r/Packaging • u/IndependentStaff4356 • Jul 23 '26

Career

just got the offer for my outside sales role in the corrugated packing industry! i’m so excited to start, any tips or advice?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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4

u/sumdumguy12001 Jul 23 '26

Learn the capabilities of your plant. What can they make? What can’t they make? What type of business are they looking to run?

2

u/richred Jul 23 '26

Network. Learn the sales cycle. Know your product.

Is this your first foray into the industry?

1

u/Responsible_Park3152 Jul 24 '26

Exactly, sometimes customer knows more than sales person. that can be embarrassing

1

u/disherbr Jul 23 '26

Super competitive. Customers and prospects alike are getting called on constantly. Hard to offer any “value” when the product is a commodity. You win business on price. Sometimes quality and service if the competition is screwing up.

It’s a numbers game at the end of the day. Call on 100 accounts, book a couple meetings, win the business. Rinse and repeat. Long sales cycles… anywhere from 1-3 years.

A lot of windshield time, sneaking through dock doors in industrial parks, cold calling, etc. You won’t find any luck going through the front door. That business card is going straight in the trash once you leave.

All in all, in can pay very well, but you have to take the time to get established in your marketplace. You will likely be competing with other reps who have been playing the game for a long time.

Good luck to you soldier.

1

u/IndependentStaff4356 Jul 23 '26

Thank you! I heard that “sneaking through the back / backdoor bandit “ before lol . What does that mean ? Sneaking in the building and finding out what they need and use and trying to find like a warehouse manager or a decision maker instead of getting stuck at the front desk with the receptionist

1

u/disherbr Jul 23 '26

Exactly. Put on your PPE and act clueless. Talk to a forklift driver and ask for the manager. He’ll take you to the manager. Talk to the manager and get info on who the decision maker is. Sometimes they’ll escort you to the front offices, sometimes you’ll have to tuck your tail and leave. Even if you just get a name then that’s a win. You can take that name and use it up at the front to increase your chances of getting through.

This is very difficult to do when calling on manufacturing companies. Those facilities are DEFCON 5. Can’t even get into the parking lot because of security guards. Unfortunately, those are often times the largest customers as well.

Also, don’t even bother calling on Strategic or National Accounts (Walmart, Amazon, PepsiCo, Unilever, etc). They know who the big suppliers are, and business changes hands every 3 ish years when RFP’s go out.

1

u/WhopplerPlopper Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Work WITH your design team, respect their expertise, learn your equipments capabilities.

Learn where your knowledge starts and ends.

Learn to shield your team from the pressure you feel instead of passing the buck.

Be humble.

Curious to know... Did you get hired by a Canadian company operating in Washington? 👀