Pros
It provided an income, albeit a small one.
Cons
The compensation structure is so poor that I had to dip into savings every month to make ends meet. This is not usually an issue for me because I am accustomed to large swings in income. As much as $15,000 per month swings. But it became evident very early on that there was no upside potential to offset these negative cash flows that I was experiencing with ASAHI. The duties are far more than typically asked of an experienced technical Sales Engineer in some areas and significantly less in others. In the past I have never been directed to collect accounts until they became severely delinquent and the customer was at risk of having the terms changed to Cash on Delivery or Cash in Advance. At ASAHI, I was the first line of contact for even minor delinquencies of 15 days beyond term. Salespeople are kept in the dark with regard to basic product knowledge, which destroys their credibility and makes it more difficult to sell the products. For example the samples have no supporting data to say that one sample will perform over another. The salesforce system they are using is a worthless piece of garbage. It is extremely cumbersome as a contact management system, and provides no useful data with regard to historical notes, previous quotes, designs and technical specifications. The new salesperson walking into this sales role can glean nothing useful from the system, and it becomes nothing more than another burdensome reporting mechanism. Supervision and Management: There were weekly sales meetings to state progress on a 3-5 year sales cycle. Company Policies and Procedures: The policies and procedures are constantly in flux, and the outcome is usually more money out of the employee’s pockets. In a very short time with ASAHI, I observed more changes to company policies and procedures, than I did in the entirety of my career. Salary and Employee benefits: The salary is significantly below market rates for a technical sales engineer in a major metropolitan area. I would argue that the entire sales organization is being run on the very cheap. The base is low, the commission is low, there is a commission cap, and if that isn't enough it sunsets after 4 years, despite being OEM based sales with 7-10 year revenue streams between redesigns. The pay structure is more in line with that of a low skilled sales force (no degree, inexperienced, or door to door) as opposed to one that is required to have a solid understanding of physics, mechanical engineering, and medical procedures. Other Comments: There were many times that I felt helpless to serve my customers. From the structured, and at times hostile, gate keepers of information and the continual language barriers of those gate keepers, it was evident that my hands were tied and the company would proceed how they saw fit no matter what I or the customers said needed to be done to move the project along. This story captures the frustration salespeople and customers alike face when dealing with this company. One time, out of the many times, when I had to tell a customer that the next iteration of their design would take another 6-8 weeks, I could see the was about to cry because so much of his hard earned capital and efforts to lineup the clinical trials would be lost. Not because he hadn't allowed enough time for a redesign, he had. It is just that once again we had “guessed” wrong and failed to meet the needs of the customer.