Sales career after refining maintenance engineering? 2

[refined sweat]

Hello - Ive been in the maintenance engineering side of refining for about 5years. Good pay and benefits, but not as exciting as I would like. I am really looking into making a big career change into sales of some kind. What are some good resources to read up on?

My goal would be to enter into a highly technical type of sales role where I can leverage my experience in refining type equipment and problem solving. What kind of job would this be and is sales engineering as exciting and rewarding for someone like myself? I am very ambitious and tenacious and currently feel like a cog in a wheel. I really want to chase after excellence and I see Sales as a method where the sky is truly the limit?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

[IRstuff]

The "grass is greener" syndrome at work; I think that you'd find that pretty much every job is 90% tedium, which is why it is always called "work."

I would venture to say that you'll find most problems to be solved will be the same-old, same-old, simply because that's the way of life.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[Latexman]

Going to try the dark side, I see.

Good Luck,
Latexman

 

[EnergyProfessional]

You know that sales has not much to do with providing the customer a really good solution. it is about selling whatever manufacturers your employer sells and you get commission. You seem to have a lot of knowledge that would be beneficial for sales, but sales is about selling.
The same way a car sales person isn't the one who knows the most about cars.

I'm a design engineer and deal a lot with sales people. Some are very knowledgeable, some less. but some get pushy for whatever reason. Also know it can take years from beginning of the design to actual sale and you don't get commission until a unit is solved. My employer has me start a lot of designs, then funding gets postponed, then design gets changed. Years later we then install, but possibly with a different equipment, or we end up selling the building before we do any of the installation. The poor salesperson spent time on that for years, and may never see a dime. I'm literally working on projects now in 2021 where I had done some design almost 10 years ago and my employer decided to not do anything back then, but now they may. the only thing sure, it won't be equipment I researched back then.

I also always wondered what happens to commission when you leave that job. In the above examples sales person A could have spent time with me, then left, and when the project actually happened, there was sales person B. I highly doubt they call up person A to send a check....

I also feel more future-proof being a designer. Someone who has years experience in designing (or in your case maintaining) can become a sales person. it doesn't work that way the other way around. At least not easily.

Some sales people I know say they get 100% paid by commission with zero benefits. Others may get some combination of commission and salary, but if you don't meet sales goals, that also disappears. I don't know how much $ they make. I assume you CAN make more money than being a designer, but you also can make much less or nothing. If i was you, i would have to do a LOT of research of how the conditions are and if it is worthwhile.

Just my 5ct.

 

[Richard Smith]

You can get a job in any Medical shop as they give a good amount of money. You can make a difference there with your sales experience

 

[ldeem]

I have been on both sides of this and here are some bullet points to keep in mind for sales.

1. Sales is about selling and not so much problem solving. If you aren't careful you will end up doing a lot of free consulting for people who may never buy.

2. Sales involves a lot of rejection, you need a fairly thick skin and self-confidence to avoid getting down after a string of rejections.

3. Commission based sales can be very high paying but also very low and a lot will depend on circumstances outside of your control.

I would recommend reading some sales books to see if you really have a fit for such a career.

 

[IRstuff]

Sales is about selling and not so much problem solving

I would say
Sales is about convincing someone that your product or service solves their problem. So, yes, while it may be a bad solution, or less than ideal solution, or not even a real solution, but you've convinced the buyer into thinking it's going to solve their problem.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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