TECHNICAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE  - Tania Crowe  (336 mots)

Hi, my name’s Tania Crowe and I am a technical sales representative.  

I am a territory manager for a company that specialises in industrial tapes and adhesives. I've always done people-oriented work and enjoy working with clients, so it seemed like a logical next step to start a sales work, going out on the road and becoming a rep.  

I spend most of my time giving technical advice to customers on what tape or adhesive they should use in a particular situation. That can mean working with architects, engineers, product designers, research and development staff, or production engineers. You could be dealing with any person in a business or organisation. 

You get really pleased when you solve someone's problem. I had one customer who had been literally trying for months to find a product. They asked us for help and we supplied them with a suitable product. Our suggestion worked perfectly. They now have a really good export business thanks to our assistance. 

Before starting this work you have got to ask yourself if you would be happy to spend a lot of time alone. That can be a problem sometimes, especially when you travel a lot. A lot of people think it's very glamorous staying in motels, but you have to like your own company. 

It's quite frightening when you first start, especially as you often meet reps who have been working for a long time and they seem to know everything. I thought I was never going to know what the experienced reps knew !

But now I am training someone and he's saying the same things that I used to say. It takes about one year before you start feeling comfortable. It's all about learning your products and having the confidence to recommend something. 

When things work well and you solve someone's problem it's a great feeling, and I just love working with the wide range of people that we come into contact with in this job.