My experience in some senses is BETTER than Outside Sales experience

I do a lot of the same thing on the phone that outside salespeople do in person - BUT I don't have the advantages an outside salesperson does - All I have is my voice, e-mail, fax and regular mail - Yet I still manage to build strong business-to-business relationships!  When this is done properly, closing should just be an extension of this, not a whole new project!

Let me ask you this:  If you were a hiring manager for a messenger service and someone came in for a job driving a car as a messenger, but the person's resume only showed big rig truck driving experience, would you say, "Sorry - You don't have experience driving a car - only a big rig truck"?

I don't think you would - I think you would much more likely say, "Wow!  You have tremendous driving experience - With all your trucking experience, I hope this job isn't beneath you!"









We tend to think of big rig truck driving as being "above" driving a car, and rightly so - It's much harder!  But I think the real reason we tend to think of it this way is that it tends to pay more.

In several ways, inside sales is actually harder than outside sales, and a good inside salesperson can easily adapt to outside sales - Yet because inside salespeople tend to be paid less money and hold a "lower" position, such experience is looked down upon compared to outsides sales experience when trying for an outside sales position.  This should not be the case, and if you really want the best candidates for your outside sales position, I sincerely hope you will think about this.

I personally have been turned away from a number of otherwise good outside sales positions simply because of this fact - Particularly in this economy when there is an abundant number of applicants for most good positions, hiring managers and HR recruiters tend to do the easy thing by going by what's on paper about the applicants and ruling out anyone who doesn't have a certain type of experience - this ruling out may happen without even an interview, or even AFTER A GOOD INTERVIEW this may well still happen when the hiring manager goes over his or her options among all the interviewees - I had this happen too.

My Sales Resume

Leonard M. Langberg                                                                                                                                    llangberg@yahoo.com                                                                                                                                                           

4239 Burns Avenue, Apt. 208                                                                                                                                                (818) 590-7372

Los Angeles, CA 90029                           

Objective:   Sales or Sales-related position that utilizes my relationship building skills.       

Employment: 

2/11-7/11     Merchants Building Maintenance, LLC – Monterey Park, CA      Regional Marketing Coordinator

Tunneled through to key decision makers to develop relationships and position our company for bid inclusion or consideration.

Set appointments for facilities services, business-to-business over the telephone – Some warm and some cold, mostly outbound.

In my short time in this position, already got Merchants in on RFI’s or better for millions of dollars’ worth of RFP’s.

5/07 – 3/10 Professional Building Maintenance – Sun Valley, CA       Assistant Director of Sales  

 NOTE:  Please also see 1/96-1/04 below – this was the second of two times in same position with this company.

In my 10 years at Professional Building Maintenance, generated leads (where PBM either was invited to bid or at least to answer an RFI or equivalent) with a total value (if PBM had been the successful bidder on all) of $90,000,000 per year in janitorial contracts and $2,000,000 annually in construction clean-up contracts.

·         Tunneled through to key decision makers to develop relationships and position our company for bid inclusion or consideration.

·         Set appointments for facilities services, business-to-business over the telephone – Some warm and some cold, mostly outbound.

·         Single-handedly pursued and developed leads for construction clean-up and TI work.                      

5/05 – 5/07      Telefund, Inc. – Hollywood, CA       Caller                                 

Raised funds for non-profit organizations on the telephone, through calling current or lapsed members or people who have shown interest in the particular organization through signing petitions, filling out surveys, etc.  All outbound calling.  Negotiated.  Accepted credit card donations over the phone.

1/04 – 9/04        Exotic Granite & Marble, Inc. – Sun Valley, CA    Outside Sales                                                                                                                                          Sold granite, marble, travertine, etc. in person and through use of the telephone, mail, etc. - Main contacts were decision makers for general contractors, and this involved contacting fabricators/installers – Mostly cold, but including contacts I already had.

1/96 – 1/04      Professional Building Maintenance – Sun Valley, CA       Assistant Director of Sales

Please see above under 5/07-3/10 for description – This was the first of two times in same position with this company.

11/90 – 5/93        Daily News – Van Nuys, CA    Mall Sales Representative

Was in top 5% in points in a sales contest including all Mall, Door-to-Door and Direct Sales Representatives in the company, and for one month in 1992 was #1 in sales of all San Fernando Valley Mall Reps.  Sold home delivery subscriptions in front of markets, etc., and at some special events such as mall shows.  For number of months was also a Team Leader (assistant to Mall Crew Supervisor). 

               

11/88 – 3/90      Mike Davis California Realty/Loans of California - Studio City, CA      Real Estate Agent; also some loan solicitation

·         Worked with buyers mainly, toward selling commercial and residential property.

Education:

Van Nuys College of Business – Van Nuys, CA - Diploma in Business Management – “A” average

California State University, Northridge, CA - Completed 11 semester units - Computer Science major - “B” to “B+” average

John F. Kennedy High School – Granada Hills, CA – High School Diploma – Math/Science major – 3.87 GPA – Graduated with High Honors – Also on Student Planning Board 2 semesters and received $100 scholarship for participation in Career Opportunities for Youth program and Hughes Aircraft.

What I've learned through my many years in Sales

I learned that it pays to treat prospects from the beginning as if they were already paying customers - to treat their requests for information, etc., with urgency, to follow up and follow through - to do what I say I'll do.  This shows that I and my company actually care about them and builds trust and rapport.


Using this method, I have gotten my company in doors that others could not penetrate.  I have even gotten to a point several times where, even though I was only an opener on the phone, the prospect thought I would be the one to personally meet them and discuss things further.  I have used this successfully with small to very large businesses in various industries and even government agencies.

I have also successfully completed RFI responses, prequalification forms and applications for diversity and small business certifications.



When I raised funds over the phone for nonprofit organizations, I learned some solid negotiating techniques that worked pretty well for me.


 I have done outside sales too, although more business-to-consumer than business-to-business (so far!).  I successfully sold subscriptions to the Daily News in front of grocery stores, etc. and sold subscriptions to the Los Angeles Times door-to-door.  This is in addition to real estate sales and natural stone sales (this was business-to-business).

You may ask yourself, "Even though Leonard has seemingly good sales abilities, why should I hire this guy over someone with a number of years of experience in my industry who will have a shorter learning curve?"

My answer: Because my ability to develop and maintain relationships works in a lot of industries, not only the ones I have experience in - So in the long run, that means more business for your company since I'm VERY good at what I do! Feel free to ask me for a list of prominent organizations I got my company in the door with.