Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sales

Tell me about your sales engineer/field support job

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:07:40 -0800

After 12 or so unhappy years in the tech world, I'm looking for a career that is more people oriented. Wondering if sales engineering might be the way to go, and if so if I have the right skill set. Loved, loved, loved cs school, but never really found my career niche. By many perspectives I've created a great situation for myself - I work part time as a freelance software developer, and part time as a musician. So I should be happy, but....I think I may be ready to do something other than software development, and from trying to figure out what's missing, I know my next move needs to involve more interaction with people. I'm exploring some complete 360 career switches, but it'd be great to find an enjoyable/profitable way to leverage my tech experience.

I've seen sales engineering mentioned as a tech job that requires people skills. I think I've got the people skills, and I definitely need to do something where I'm problem solving. But I'm not sure I've got the tech skills. I look at the posting on job boards and frankly, my eyes glaze over, I can't make heads or tails of most of the job descriptions. Mostly I've built web/database applications (various languages), but I don't have a lot of experience in networking or systems admin, electrical engineering, I have little experience with enterprise systems like SAP, Salesforce, etc. The only remote experience I've had with sale engineering was when I was first out of school and worked for a medical device company and did some installations of our equipment in hospitals (tagging along so I could see how it was actually being used).

I would love to hear about your sales/support engineering position - what industry you are in, what you do, what skills you needed, etc. Double points if you live a distance away (several hours) from a large metropolis, or if you've managed to work only part time (I recognize I may have to give that part of my lifestyle up for a more rewarding career).

anon since I'd rather my coworkers not know I'm looking to move on

How to sell a rare and possibly valuable manuscript?

broadway bill — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:08:56 -0800

I have come into possession of a handwritten manuscript by Cecil Day-Lewis, noted British author and poet (and father of Daniel Day Lewis). I have been asked to determine the value of the manuscript, and sell it. It was inherited by a family friend, who wants rid of it. Aside from contacting rare book people (which I have done/am still doing) do any mefites have ideas on how to get the most for it?? The manuscript is handwritten, in amazing condition, and appears to be complete. It is apparently the manuscript to his young adult novel titled The Otterbury Incident, which was published in 1948. I myself am the progeny of a noted literary talent, and can not help but think that if I were Daniel Day-Lewis, I might be interested in the thing myself. Is that an insane idea? Is it even more insane to attempt to contact DDL about all of this? And, if one were to attempt to contact someone in his position, how would it be done? Will I come off as a horrible, leeching vampire if I do that?

What metrics are sales professionals guided by?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:27:00 -0800

What metrics are sales professionals guided by? Working with my sales manager to help redefine how inside and outside salespeople should be compensated and reviewed.

Everything from leadership to new accounts to call metrics to closed business... how does your business (or your competitors) judge the success of your sales force?

[Also, if you have any articles of interest or website recommendations, it would be just as valuable.]

How should we pay our web ad rep?

chocolatepeanutbuttercup — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:08:04 -0800

How should we pay our web ad rep? We (partner and I) have got a local arts website that is beginning to do well in terms of readership. We're finally at the point where we want to bring on someone to sell ads.

We've got a good candidate and we're ready to start negotiating their payment.

We're thinking of a small flat fee plus a commission, but don't know how to balance them. We want to be fair - don't want to cheat but don't want to give away the store.

Any advice, anecdotes and/or resources are welcome.

Thanks!

Money + Art = Profit?

kathrineg — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:24:48 -0800

Best way for a hobbyist photographer to sell prints? In NYC. Should I go hang out at Union Square with some prints? Somewhere online? Should I have a website? Should I make editions and number them?

How much of a profit should I be expecting from each piece?

Should I offer to take photographs of people? Is there any money in artsy/impressionistic photography on commission?

My apartment has a great print and two people have offered to buy a print of the same photo (for real, not out of politeness). So I'm thinking I have a decent opportunity to make a little cash from a wider audience if I hustle a little bit.

Cheers, and thanks.

I hate my job, and I don't know what to switch to... how screwed am I?

SansPoint — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:48:09 -0800

I need a new job, and I need one by the end of the year, because I'm very close to walking out of the one I have now. Help me, hive mind, as I'm at my wits end. What the hell can I do that's in Philadelphia, doesn't require a car, isn't sales, and pays around $30k? If you check my previous questions, you'll see that I've asked this thing before. At this point, though, it's getting dire. My needs are pretty damn specific, w/r/t pay, too, as I have student loans and other debt out the wazoo, as well as a $750/mo lease. I don't want to recap the ways my current job makes me hate myself and my life. I just want something else.

This is my résumé. I don't have a lot of skills. I've worked in tele-sales in some form or another for my entire professional life, and I hate it. I loathe it, I despise it. I hate cold-calling, I hate trying to convince people to buy something, give money, or accept a call from someone else, at least over the phone. I hate interrupting people, I hate being hung-up on, and I hate being brushed off. I need something else to maintain my sanity.

Thing is, I've officially run out of ideas as to what to search for. I thought I could move to a career in development for non-profits or performing arts, which Philly has no shortage of, but I can't even get an interview. I suspect this is because tele-fundraising has as much to do with proper development as LOGO has to do with programming in Assembler.

I'm barely making enough money. I tried going back to my second job doing tele-fundraising, but I lasted a week before illness sidelined me. I'm barely well enough to do my day job, and that's not paying enough because I'm not making my goal.

Please, please, PLEASE do not suggest volunteering, unpaid internships, or anything that will reduce my already poor income. Ways I can get better at my current, shitty job would be useful, but I don't want to do sales any more. I never wanted to.

So, I'm officially at my wit's end. Help me, Metafilter, as I'm totally out of ideas.

Hiring marketing professional for freelance business

The Dutchman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:28:25 -0800

I am a freelancer in a sub-genre of graphic design. In a bid to get more clients, I'm attempting (through Craigslist) to hire a marketing professional (or professionals). My general idea is that they would work to get me more clients, and I would give them a percentage of sales resulting from my work with those clients. My question here is what the specifics of the deal should be. My initial thought was 15% of income for life on the clients they bring me. Does that sound reasonable? Too much? Too little? The wrong way to go about it entirely? I really like the commission model, at least for now, because I don't have money to lay out up front and I like that we both benefit or both don't. Is there any kind of standard for this kind of relationship?

Do online companies need toll free numbers?

ckohrman — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:14:20 -0800

Do online companies need 800 numbers if most of their sales are online from their website?

What should my counter offer for a used car be?

FairlyFarley — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:51:40 -0800

I'm in the middle of negotiating with a dealer for a used car. I need to know what a good counter offer would be and how many offers I should be expected to make. I know I want a used toyota tacoma truck. I found one locally on the internet. I really want to buy it, however I don't want to go into the dealer yet and get milked so I'm communicating with a salesman from the dealer through e-mail.

The truck was listed for $11,700. I sent an e-mail expressing my interest and also my findings that kelly blue book and edmunds list the value of the vehicle at $8,100 and $8,300 respectivly and that "this amout was closer to the amout of the load I've been approved for" without coming out and making an offer.

I have been approved for a loan for up to the whole asking price.

The dealer e-mailed me back saying they "taked with the boss" and will be willing to sell the vehicle for $10,800.

What would be a reasonable counter offer? And how many counter offers should I be expected to go through? Is there some magic percentage that they are allowed to go down? What's the lowest I can offer and still be taken seriously?

I want this truck, but I don't want to feel like I got a bad deal.

My boss can't keep a promise or make a commitment

4Lnqvv — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:32:31 -0800

How do I politely get my boss to follow through and keep promises he makes to my customers? I have begun a new sales position with a new company. The new boss seemed to be a great guy, smart and creative. Only one problem, he does not follow through on his promises to clients.

He seems to say "yes" to anything asked of him but whether or not he follows through is another matter. "Yes" seems to really mean "maybe".

He does not commit to anything in writing. He does not respond to follow up emails regarding unkept promises. If I confront him nicely on the phone or in person and he tells me what I want to hear then does not follow through.

He shouldn't be contacting customers directly. That is my job, but he constantly butts in, makes his promises and leaves me holding the bag.

The matter has already been discussed with his new superior and his superior says he has to give the guy a chance to improve. He is not improving and I am constantly left covering for him and looking like a fool.

He seems to be afraid of commitments. He seems to be afraid to rock the boat and be assertive to win support from above for the sales team. He seems to be afraid to make mistakes or have his sales team make mistakes. For lack of a better word he just seems to be an ineffective weenie.

I am embarrassed in front of my new customers and don't feel this guy is letting me get anything done. Any suggestions on how to work with a manager like this will be much appreciated.

Jumpstarting a marketing plan for a web development team

korej — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:16:24 -0800

I'm with a small web design/development team, and for the past three years we've done pretty well almost entirely by word of mouth. We really need to be more proactive in getting work in - we've known this for a while, just never been quite sure how to go about it. I've been put in charge of figuring it out. And of course, how to do it on a limited budget. We're in contact with our old and current clients, and have asked them for referrals. Our local isp sends us a good bit of business. What all should I be doing? I've thought about a number of directions, but have a few concerns about each. 1. Emailing local ad agencies, to see if they'd like to add web services to what they can offer; 2. emailing web designers in larger cities, to see if they'd like to use us as subcontractors; 3. calling/emailing local companies that either don't have a site, or need a redesign to see if there's anything we can help with. With all of these, I want to avoid being spammy, and actually offer a reasonable partnership/service. I've also considered trying to find sales people to work on commission - but I'm not sure where to find them. Guru.com or elance, or something else entirely? And if I end up doing cold calls, how do you keep track of who you've already called? I've looked at things like highrise, but that seems to be more geared for tracking current clients, and inquiries, not for tracking a few dozens calls a day - but I may be misunderstanding.

Ideally, I'd like to generate three or four new clients per month. I'm not entirely sure if that's realistic, but it seems a reasonable goal to start with. Ideas? Or other directions I should be going in? Any and all help deeply appreciated.

How to start my sales team?

Elminster24 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:52:18 -0800

Growing my business...what are my options for building a sales force? All the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place for my new b2b lead generation business I am launching and while my new website isn't live yet, I've already received inquiries from people on forums and such which is getting me pumped.

Once the site is live in the next week or two I was planning on just banging the phones and dialing for dollars. However, I'm aware of the fact that I'm not a great sales person and that is the first part of my business I'm looking to have someone else handle.

I don't want to deal with the headaches of employing someone and can't afford to pay a full salary at this point so I've been looking into getting an independent contractor to do sales but I'm clueless as to how much to offer them and what sort of payment structure would be acceptable.

My initial thought was that while I'd love to have someone work on 100% commission for me, realistically that probably won't happen at this stage given how new the business is. Nobody wants to take a chance on an "unproven" business.

So my next thought was looking for people on Craigslist to do this at an hourly rate. I'm just not sure what acceptable pay would be for someone to just make phone calls all day for this sort of business. I'm thinking something like $10/hr plus 50% commission (where an average deal will probably be around $600-1000 net). Does that sound like a fair amount?

Anybody here able to share some thoughts on the above? Any experiences you've had with starting a company and getting that first sales person would be hugely appreciated!

Happy to provide any additional details. And for the love of god please don't take this as a job posting...I've encountered confusion in the past with people thinking I was making a job posting to AskMeFi when in reality I'm looking for ADVICE ON HOW TO FIND SOMEONE for this job and everything that entails.

Guilty Downloader Here.

the NATURAL — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:01:11 -0800

Just curious: If I buy the vinyl version of an album, will the artist be supported just as much as if I had purchased the CD instead? I listen to (mostly) rap and hip hop, and though I often don't feel compelled to buy albums, when I particularly love one, I feel like I need to support the artist (and that the artist has earned my support).

However, since I've probably already sampled the album via torrent, would it still have the same sentiment if I purchased the vinyl instead? (You know - cooler to have around, maybe I could put it on my walls, etc.)

I suppose this is mainly a question of guilt rather than numbers, because what difference does one customer really make?

What are good data sources for laptop and PC sales?

PercussivePaul — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:51:58 -0800

Where can I find detailed sales data on best-selling laptops and PCs? I'm scoping out a research project and trying to see what kind of data I am going to be able to find. Ideally someone would hand me a database containing records of all models of laptops and PCs for sale in the US (or the world, or other countries) along with their list price and all relevant specs, and total number of units moved per year for the past few years.

Something like this already exists thanks to Amazon (best selling PCs, best selling laptops, or of course I could just pull the data straight from Amazon itself). This is a good starting point, but two main issues:
1. It only tells me what Amazon is selling, and I'm interested in what everyone is selling
2. It has sales rank, but I want absolute numbers, or at least a percentage of total sales.

I imagine this data exists but is likely not freely available on the web. I don't know where to begin looking for this sort of thing as I don't have a background in business or anything like that. I have found some stuff (IDC quarterly PC tracker, NPD Group) that might be what I want but I can't read it and it's clearly meant for businesses that can pay a lot. Being a grad student, I can't.

There are possibly resources at my University I could use (for example I have access to Forrester reports) but having spent a day or two poking around I have yet to find what I need. Before I go bothering people in the business school for help, I could use some orientation as to what's out there. Thanks.

Suggestions for starting a small event photography business?

tkolstee — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:34:01 -0800

Considering freelance event photography as a sideline. The kind where you take the photos, and then sell them later online. Any advice - including talking me out of this - is appreciated. I'm considering doing something in addition to my 9-5 job in order to bring in some extra income, or maybe just have some fun trying. My main concerns are low up-front cost, and nothing that will commit me too heavily in case it doesn't work out or I decide I don't like what I'm doing.

Photography has been a hobby of mine for a while, and although I'm nowhere near professional-quality, I've taken some great shots and learned a lot about exposure and some tricks of the trade.

I'd like to stay away from art or stock photography, and focus on shooting events and the people in attendance. I don't think I can commit to doing this work for hire, like a wedding photographer. Instead I'd like to do what I've seen some others do on the web - show up at an event that's open to the public, shoot the event, and hand out cards telling people where to look for their pictures to order prints or downloads. I might consider taking shots of opportunity for stock or to sell to a news agency, but my main focus would be on individual sales. The nice part about this is that I can be flexible about when, where, and how often I want to work.

How feasible is this, and what do I need to get started? More specific questions and details below, but really I'm trying to keep this open-ended. Any and all advice or warnings would be very helpful.

Occupational Licensing:
I'm in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. IIRC, you can make X amount of dollars per year before it stops becoming a hobby and requires a business license. Can I wait until I hit X before applying? Any problems with going sole proprietorship to keep things simple? I know my personal assets can be subject to business liability this way, but how much am I really exposed to risk? Will I have to charge sales tax, even when it's still a hobby?

Website Hosting / Sales Operation:
My main career is in running UNIX(ish) servers, and I've dabbled in website design and programming enough to know I can take care of that end of things, if I have to. I'm fully willing to design my own website, upload sample watermarked versions of the images, set up PayPal, even have the printing and mailing done myself. However, I know there are services out there that will do much of this for you. Any particular hosts of this type that are good or bad in your experience? How much of this work can I offload, and how cheaply can I do so?

Getting into the events themselves:
How easy is it to get permissions to photograph and market at events? Do I have a chance at getting into children's athletic club events, school-sponsored events, festivals, etc? What's the best way to keep up-to-date about things coming up that I might be interested in shooting?

Practical considerations:
How will I know how to set my rates? How can I protect my gear? Will I encounter problem people while "in the field"? What kinds of legal risks might I encounter?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Third Party Logistics

Frasermoo — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:44:46 -0800

How does a third party logistics provider typically charge their customers? We are looking at starting 3rd party logisitics functions for a supplier. This will involve holding the stock and shipping upon instruction from the supplier. Is there a typical model for charging for this service, such as per shipment, flat fee for the service, % value of goods moved?

How to mitigate the damage of a dreaded interview question?

liquado — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:35:34 -0800

Question-for-a-friend filter: How do you truthfully answer a job interview question about a previous job that you were asked to resign from, because you were an idiot? Long-story-short: After six months as CSR, friend gets promoted to great job as account manager, which includes on-the-road sales visits to customers. After only four months in position, friend gets stupid, drives drunk and loses license. Company asks him to resign and offers severance package, as he can no longer drive to sales calls. Friend acknowledges stupidity, takes the golden handshake, goes back to working construction. He left the position on good terms with his supervisor.

Now, friend is applying for new sales position that will likely not require driver's license. He's almost certain to get an interview, but is not sure what the best approach is to answer the likely question, "Why did you choose to leave your last sales position?" He doesn't want to lie or be dishonest, but we're both at a loss as to an alternative/vague answer that limits the damage to his chances of getting the new position.

Thanks for any pearls of wisdom.

If a sale is advertised ,does it have to be honored?

plumberonkarst — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:33:48 -0800

If a company has a sale item on their website with no end date and the checkout takes an order-are they required to honor the sales? A company has a sale advertised online and they state no end date to the sale ( a fathers day sale) I made an order July 3 and I did not receive confirmation for some odd reason.I emailed them and they told me the sale had ended on fathers day.

The website still had the lower price advertised on July 9 and the checkout took my order on July 3 at the lower price.I have screen shots of these 2 dates-one was taken when I ordered on the 3rd for my own back up.When I received the reply from the company stating the sale was over I sent them the screen shot(plus the additonal one from the 9th) showing it still advertised and the checkout acceptance.They have not replied since

When I did the original order the checkout process went through.

I was under the impression that an advertised sale item had to be honored.With no end date posted-is this not wrong that they say my order is not accepted?

I also have a screen shot I made with a current newspaper website on the 9th with the sale page beside to show I did not alter my computers date.

What's the deal on California food taxes?

rileyray3000 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:19:33 -0800

I've noticed when I buy food in California at different restaurants, sometimes there's sales tax and sometimes there's not. What's the deal? This is something I noticed at the quiznos the other day. I got charged sales tax on my meal. But, the next day, at Subway, NO sales tax. Both were takeout. One, arguably, with the toasted bun, was hot. But otherwise I have no idea why one meal gets sales tax and the other doesn't. I know if you go to a sit down restaurant there's always sales tax on the bill but does that become more arbitrary when it's fast food?

Ideas?

Want to trade ads for ads

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:08:28 -0800

Help me plan a mutually beneficial, strategic partnership with a sponsor for my podcast. Details within. I'll try to keep this short and break my info into sections. I apologize on being vague but due to some competition I have I need to not tip my peers to my idea. And I feel some background is relevant for my company.

Podcast history

I have three podcasts that are what most deem "moderately successful". They range in age from one to four years of regular broadcast. Two get about 2,500 COMPLETE downloads (judged by measuring KB, not counting just hits/requests) per show in the first few weeks of release (usually topping out around 6,000 to 10,000 after a year of release), and the third gets 3,500 in the first year, topping out at the higher end of that same range. All of our podcasts are released on a weekly basis, so on average 4 shows a month.

Thus far I have been focusing not on advertising and sponsorships but on growing our audience so we would truly have something worth showing sponsors/advertisors. My research shows that a 30 second ad on a podcast runs anywhere from 3 to 5 cents per listener, so theoretically I could charge $125 for a 30 second ad on any of those shows (now if I would get that is another matter...). Premiums are charged, from what I've seen, for "before the show" ads (i.e. the first sounds on the show being "This show is brought to you by..." etc).

I now feel we have a history but I still want to grow the audience more, especially on our four year old "flagship" show. But as we are using over a terrabyte of bandwidth each month and 160GB of disk space, server costs are getting a bit high and I'd like to offset those with SOME income.

Note that for the next few sections I'm only talking about our Flagship podcast, Podcast 1.

Company history

We incorporated a few years back when we were approached, based off the work we'd done on our independant podcasts, to do a corporate podcast. This paid well and paid all our comapny's bills for quite a while. Unfortunately the company ran into cash problems, and is now out of business.

Growing my audience

As mentioned before the niche I service is very competitive and I am not the number one show, I am number 3.

There is a magazine, Magazine A, that targets the specific niche audience I do, and I approached Magazine A regarding placing an ad. While we currently have no income, I thought pushing ourselves to #1 would greatly increase our ability to get the ad rates mentioned above. However the magazine charges $5,000 for a full page ad, $3,000 for a half page (discounts for multiple purchases). This is far beyond our range at this point as we have no income.

A Previous Advertisor

In the past we did charge a modest amount for web ads, etc. Our best sponsor was Company X, a company directly related to our subject matter for Podcast 1, who paid us under $100 per month for a weekly mention on the show plus an ad on our home page. The monthly payments changed with a web site redesign and we currently have no regular sponsors or advertisors however Company X seems interested in doing more advertising in the future.

Company X seems to have a very large ad budget, as they regularly run half page and full page ads in Magazine A. However they do NOT sponsor the #1 Podcast in our niche as it is not AS directly related to his business as our podcast is.

Future revenue hopes

Given that I am at the point where our company needs to start earning, I was looking at August to begin looking broadly for advertisors, perhaps at $0.025 (2.5 cents) per listener for a 30 second ad, 4 cents for a minute, etc. with various discounts for multiple purchases, and additional charges for before-the-show ads, etc.

But I had thought about approaching companies to be our "official sponsor" for a period of time. Initially, given the rates above, I had hoped that we might get as much as $1000 or more a month per podcast for sponsorship (4 shows a month, this breaks down to only $250 per show. Given the rates I've seen for 30 second ads, for several minutes of ad space with no competition, $1,000 seemed like it might be a rate companies would go for, and discounts would apply for multi-month agreements, and it guarantees them 10,000 listens per month).

Current thought

However, again, especially in this economy, getting companies to open up their checkbooks, especially for four figures a month, for podcasts (which unfortunately are still seen as "new" and "unproven" for ads) seems daring, especially since Podcast 1 is only number 3 in its niche.

So I had thought about approaching Company X for a bit of a partnership. They have, as mentioned before, a large ad budget, and place regular ads in the magazine I want our company to be in.

I had thought about asking them to do a partnership for perhaps 4 months, and during that time they woudl be our official "sponsor" with the benefits listed above (only advertisor, before show and mid-show spot, etc). In exchange I would ask to be featured in their print ads as well as on their web site. I had also thought about asking for a cost-offsetting stipend of perhaps $500 for all four months.

The question

Is what I'm asking for fair? Feasible? Reasonable? Is the cost-offsetting stipend too much given that what I really want is to be a blurb in his print ad to grow our audience so hopefully, at the end of the 4 month period, we can get far more (hopefully closer to the $1k per month per podcast)?

Should I add in Podcast 2 and Podcast 3, which have good download numbers, are not generating any revenue at present, and are somewhat related to Company X's business, but not quite as directly as Podcast 1?

I've never done ad sales, I'm a producer and this area is new to me. So I would appreciate any and all advice on how to monetize the download numbers we are getting.

Thanks MeFites!

Company B is really awesome.

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:48:26 -0800

I'm working part time at two jobs right now - they worked together to hire me so that I could have enough income until Company A can hire my full time. Too bad I want to stay with Company B. I'm a recent college grad, and I had been applying to jobs since December without any luck. Come April, I applied to a job on Craigslist for Company A - an administrative assistant position at a small home office, in a field that has something to do with my degree. Company B is the hiring agency that Company A uses, so I met and interviewed with them first.

Company A could only hire me part time. They told me it was likely to go to full time in a year or so, with a $2/hr pay raise. At that point, Company B called and said, "We've spoken with Company A. Why don't you work for us part time, too, until you go to full time with Company A. Or maybe you can stay here forever! *Laugh*"

Long story somewhat short, I took both jobs.

Company A is in a home office, very messy, with cats and dogs and a scrapped kitchen renovation. It's a thirty to forty minute drive. I've since discovered (I've been there two weeks) that my duties involve a lot more than standard admin work, and go into a direction that stresses me out and I'm not interested in - making sales calls, coaching clients, handling the IT around the office, etc. They also expect to be able to bring me on full time in September.

Company B is a classy, small office. It's a forty to fifty minute drive. I've only been there a week and a half. I'm not working there as an admin, I'm doing more research and social network marketing, which I really like. I asked them on the first day (because I really liked my first day at B) what would happen if I liked company B better than A, and it seemed like they would be interested in bring me on fulltime - but since it was just a supposition, we didn't have a concrete discussion.

Here's the thing: I like the people at Company A. I don't want to waste their time. I also don't want to look like a jerk. I don't know if Company B can hire me full time. But even if they can't, I can't see myself staying at Company A for very long - I'm really not happy with it at all. Also, it's only been a short while, but I really know I don't want to stay with A, I want to be at B. Would it look bad to tell them all this after two weeks?

I want to know what you would do in my shoes. Talk to them soon? Talk to them later? Talk with B first?

All the people involved are very nice, I don't want to be an asshole, and the companies do work together, so if I do leave A for B, I will be at least speaking with, if not seeing the people from A.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Anon in case company A is on meta! Though it would be pretty clear anyway...throwaway is companybisawesome@gmail.com]

Blue Collar vs No Collar

cinemafiend — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:01:47 -0800

Are there more car salespeople than automobile manufacturing people in the United States? With the move to a "service industry based economy" in America and GM's bankruptcy declaration today - I was struck with the question of the number of middlemen in the American auto industry compared to the number of manufacturing jobs.

Any tips or suggestions on where to look for this kind of information would be helpful. I assume the commerce department keeps figures on this sort of thing - but this might not even be the right question to ask...

Store Window Advertising 2.0

Foci for Analysis — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:27:21 -0800

Which hardware and software to use to display ads on screens in store windows? My boss wants to put tv/computer screens in the - two large - windows of the store that I work at to show ads on them.

This isn't my area of expertise but I reckon you need two huge screens that are connected and controlled via a PC. The ads could be anything from PowerPoint presentations to rich Flash ads to xhtml on web browser.

Have you any experience of a similar solution? Any ideas and suggestions are welcomed!

How to get an Online Ad Sales job?

mspisces — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:24:50 -0800

How do you get job in the Online Ad Sales industry? My boyfriend is interested in getting into online advertising. He's 32 and has extensive outside sales experience, no degree. We live in Los Angeles. A lot of the postings for online ad sales requires knowledge or previous relationships with advertising agencies. Can you recommend ways for him to build his contacts with advertising agencies? What other paths can he take?

Did I get over on AT&T or did they get over on me?

TwilightKid — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:37:37 -0800

I just had a very interesting transaction with AT&T Wireless about switching up my phones, but somehow I feel like I am going to lose in the end..... Brief back story: I was a blackberry guy for the longest and I loved it. Eventually the commercials got to me and I succumbed to the lure of the iphone and got one in December. No real complaints, but my heart remained with blackberry, so I began to research how I could go back with minimal expense as I was only 4 months into my iphone contract.

The objective of my call: What's the cheapest way I could get a Blackberry Bold and switch over my service. I was prepared to spend $$ (if the price wasnt too obscene) to buy a new or refurbished BBB, and then sell my iphone on ebay or craigslist, and hopefully get close to the same amount I spent.

I spoke with an older sounding woman who immediately laughed when I told her my situation. She explained that she had been getting a lot of calls from people who want to switch from the iphone to the Bold. She then asked me if I would be interested in getting the Bold for only $60-70 bux. Of course I was interested. The website said that a new Bold with activation was $549, and a refurbished was $399.

She kept playing up on how she was going to show me how to do it, and if I agreed, she would need to get her supervisors approval.

In a nutshell.
She would open a new line of service on my existing plan (my wife and I both have our phones on a family plan). I would get a new phone number on the Bold.
When it arrived, I was to take the iphone and Bold to my local AT&T store, and have them take the SIM card from the iphone and put it into the Bold, therefore making the Bold my primary phone, and the iphone would have the new phone number.

From there, she told me to wait about a week, call AT&T, explain what i did.. (I wanted a Bold and was going to give the iphone to a friend)...Tell AT&T that my friend had to leave the coutnry indefinitely (perhaps getting called back to active duty in the army), and ask if we could put the iphone and service on 'vacation hold'. She told me it would not cost me anything, my contract would be running but there would not be an monthly bill. She then said that I should call back every 4-6 months, to explain that 'my friend' was still on active duty', and to keep the phone on hold, and to do this until the two year contract ran out....then cancel that line.

I was suspicious, but trusting since I was speaking to a real AT&T rep, and not some random website promising great deals. I asked here this could backfire on me, and she assured me that it wouldn't.

She then went on to say, that if I bought a discounted carrying case for the phone ($23), she would get me a new Bold for nothing.

I went from being prepared to pay $500 for this phone to getting it for nothing. She went to talk to her supervisor, and moments later the deal was done.

So, the phone is on its way, and I know what I was instructed to do.

I am still suspicious and concerned...Yet, I am trusting as it came from AT&T. Are all these sales calls monitored and recorded? I know the date, time, and first name of the person i spoke to. She wasn't allowed to give me a personal extension should I need to ask her a question or had concerns, but I am sure my Order# would direct them back to her.

Was this sales rep trying to pull something over on her own company? Is this 'vacation hold' scenario legit? Morally, I see the faults in doing this....At the same time though, wouldn't an AT&T sales rep be aware that their calls may be monitored, and that if this does prove to be a scam, she would be fired and possible prosecuted? I'm not sure which way I am leaning in proceeding now that I think about it a little more.....How does AT&T win in this deal? The big guy always wins right??