Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 48672 2004-08-29 13:46:00 Web Developer Positions Captive (3159) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
266711 2004-08-30 15:17:00 >but Sales & Marketing isn't a strongpoint of mine

That's where I'm lucky because my background has been 100% sales and customer service. I sometimes forget how unnatural selling can be for most people

> Out of curiousity is it possible you could mention your site?

Sure... I have several sites, my primary one is www.mis.co.nz. But I create a new one, and here's one of my trade secrets, for every market segment I approach. For example at the moment I'm hitting on florists, hence my site at www.kiwiflorists.co.nz. Note however that a couple of the lousier sites listed, I didn't design - I just took their existing, and added the e-commerce aspects and host it for them 		Greg S (201)
266712 2004-08-30 15:28:00 Looks good Greg :-)

I come from no sales background :-P

Bascially my history is die hard computer g33k hehe not quite, there is probably someone g33kier out there than me, probably several people.

Basically I am more into the Programming/Database side with also some abilities at Computer Support.

I have don't have very much people contact IRL [In Real Life], I sit here pretty much 65-70 Hours a week surfing and coding :-)

Good to develop some skills but not others. I do assist customers, I have recieved emails before after midnight and acted on them and replied within under 15 minutes in some cases :-D

I guess thats life though, the different skill bases which exist.

Personally I would prefer someone else to do the Sales and Marketing side, because it feels ackward to me.... But Give me MS Access and IIS and i'll happily sit there, some days on record for as long as 16 Hours [Note after quite a few hours though the typos increase ;-)]

What Programming Lanaguage and Database do you usually use? 		Captive (3159)
266713 2004-08-30 15:37:00 > What Programming Lanaguage and Database do you
> usually use?

Now there's the thing - I know absolutely zilch about programming or databases - I just recently downloaded an HP course on PHP/MySql which I'll get around to learning one fine day.

In the meantime, why don't you give me your email address, and if/when I come across the need for some help I could possibly share the job with you. 		Greg S (201)
266714 2004-08-31 00:10:00 >>Do what any sales rep does and get onto the telephone and cold call!
Greg, I do not like people cold calling me, so to do so myself, I would be a hypocrite (so I have a problem don't I :) ). To me cold calling is a bit like spam, you don't know the person you are contacting and hassle them about buying a product or service. Often us technical people are not comfortable trying to get people to become customers and thats where you need sales and marketing services. 		Dolby Digital (160)
266715 2004-08-31 00:24:00 > > > Do what any sales rep does and get onto the
> telephone and cold call!
> Greg, I do not like people cold calling me, so to do
> so myself, I would be a hypocrite (so I have a
> problem don't I :) ) . To me cold calling is a bit
> like spam, you don't know the person you are
> contacting and hassle them about buying a product or
> service . Often us technical people are not
> comfortable trying to get people to become customers
> and thats where you need sales and marketing
> services .


Fair points Dolby, but believe me when I say that I've got customers who absolutely adore me for coming along at exactly the time that they needed me for an Internet solution . I've spent possibly 20 years as a rep, and I've never had an easier time selling a useful service than I've had since I started this . 		Greg S (201)
266716 2004-08-31 00:43:00 Greg, do you get many people "showing you the door" on the phone?

I have an associate who spends his day doing "follow ups". Different market than yours (accounting) i.e. alot more expensive and its not my cup of tea (doing the follow ups). Of course when he makes a sale, I may get involved to do some development type work. 		Dolby Digital (160)
266717 2004-08-31 00:46:00 Captive, send me an email at peldridg at xtra dot co dot nz I might have something that interests you. Dolby Digital (160)
266718 2004-08-31 00:50:00 As an aside note you may want to remove from your CV the following:

2003.07 Ecommerce Media Design School NZQA LVL 6

[20/40 Weeks] Laid complaint with NZQA about tutor conduct, tutor resigned

2004.08 Diploma of Information Technology Natcoll NZQA LVL 6

[1/35 Week/s] Laid complaint against tutor for pirating software in class
instead of teaching the class

As great as you must feel about these, most employers are going to look at that and instantly see a potential problem/troublemaker.

I also find irony in the complaint regarding piracy as you state in your CV experience with thousands of dollars worth of production software which I hardly think you purchased yourself, and the short time spent in those two courses wouldn't have given you a lot of exposure to them. 		whiskeytangofoxtrot (438)
266719 2004-08-31 00:50:00 COBOL - spent 10 years coding that!! Dolby Digital (160)
266720 2004-08-31 00:52:00 > Greg, do you get many people "showing you the door"
> on the phone?

Heck yeah! When I say "easiest" a better phrase would be "less difficult". It's still a numbers game and I get about a 1 in 20 positive response, with about a quarter of those converted into a sale = about 1 sale in 100 calls, at around 10 calls per hour.

However the beauty of it is that I have my spiel well sorted and I can almost count on one hand the number of times when prospects have been rude or even brusque with me.

Occasionaly I sell a lesser service, eg if a customer has a non-performing website already, I can tailor a customised enhancement report for them for a small one-off fee. 		Greg S (201)
1 2 3 4