I'm sure anyone in a sales position can sympathize. For the last 45 days or so, I've spent probably a collected total of 75 hours selling, and the rest of that time has been spent doing sales reports (and I'm still not done). We represent 50 some odd different manufacturers, and we have a report for each factory. We have monthly sales reports, end of year sales reports, forecasts for 2011 (one for every factory, then another one for my company, this is what our company budget revolves around), quarterly sales reports, etc. I'm in fucking sales reports up to my ears. Surely all these execs with the fat salaries know that we could sell a hell of a lot more product, if they didn't bog us down with these stupid ass sales reports. Hell, I don't even know how many of them are actually looked at! I know the one we do for my company is highly scrutinized, because it's what we figure our budget off of, but I doubt the rest even get read. Surely nobody goes through and reads 20 pages of BS once a month, then again quarterly, then again twice at the end of the year. They could keep every worker in a factory in China busy for weeks just reading this shit. It's absurd!
And these aren't just your typical, add 15% and be done with it type reports. I have to dig through invoices, purchase orders, account histories, deduct any one time rollouts, find a place to make up those dollars in other accounts, other mfrs, etc; then stick a final number on it adjusting for price increases, loss of sales, inflation, depression, blah blah blah. It fucking kills me. I'm not a numbers guy (i hate math, too). I've grown accustomed to being out and about, in front of people rather than tied to a desk, fixing problems, measuring for jobs, and outright hustling. It kills me that I have to sit behind a desk for the last 2+ months of the year, and not selling anything. I've got ADD and dyslexia, and this shit just wears me down. Can't stay focused, I always have to double and triple check my math, etc. Phone calls to customers at odd hours of the night, trying to gauge a feel for business the coming year, etc.
What a beat down. I just want to get back out, and away from my desk, office, and the people in it. I hate it so damn much, it almost makes me consider changing career paths. /rant off
I guess it could be worse. A guy we just hired away from a competitor, said they had to fill a report out for every single contact they make each week. Apparently this is done to make sure you are doing your job (don't sales reflect how well you do your job? silly me...). At least we're not in that boat...... Yet. On a bright note, looks like I should break $10 million this year. That will be a nice milestone.
And these aren't just your typical, add 15% and be done with it type reports. I have to dig through invoices, purchase orders, account histories, deduct any one time rollouts, find a place to make up those dollars in other accounts, other mfrs, etc; then stick a final number on it adjusting for price increases, loss of sales, inflation, depression, blah blah blah. It fucking kills me. I'm not a numbers guy (i hate math, too). I've grown accustomed to being out and about, in front of people rather than tied to a desk, fixing problems, measuring for jobs, and outright hustling. It kills me that I have to sit behind a desk for the last 2+ months of the year, and not selling anything. I've got ADD and dyslexia, and this shit just wears me down. Can't stay focused, I always have to double and triple check my math, etc. Phone calls to customers at odd hours of the night, trying to gauge a feel for business the coming year, etc.
What a beat down. I just want to get back out, and away from my desk, office, and the people in it. I hate it so damn much, it almost makes me consider changing career paths. /rant off
I guess it could be worse. A guy we just hired away from a competitor, said they had to fill a report out for every single contact they make each week. Apparently this is done to make sure you are doing your job (don't sales reflect how well you do your job? silly me...). At least we're not in that boat...... Yet. On a bright note, looks like I should break $10 million this year. That will be a nice milestone.
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