Pros
Decent Salary, Good promotional material, decent product. Company seems to have an established name in the marketplace and has been around for a while.
Cons
This would be a great job in an unpenetrated market, the problem is that the larger market areas are heavily oversaturated with Reps who have been with the company for years and pretty much have a stranglehold over territories. Not only do you have to compete with Auto Zone and Napa, who by the way,(sell Zep products off thier shelves for almost 40% less than you will be selling them for out of the catalouge), you also have to compete with your direct sales manager AND OTHER REPS IN YOUR HOME TOWN. Their are no protected territories and the market crunch has gotten so bad that reps from other states will come in to your market to fight for scraps. Most of the sales objections are based on price of product plus shipping cost. The people you will be trying to sell to know that they can go to Auto Zone and buy the EXACT same handsoap for way less than you are permitted to sell it for out of the catalouge. At the current rate, Zep's existence is based on retention of old accounts. No one in this climate is willing to pay extra for basic product that can be bought at heavier discounts from Wal-mart, Sam's Club or Auto Zone Competitors: Echolab and Kimball Mid West. WARNING: THIS JOB IS SALES 101. BE PREPARED TO "RE-LEARN" SALES BASED ON "DEMONSTRATING" THE PRODUCT IN FRONT OF EVERY SINGLE COLD-CALL/ CUSTOMER (20 PER DAY). YOUR MANAGERS REALLY DON'T WANT TO HIRE A NEW SALESPERSON. THEY ARE BEING FORCED TO BUY UPPER MANAGEMENT.. THERE IS NO ROOM FOR YOU. LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE! * Training consists of two days in a hotel conferance room, you won't have time to do any real studying as you will be way to busy making cold calls to fill your pipeline only to have your mangers cherry pick through it in the end! You are really just being paid to generate leads for your mngrs. SMOKE AND MIRRORS!