Alcohol and Sales Jobs

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This is a touchy topic because the alcohol culture has existed for thousands of years and is entrenched in the North American professional culture from the time an individual turns 18.  Unfortunately, it is not just in college that alcohol helps increase the popularity index for any individual, it is also a prevalent means to closing in the business world.

A good salesman

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Be present at the right place and the right time. How do you do that? The answer is a bit counterintuitive, but the real answer is that the only way to even be allowed to be present, you should not be selling all the time. This is mostly applicable to account executives responsible for many accounts, or for a few major accounts with multiple stakeholders. Think about it for a minute, whom from your entourage, allows you to be in their vicinity and interact with them regularly?

Variable pay

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I mentioned several time in my past posts the concept of variable pay. Well I just finished an Organizational Behavior course (Langton, Robbins, Judge, sixth edition) that explains several programs and their advantages. I thought it will be a good subject to write a post about.

Be The Rockstar !

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So how do you become the rockstar at your workplace? The one that bosses can rely on to get things done, and at the same time, is the first to be considered for different assignments.
First off, if you do want to do the switch to the commercial side, it is important to emphasize that you really have to have interest in doing different things at your employer and not only one thing. The reason for this is that your company is not only selling to one customer (there are exceptions), but to different customers with different needs. This means that your company sales team must be creative in thinking of different ideas in order for your company’s services or product to fit with its clients’ needs. That is why salespeople talk so much, the successful one are up to date on the latest and the greatest in the market and they love to share new information with everyone.

I have no idea what I am doing!

So I get my first opportunity to shine and start working as a technical sales consultant first then as an account manager. Oh boy, did I feel like this dog on this picture. I would come back home from work excited, but confused and amazed by all the new things I was learning. I suddenly found interest in watching business related movies to try to imitate how salesmen close deals like celebrities and schmooze with clients.

Why I considered shifting my career from engineering to sales

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This post could have been a good first post, but I was so past that stage that I already wanted to share all the ins and outs of the commercial world. Though this might not apply to you, this is my own personal mental path that I went through before I made my decision to leave engineering and move to the "dark side" (this is what technical people refer to the commercial department). I will try my best to keep this post below 500 words and will elaborate in the book.

Negative vs Positive Politics

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I had a great conversation last night at the Cocktail Antabli with a friend that lasted for a good two hours about how poisonous his environment has become. I think we both suffered from sugar overdose. Anyway, it's funny because he currently has the job  I applied for eight years ago when I was scrambling for work (I might tell you about it sometime). In a nutshell, he was approved for a promotion from all management levels but was backstabbed by a suck up  who managed to steal it from him. How did that happen you ask? Simple, wrong management priorities! There was a good reason my friend managed to get all those approvals, he was a talented engineer who was able to take bold steps during very narrow windows of opportunity to shine and bring his employer big $$, he was a rockstar.

Secrecy

PKP : Image from 
http://princearthurherald.com/en/news-2/pierre-karl-peladeau-will-be-a-pq-candidate-in-st-jerome

I didn’t think I will be writing a post before sharing my outline, but I guess this is how it is being unfolded. I just finished reading an article on “les Affaires” about the powers Pierre Karl Péladeau, PKP, enjoyed throughout his life. For those who are not living in Quebec, at the time I am writing this post, Quebec is going through another election to elect a provincial party to lead us for another week or two before the next elections. PKP sudden move as a representative of the Partie Quebecois, PQ party, took people by surprise and made him Quebec’s most powerful politician.