LBS from a sales person point of view

[ChrisW]

Saturday morning 8:00 alarm goes of. Sit up and hit head on TV above add extra headache to hangover from Raytheon party the night before. Go in shower. Arrgghhh cold water again. Well at least I am awake now. Get dressed head to dining room ( If one can call it that) Vast choice bewteen rice crispies and rice crispies. Opt to splash out £ 4.00 for cooked brekkie. 2 hot dogs, crispy egg, 14 baked beans ( and yes I did count them) and burnt toast. As you have guessed this is not the Hilton. Decide to go for plan B. Just round the corner from Earls Court is a little "greasy spoon" cafe. Large mug of steaming tea and a full english breakfast. Cholestorol heaven. Ok head into Earls Court. Smile at cute security guard, day is beginning to look up. Get on the stand, first job: put coffee on, quick polish and hoover through of the boats. Reaarange brochures, fluff pillows. Notice that one was lifted the day before. First visitors start to arrive. Lots of families with kids. Some brilliant some just exasperating. Generally we like boatie children but get grey hairs when hordes arrive which have to twiddle every button and parents smile benevolently or just don't notice. Oh shoot small monster has escaped onto side deck, decides to do acrobatics on pulpit. Chase after the little dear as it is only a 6M drop to the concrete floor. Why do small pink wrigglies not come with remote controls. Voice beginning to feel hoarse by 13:00 dying for a drink but no time. I love showing my babies aka boats. Often pleasantly suprised at the vast knowledge of the punters. You be amazed how much I have learned from clients. 14:00 manage to run away to Lombard stand for quick much needed G&T. On way back to stand wander past Boats & Yachts stand for a danish or some biscuits. Nice bunch of people. Hall busy again as visitors return from munchies. Queues begining to form. Trying to keep queue happy and moving. Most people are quite happy to wait a while, but some of you and - you know who you - are try to jump queue by pretending to be important. Sorry guys this doesn't work with me. Ask a rather highranking German Politician and his body guards. ( Ok I have to admit I didn't recognise him and me being German as well , Oooppppsss) But no go, my boss agreed with me, but the rest of the stand staff thought I was nuts. Well you must be to enjoy this job. 17:30 manage to cram sandwich and cup of coffee into mouth. 18:00 crowds are beginning to thin out. Time to have a chinwag with the other exhibitors. And then the long awaited anouncement, "Ladies & Gentleman the Show will cose in ten minutes". Feet are throbbing voice is going, but another day is over. Quick research who is throwing a party this evening. Yipee its that nice bunch from Yanmar. Afterwards back to the London version of Fawlty Towers ( well at least its cheap). Change out of uniform and of to Mona Lisa in Chelsea ( One of the best and most reasonably priced Italian restaurants I have ever found) to meet up with guys from Birchwood. For us exhibitors every boat show is like a class reunion. Back to the hotel, collapse into bed, last thought before sleep overcomes me : How many times will I hear the phrase " When I win the lottery " tomorrow.

Some of the objects stolen during one show:

Hoover - Coffee perculator - Cups - Towels - Cushions - Books - Baseball caps - One windscreen wiper - My sandwich - The entire set of sunbathing cushion on rather large MY ( where was the staff ? 2M long cushions are not easy to hide under jumper ) - videos - a pair of size 34 ladies pumps ( We had to go and buy my collegue a pair of deck shoes to go home in - looks really good with short skirt and blazer) and the list goes on...........

 

[DepSol]

Its what you get paid for innit?

I hope you are not trying to make us feel sorry for you with all that partying?

Dom

 

[paulineb]

How on earth did you find time to compose this posting, you poor love ;-)

Pxx

 

[ChrisW]

No just hoping for a donation of nurofen extra and alka seltzter

 

[Guest]

Does anybody want to buy a hoover, sunseeker cushions, Princess windscreen wipers , fairline towels and blakes boating holiday brochures cheap ? Meet you round the back of Earls Court !

 

[Col]

So what stand do you work on ?

 

[DepSol]

Seems to me that the Ladies are the best people to talk to at the shows as they are impartial and professional and also read about the product they are trying to sell.

Do you work for Sunseeker, if so do you know Gary Wooding?

Dom

 

[ArthurWood]

Recommend to your boss that he do a better job of manning the show stand, including 15 - 30 min staggered, scheduled breaks for reps at eg two-hour intervals. Who wants to talk to visitors after being on their feet for hours answering inane questions ((from Matt et al ) and who wants to talk to a sales rep who is tired and fed up and shows it? As for the stuff that was nicked, who gives a damn about trivia like that? It's an irritant, but it's a cost of doing business. Think big!
p.s and don't get smashed every night so you feel like s--t in the mornings. Remind yourself that the job you are doing is representing an employer and it's feeding and clothing you and perhaps others, and if you don't like it, get out and do something you do like. Think yourself lucky the show is in London and not in Moscow at -20C where I did stand duty many, many times in the 'good ol' days' of the USSR. (And we lived in a shoe box on the A38). I think I'll lie down now, I'm so exhausted. For a moment I thought I was a sales manager again!!

 

[ChrisW]

Now that would be telling : )

 

[ChrisW]

No sorry I do not know Gary but I can tell you that having a quick look underneath their stand is worth while. Thats where all the alcohol and food is kept.

And thank you for the compliment about women representatives , the rest of the girls say thanks too.

 

[DepSol]

You should make yourelf more known to us here, it could end up generating more sales for you, ahem although thats not what the forum is to be used for.

Go on tell us who you work for.

Dom

 

[ChrisW]

Exactly. I am more then happy to buy any of you a drink privately when I am in Mallorca but I use this forum for leisure not work. However if you have queries about LBS I will try and help.

Got to run more prospective clients,

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Chris, I have the utmost sympathy having been there, done it and got the tee shirts for my own company. Count yourself lucky that you're only entertaining yourself every evening not a different bunch of customers every night as well who want to get fed, plastered and laid; then you'll know the meaning of exhaustion.
Never ever forget that those people who take the trouble to haul themselves up to Earls Court onto your stand are the people who pay your salary and, if they didnt bother, you'd be selling double glazing instead. As for the German politician, that was a bad move. However much of a tosser he is and however much satisfaction you got from playing social democracy you lost a customer. Next time find a way to deal with the situation; if I was your boss, I'd be considering firing you not supporting you.

 

[KevB]

But if I was in the queue waiting to see a boat and someone was allowed to 'push in' just because he looked like he had money then they would lose me as a potential customer. Why should anyone be allowed to push in??
From the point of view of the other potential customers waiting, their fairness would be a good point, at least I'd know that if I needed the services of the company - how much money I had in my pocket wouldn't influence their attitude.

 

[Guest]

Re: genuine/non-genuine

This must be difficult for busy weekends at sunseeker etc. If you were "genuine", you'd present yourself at the desk and ask about delivery times, and if it would fit in XYZ berth, and might also have called them beforehand, in which case they wouild know you were coming. You wouldn't queue up behind the spotty 12-year olds whose dad is very saily, would you?

Incidentally, most funny, I met a v nice chap on holiday, who told me all about his new Hallberg-rassy sailboat, brand new etc etc...but his kids lolling about moaning and saying that it is crap, slow, etc. "Your kids won't be interested in boating soon, too" says the nice chap. But his seemed jolly keen to know all bout motorboats. Or even a quick tender would've been a start...

 

[paulineb]

Are you the red under the bed Kev? ;-) We all know that it's not a totally fair world, but communism doesn't work so you're never going to get everyone being treated equally. It's not only money, power and position that talks. As my grandma used to say 'it's not what you know, it's who you know'. It also helps if you're famous, which is why lots of arch-idiot footballers and the like get the best tables in town without booking. Same with getting jobs sometimes. Pretty and intelligent will nearly always beat ugly and intelligent. A philosophy which I think stinks!

Pxx

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Kev I did not say that I would allow the pushy German to barge in front of the queue but that the salesman should have dealt with the German in a more intelligent way. Maybe shove a glass of champagne in his hand, sit him down, show him a brochure and maybe massage his ego by telling him your colleagues are clearing the boat for him.
After all, the reality is that he's probably a better prospect than that nice family from Wolverhampton who've been waiting patiently to get on the boat

 

[JohnR]

Well there was a plan a year or two ago for the 64 to be outside Earls Court but I thank my lucky stars that she wasn't launched till Christmas and so all those sticky fingered little brats could crawl all over it.
I'll take that drink off you in Mallorca in May - by the way where was everyone yesterday, it was the quietest day I have known, I got more haggling done than ever before.