k0ua
Epic Contributor
Two things a salesperson shouldn't be without:
A pen to take notes on what your customer wants and the ability to rattle off a price range. If you're unable to rattle off a price range, then ask your customer what he or she is expecting to pay. Most people are pretty straightforward on that.
At any-rate, I think your sales manager is simple for not allowing you to price things. Think it through: why were you hired? to sell and service customers and their accounts. But if you cannot sell without checking with the manager, the manager is the one selling, not you. That sort of thing is management arrogance. Underlying it all is that management has forgotten that the customer's time, like their own time, is precious, and they are messing around wasting the customer's time with needless middlemen.
The same thing happens in auto dealerships and you know what happens? The manager ends up face to face negotiating the price for the car and when that happens to me, I ask manager why he or she even hires sales people if the manager is not equipping his or her sales people with the skills and knowledge to sell and close on their own. Mr. Manager are you still trying to be the shop's number one salesperson? Really?
Anyway, you're at where you are at, but the day may come when you're the manager and you'll have the power to empower your people. Don't waste that position by having a Monday morning sales meeting and asking everybody how much they think they will sell that week.
Very very good points!. Nothing pixxes me off more than trying to make a deal with a salesman and winding up having to go over the whole thing with the sales manager anyway.. Just trying to wear you out is all they are doing. Not all sales experiences are like this, but so many are.