Seeking Higher Income in Sales Rep’s Territory
After buying a $345,000 house in Mar Vista last month, account manager Douglas Korer felt “first-time buyer’s mixed emotions”--elation about the purchase; concern about his income.
To comfortably shoulder this first mortgage, Korer estimates he’d have to earn at least $100,000 annually. But that’s not possible at his current job, he said. The 36-year-old makes $35,000 in salary plus $12,000 in commissions at an El Segundo electronics firm. His wife, Jamie, 33, earns a comparable amount as a telecommunications manager.
“I love my present job,” Korer said. “I stay busy from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon. My days fly by, but [even if] I might be able to get 5% to 10% raises every year . . . at that rate I will be retired before I double my salary.”
To help plan his next career move, Korer consulted Brian Tracy, one of the nation’s top sales authorities. Tracy reviewed Korer’s 16-year sales history and asked Korer to describe his vocational dreams. In a perfect world, Korer said, he’d become a professional athlete, for he loves sports. But, more realistically, he wants to remain in sales. He enjoys its extroverted, competitive environment.
Tracy pointed out that Korer had chosen a sales occupation that was less lucrative than many others available.
“Inside sales is basically order-taking,” Tracy explained. “And you can’t increase your income as an order taker. You have to go into the battlefield [of outside sales] where you can create customers.”
The good news, Tracy said, is that Korer proved himself years before, when Korer worked at his father’s Laguna Hills electronics manufacturing company. While there, he had drummed up $3 million in new business for the maquiladora (foreign-owned Mexican plant) that his father’s firm operated in Mexico. Tracy suggested that Korer consider returning to this rapidly growing, specialized field.
With other experts, Tracy also had the following advice for Korer:
1. Rebuild your outside sales skills. Becoming a sales rep who’ll have to “farm” for new clients would be a dramatic leap from Korer’s present-day routine. But he’s done the work before. Korer will need to hone his sales presentation abilities, develop a contact database and possibly even shadow an established salesperson to relearn the skills he’ll need in the field.
His recent experience as an inside rep may prove a handy asset, said Jeffrey Gitomer, author of “The Sales Bible” (William Morris & Co., 1994).
“Inside salespeople tend to be the most knowledgeable about products because they’re asked the most questions,” Gitomer said. “So he can act as a consultant on the road, giving detailed advice about what’s best for his customers.”
2. Research contract manufacturing. There are nearly 5,000 maquiladoras in Mexico. These companies assemble materials using Mexican labor and export finished products back to the United States. Most, however, are “stand-alone” or “twin plant” maquilas that serve only one parent company, so do not need sales reps, said John McLees, a tax attorney at Baker & McKenzie in Chicago, and advisor to the National Maquiladora Trade Assn.
How can Korer find the maquiladoras that are contract manufacturing plants (dedicated factories such as wood mills or machine shops) or “shelter operations” (companies providing buildings, labor and administrative help) that will work for a variety of U.S. firms and, hence, need reps such as he would be?
He can research these companies online at https://www.maqguide.com (which also lists their trade associations and business organizations) and https://www.subcon.com/tten.htm. He also can contact the commercial section of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico for more information about the industry.
In contract manufacturing, perhaps the most lucrative sales job--but also the riskiest--is that of the “maquila broker.” Independent maquila brokers arrange deals between U.S. companies and contract manufacturers, charging about 5% of the deals’ financial value. This can earn a broker more than $10,000 a week over a period of months. But, said Jeff Madison, founder of Maqguide.com in San Diego and a broker himself, it’s definitely not easy money.
“There are horror stories,” Madison said. “Some guys who don’t have established relationships in this business never get paid. And usually it takes over a year to get most deals going.”
3. Make new contacts. Korer shouldn’t simply send resumes to potential hirers, Tracy said. “It takes as many as 1,000 [resume submissions] to get a job today,” he said. Instead, Korer should contact top salespeople at targeted firms. After introducing himself, he can inquire about employment possibilities at their companies, and ask whether the reps might help him get an interview with hiring personnel. Even a referral from a star salesperson may help Korer get in the corporate door, Tracy said.
Before speaking with the hirers, Korer should research their firms and products, Tracy added. This way, when he makes contact, he can say, “I have some ideas that can greatly increase your sales, and I’d like to talk with you about them.”
4. Consider allied fields such as electronics sales. The high-technology revolution has had a great impact on the electronics industry. As advances are made, manufacturers struggle to develop equipment that can house the newly emerging technologies.
Business development reps work at “content providers,” such as satellite services or telecommunications companies, that need to partner with electronic firms to create finished products, explained Mark Knox, senior manager of marketing for Samsung’s Digital Products Group in Ridgefield, N.J.
For example, a satellite service might ask an electronics firm to build receivers for its transmissions; a cable company might contract with an electronics firm to create an interface box for high-definition TV. Business development reps who arrange these deals typically receive a salary-and-bonus compensation package, Knox said. A background in electrical engineering or computer science is helpful for this profession.
5. Explore sports sales careers on a part-time basis. Because of Korer’s recent home purchase, Tracy suggested that--for now--he not jump into a completely new line of work or focus on jobs that would require additional schooling. But that doesn’t mean Korer can’t investigate sports-related sales careers in his free time. Such a vocation would allow Korer to pool his two favorite pursuits, sports and selling.
Many sports sales positions offer bases of $30,000 or more (comparable to Korer’s current salary) and are available to people with strong sales track records, even if they lack previous sports industry experience, said Matt Pietsch, vice president of General Sports and Entertainment in Rochester, Mich.
Top-producing sports apparel reps of best-selling brands such as Adidas and Nike can make $200,000 or more after five years of hustling, said Keith Kreiter, president of Edge Sports International in Chicago. Players’ reps, who work in sports agents’ offices pitching athletes to companies for endorsement deals, can earn very good incomes too, Kreiter said.
Skilled salespeople such as Korer can also pursue careers in ticket sales, premier seating and personal seat licensing (selling rights to buy seating) at professional sports facilities, said Susan Hofacre, head of the sports management program at Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh.
But it’s the marketers who solicit corporate sponsorships for America’s top sports arenas who earn the tallest fees, said Thomas Bowers, co-director of the Sports & Entertainment Academy at Indiana University.
By getting large corporations to pay $1 million to $5 million for designated sponsorship rights (for example, exclusive pouring rights for a soft drink company or exclusive telecommunications rights to a phone company), these marketers can earn $100,000 to $500,000 annually, said a marketing insider at Madison Square Garden.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Time for a Change
* Name: Douglas Korer
* Occupation: Account manager, electronic components
* Desired occupation: Sales representative, earning higher commissions
* Quote: “I would like to make more money. I would like to at least double my salary. But I don’t know what to do or where to go.”
Counselor’s Recommendation
Return to contract manufacturing sales. Explore sports-related sales part time for now.
Meet the Coach
Brian Tracy is one of the nation’s leading human-potential authorities. As a public speaker and consultant, he addresses more than 400,000 people each year on personal and professional development. Tracy is chief executive of Brian Tracy International in San Diego.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
7 Tips for Sales Success
1. Study very successful salespeople. Discover what they’re doing that you’re not. And find out what you’re doing (needlessly) that they’re not.
2. Get a mentor.
3. Have someone videotape your sales presentation. Have a seasoned salesperson review the tape with you to point out how your performance can be improved.
4. Attend motivational, goal-oriented seminars. Create short- and long-term goals for yourself, using strategies from the seminars. “A goal is a dream with a deadline,” says sales expert Harvey Mackay.
5. Think positive. Collect educational, inspirational audiotapes, and listen to them while driving.
6. Get “constant, immediate, unfiltered feedback” about your presentations from your prospects, Mackay says.
7. Gear up. Buy a personal digital assistant such as a Palm Pilot to record data while in the field. Use contact management software such as ACT! 2000.
Source: Harvey Mackay, author of “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive” (William Morrow & Co., 1988)
