomplishing something and in the end will help both of us succeed.

Salary Surfer out!

Tags: cold calling, results, salary surfer, sales

Josh,

Guess who’s back…you got it!  It’s been a minute and between cruising to theBahamas, hanging with friends, and getting ready for the holidays, I have been very busy.  I have also been traveling a lot for work.  This has allowed me to gather all types of information for thus blog.

The top 5 ways your sales people can tell that you don’t give a S#@! about them:

1. You get your “juvenile marketing coordinator” to book a room for your traveling sales team.  Stick with a chain you dumb dumbs!  Traveling is bad enough, but at least I want to be cozy on my down time.  No time for resting at the Red Roof Inn…what with the murder scene like room, the prostitution raid, and the bed bugs.  This is a number 1 give a way that you care nothing about my well being.  Oh yeah, and it is also a dead give a way when “management” stays at the Hilton down the street…shhhhhhhhh.

2. Not only do you put me in the Red Roof Inn, but just as I am putting on my snow suit to sleep in to prevent the bed bugs from attacking my manicured skin, guess who walks in…another employee.

Betty Lou: “Are you Salary Surfer?”

SS: “Yes, who are you?”

Betty Lou:  “Betty Lou fromDallasTexasdivision, I guess we are roomies, I’m so excited to start with the company.  Tell me all about it!”

Poor Betty Lou, and poor me!  So now in my downtime, I have to share a room with a woman I’ve never met.  Betty Lou was sweet and nice but I don’t want to hear Betty Lou’s fight’s with her boyfriend in the middle of the night, her latest snoring techniques, and I definitely don’t want to have to tell Betty Lou that it’s ok to light a match after you go to the bathroom!!!  Way to go boss!  You once again just proved how you don’t give a S!@# about me!!!

3. You suggest that I drive to the sales training because it’s cheaper.  6.5 hours later you are calling me and yelling because I am late.  Some friendly advice to all of the owners/managers/higher up’s out there:  MY TIME IS JUST AS VALUABLE AS YOURS.  YOU PAID ME MORE IN MILEAGE THAN MY AIRLINE TICKET WAS, MY TIME WAS WASTED FROM PRODUCING, AND I HELD UP YOU AND EVERY OTHER SALES PERSON’S TIME BECAUSE I WAS LATE.  What college are you always bragging about that you went to again?
4. Of course I want to see your office and bond with the Betty’s Lou’s of the company, but spring for a cleaning service.  “Everyone here has the flu.”  As I look down to see the food stains on the board room table that my arms are resting on and the trash piled up in the corner, I can only imagine how long it will take for me and the rest of your sales team to catch it.  Get me out of this petri dish or get a cleaning service!
5. And finally…I know you don’t give a S#@! about me when we sit in a room for 6 hours with no food, and you are boasting about where you are “treating” us for dinner.  Doctors say you should eat 3 meals a day.  I would settle for 2 you uncompassionate egotistical sweetheart and FYI, the Red Roof Inn doesn’t provide a continental breakfast like the Hilton does!!!

Well that’s all for today, Josh.  Hope you can help these people out.  It’s getting bad out there!

Sincerely,

The Salary Surfer

Tags: cold calling, results, salary surfer, sales people

Happy holidays!!  Had a great last few weeks.  Business is great, have been meeting with some phenomenal companies.  One of the most exciting things going on is that a number of  my clients are taking the bull by the horns and pushing all the chips to the middle of the table by building a TOP DOWN SALES organization.  They have hired phenomenal sales managers who are tasked with building a sales force of a least 4 sales reps.  It’s a BIG BIG SCARY investment but folks, you waste more money on garbage RMM tools that you don’t use or throw out after 18 months.  This is an investment that will provide the growth they have been “hoping” for; and to quote the old man “hope is not a strategy!”

So, on to today’s topic.  Weekly sales meeting.  I see this screwed up all the time.

•  The meeting must be a PILLAR in your and your sales folks week.  NO F’N AROUND…you will be in attendance each and every week.
• The meeting must have an objective…review activity and results and pipeline.
•  The meeting must result in praise and corrective action depending on performance.

Hi…well the MSP Score service is taking off and it’s time to find some permanent callers.   Here’s what I’m looking for?

I have a small phone survey service and need someone to make about 200 phone calls. You will be calling my clients asking them one simple question “based on a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our services to your colleagues?”

The calls take about 1 minute at the most. You’ll record your score and move onto the next one. This will be project work four times a year. Once we establish a stronger client base we will need your service more and more frequently.

Must have a phenomenal phone presence
Must be highly energetic
Must be very kind!
English must be your native languate
Must have the ability to use a phone for up to 8 hours a day for up to two days in a row.
Stay at home moms, I want you! this is a fun project and you can make a good extra couple dollars
If you are a strong user of IT, there are areas for growth

This is fun, easy project. Need to start Monday or Friday

Call JP at 630.779.2414 to get started!

Call me at 630.779.2414

Get your umbrellas folks, it’s about to rain some truth facts…ENJOY

Josh,

I apologize for apologizing in my last blog to you.  I am on my own schedule and will post blogs when I have nothing left to do but, work.  This leads me to my next topic: 5 of my top concerns during my day.

1)      Coffee or any kind of pick-me-up, to not work.  This is very important.  I need to have energy to “not work.”  Picking a pick-me-up is always a double edged sword for me.  I don’t know why I dwell on this, but I figure if I’m going to salary surf I should put money aside should something happen.  $5 a day for a coffee can really add up.  After my coffee run, I like to walk the neighborhood with my dog.  Everyone knows him in the hood, so this walk could take anywhere from a half hour to a full hour.  I consider this kind of work, because at the end of the month when I need to make quota…these are the people I will network through to make this happen.  The streets are mean JP!

2)      Personal phone calls.  Working from home allows me the freedom to take personal phone calls whenever I want.  This could take up to 2 hours of my day.  My sister and I have what is called “gossip’s alert.”  We catch up on our day and tell each other the latest gossip on facebook, twitter, etc.  Facebook Continue reading The Salary Surfer is BACK…not for the faint of heart!

In speaking with some business owners this weekend I heard a lot of whining about why their businesses are flat or dropping.  The first thing these owners choose to do is look for validation from me about “the economy.”  This one amazes me.  Now I’m not economist and can stand here today and tell you that I received a VERY generous B- in my MBA economics courses.  However, I will tell you this; your business sucks because Continue reading Hire a hot sales chick and other idiotic theories

About 3 months ago I began a new venture that serves my passion for Net Promoter Score.  I started MSP Score in an effort to provide the highest level of NPS surveying.  We call your clients on the phone and ask them the Ultimate Question; “Based on a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our services to your colleagues?”  So far we’ve had great success in our surveys.

We have a pretty small sample size, but we can report that in the IT Managed Services industry we’ve seen an average NPS of 32.  The minimum score was a 1 and the highest score was a 62.  Our sample size is so small that it is certainly not even statistically significant (used that word for you Dwain!)

Now we need your help!  If you are an IT MSP we want you to submit your most recent NPS.  We want to be able to report a more relevant industry average with your help.  So….email info@mspscore.com with your Net Promoter Score and we will enter you into a drawing for a free iPad.  You have until noon on September 15, 2011 to submit your score.  On September 16 we will report the average Net Promoter Score and report the winner of the iPad.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to tell us a little about yourself and your company; we’ll get you a little free publicity and post your NPS story on the blog.

Good Luck and thanks for your help! 59MTVYGUJBS9 

Received from the Salary Surf today:

Josh,

Sorry for the delay in getting the top 7 Bonehead Sales Manager list to you…enjoy!

7.  Requiring multiple spreadsheets to be filled out and never getting back to me on what it all meant and never asking for the same information again.  Makes me feel like I’m just here to do your administrative work.

Continue reading Salary Surfer Top 7 Sales Manager Mistakes

Greetings from gorgeous Portland, Oregon.  I’ve just spent an amazing 10 days with my two sons touring Washington and Oregon.  We’ve gone every where from the high deserts of Spokane and the Colville Indian Reservation to the amazingly lush forests of the Oregon Coast.  Aside from 6+ hours of Amtrak delays it has been incredible.

Now let’s get down to business.  I’ve coined a term called Salary Surfers.  I have googled it a couple times and there is nothing on the first couple pages, so I’ll take credit for it until someone shows me otherwise.

A Sales Salary Surfer is a sales person who gets a sales job with a decent salary, never makes a sale, and surfs it until the owner can no longer pay the salary and breaks the wave.  The Salary Surfer then catches another wave and rides it until they break that owner as well.   The surfer can make a whole career out of this and never actually make quota or otherwise contribute to the owner’s business.

Now before you get to riled up about Salary Surfers Continue reading Salary Surfer