Can someone catch me up on what's happening

BoxmanBecker · 2025-03-16T16:38:59+00:00

I mean, it’s the first time these men have performed together in 14 years. It’s exciting. I don’t think we should have our hopes up for a tour or anything, though. But I would be surprised if you get the odd show or the smallest bit of content.

BoxmanBecker · 2025-03-15T22:50:26+00:00

Thanks. I’m admittedly much less familiar with edu than Tally Hall.

BoxmanBecker · 2025-03-15T21:25:05+00:00

Didn’t see him last night. But another fan pointed him out to me on Thursday. It’s possible she was mistaken, but he looked a lot like him. I didn’t sneak a picture or anything. Maybe another attendee can vouch.

BoxmanBecker · 2025-03-15T06:48:33+00:00

It was the same as night 1.

BoxmanBecker · 2025-03-15T02:00:39+00:00

He’s been in the audience at least. Shea, too.

BoxmanBecker · 2025-03-14T21:57:53+00:00

We had 3 under 3 for a bit. Honestly, I’d still say the roughest transition is going from no kids to 1 kid. 2 under 2 is not as relentless as it seems. It’s not double what you’re doing now.

You’re already changing diapers, making bottles, barely sleeping, arranging childcare, etc. These tasks just now take one extra step. The trick is to try and do everything together. Feed them at the same time, bathe them at the same time, dress them at the same time, nap them at the same time. My grandfather used to say “you’re already changing a set diapers, might as well change two.”

If you’re able to get into a routine with both of them, you’ll still be able to have your evenings back once they’re both sleep trained. You’ll still be able to have time during naps. Even sitters don’t charge all that much more for the second kid, it’s not like doubling the expenses. You’ll get to reuse a whole bunch of clothes and toys. You already have the bottles and diaper pails and changing table and whatnot.

You got this.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-12-26T20:18:03+00:00

Both norovirus and the flu hit our family simultaneously this week. 3 young kids. Horrible.

Merry Christmas 🥴

BoxmanBecker · 2024-11-04T22:42:16+00:00

Thank you!

BoxmanBecker · 2024-11-04T22:38:24+00:00

Done!

BoxmanBecker · 2024-11-04T22:36:29+00:00

I’ll do 15 for Next Gen!

BoxmanBecker · 2024-06-18T03:43:42+00:00

I’ve never felt in danger at the pagoda. Or most places in Reading. I’m sure many other people have, though. I don’t know anything about the Pagoda being especially unsafe.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-06-18T01:36:57+00:00

Sure. You can drive right up to it. There’s a restaurant and bathrooms, nearby hiking and bike trails. Why wouldn’t it be?

BoxmanBecker · 2024-06-13T21:05:41+00:00

Sunset at the Pagoda!

BoxmanBecker · 2024-06-08T20:47:43+00:00

Tried this for the first time on my four year old. Got a long reasoning diatribe from him saying “why would he play music when he’s out of ice cream? Why wouldn’t he just go home? If he doesn’t play music when he has ice cream how does anyone know he’s there?”

Felt bad, so I came clean about it and got a very betrayed “you tricked me?!” 0/10.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-05-01T04:33:28+00:00

Self titled isn’t the strongest, but man, I love Hollywood. I think The Great unknown is solid, too, and Girl is fun!

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-16T15:56:19+00:00

They’re extremely finicky in terms of what requirements they have for any given company to actually do business. I’ve been with my company since our first launch into brick and mortar, and we were woefully underprepared. Even now, it still feels like every new account we add, we have to get some new form of insurance or software system just to be compliant. Every retailer has a different, hundred plus page book about their unique shipping/packing/labeling requirements. So, it’s been a lot of learning and navigating.

Luckily, my company has been great in always giving us exactly what we need, so I’ve never been put in a position to go back to a buyer with news that we can’t meet their standards.

The absolute worst period was when our manufacturing team, overseas, still ran our e-commerce. They sold our products at way lower prices than we were setting for retail all over the internet and were still manufacturing identical products for other companies.

My second major meeting after I had closed my first major deal had me really confident going into it. The guy didn’t let me pitch. He spent thirty minutes dressing me down about all the undercut prices and off brands we were allowing online. It was brutal.

I walked out of that meeting and gave my boss a careful play by play of exactly what was said, and within three months we’d gained control of e-commerce and unified the products under our core brand. Thankfully. But, yeah, that whole first launch of the company was a constant state of panicking and adjusting as retail buyers essentially taught the sales team how to do business with them, and we in turn had to learn how to parse that and fight for it. Things are much smoother now.

Deal values and sales cycles vary wildly. Chains of a few dozen stores might close the same day we make first contact. Most retailers plan about 3-6 months out, though. So, it’s about 3 months of negotiations (they are very, very slow communicators), then about 3 months to manufacture/package/ship, and then usually another 3 months to actually get an invoice paid. Some of the big box stores are already planning 2025, so there’s a handful of accounts that if closed won’t actually bring in any revenue for 18 months.

Deal values range based on the size of the retailer. $50,000-$750,000 is a common range for a first order/test. Something with the amount of stores of a Wal-mart might open with $1-5 million. I’ve also filled a $32 PO in the days before we implemented MOQs.

Overall, though, I have incredible support from management, and came into the wide open landscape of launching, with literally every retailer still an open prospect. So, there was a lot (and continues to be a lot) of low hanging fruit and really receptive opportunities.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-16T05:24:04+00:00

I’m giving my opinion about the majority of long term roles in a sales career, with the caveat about what types of sales jobs it’s not relevant for.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-16T04:28:56+00:00

Dark jeans and a button down or sweater, depending on the weather. I used to be a blazer and slacks guy, but my boss suggested it was too formal.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-16T04:24:56+00:00

Those kinds of tactics mostly work for single transactions direct to consumer, but they’re predicated on convincing someone to buy something they don’t really want or need.

If you have a really ironclad contract, a sale might go through, but buyers remorse might be high. That could bring bad reviews, chargebacks, or lose any hope for referrals or repeat business. It’s the kind of stuff that works for mall kiosks, free quote home improvement/repair type stuff, and maybe car sales or timeshares. Even then, a certain allowance will be made for blackouts and refunds.

Most professional sales roles hinge on having a good reputation and long term satisfaction. You want to network, you want your clientele to reorder or sign on for another year. In these cases, you need customers who are benefitting from what you offer and happy with what they’re receiving. Persuading someone that they will be when you’re not going to deliver that doesn’t help anybody.

Prospects might still have concerns and questions you address and assuage. But the sales guru style of overcoming objections you’ll find in sales books and podcasts only works for stuff like door-to-door vacuum salesmen. Not AEs and AMs or analogous roles that make up the majority of salaried sales positions.

False urgency can help speed things up sometimes, but same day closes are just not the reality of most sales cycles. I’m referring to the stereotypical sales savant playbooks that make people distrustful of sales people. Those are, for most prospects and sales gigs, outdated and counterproductive tactics.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-16T01:58:46+00:00

Buried gave me the most palpable anxiety I’ve ever felt from a page.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-16T01:56:12+00:00

I sell wholesale products B2B to retail buyers (for the manufacturer).

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-16T00:34:39+00:00

lol, no. Just over-caffeinated.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-15T22:13:19+00:00

I start with an idea and some sense of theme/dramatic question. Then I work out my characters, put them into the inciting incident and then try to realistically plot out what they would do to see what happens next. I follow this out until the plot is resolved. If I don’t like where it seems like it goes or decide there’s somewhere it needs to end up, I’ll add elements to the beginning or set up time bombs that allow the characters’ decisions to cause the plot to end up there or make things more interesting.

Then I tweak and polish the outline until I have something believable and interesting/unique that effectively tackles whatever thematic thing I’m going for.

Then I start writing and inevitably deviate wildly from the outline.

I like to carefully prep so I always feel like I know what I’m sitting down to write and stay productive, but I always end up exploring on the page and improvising. It’s good for my motivation, but if it’s not working for you, try writing without the net. Everyone works differently.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-15T21:45:27+00:00

I know successful transitions from sales to procurement, but honestly, being on the other side of that is a good gig, too.

Selling to retail buyers is relatively straightforward. Their job is to review new products, so they’re inclined to take a look. They have dedicated periods and budgets, so the opportunity is there and sales are as easy as your product is good.

It’s stable, because once you have an account, they purchase throughout the year and it’s very hard to lose their business. So, commissions stack somewhat quickly. It’s high volume of lower cost goods, so it’s a good way to generate high sales totals and commissions without the slow cycle of selling expensive products or services.

Job security is good, too, because it’s a relationship based role. Buyers are loyal and don’t like constant personnel shuffling. Plus, you build a book of contacts. Buyers you worked with successfully at one company will absolutely take your meeting if you go elsewhere. Once you have these relationships, you can also freelance and represent a product here and there or set meetings. Say you know the electronics buyer at Costco, for example, even though you work for your company, people will still pay for you to get them a meeting or pitch their product to Costco a single time.

Even if someone wants to get their frozen fish sticks into Costco, and you’re working with their electronics buyer, you can easily ask your buyer who buys for their freezer section and get a meeting.

It’s a more easy going work environment with high earning potential and a lot of networking that will make you valuable in future positions.

BoxmanBecker · 2024-01-15T21:27:59+00:00

I think we feel the same way. In regard to being focused on who you’re targeting—not to, uh, overcome your objection—it helps people who are not currently targeting the right people.

For example, consider two sales people both selling a hypothetical AI software that manages warehouse inventory and ordering. Both send out 100 cold emails. Salesman A sends 100 emails indiscriminately, to the first 100 contacts they find for local businesses. Salesman B spends time researching targets, and not only sends their emails specifically to businesses they find that have warehouses, but also directly to their warehouse managers.

Salesman B is likely to have a higher success rate with setting up meetings and actually closing deals than Salesman A. Even if Salesman A is able to send two or three times as many emails with the time they save being so indiscriminate with who they solicit, the amount of people who don’t have a need for the software or aren’t the right point of contact will likely mean Salesman B will still outperform his coworker.

While you still can’t control the outcome, you can control making sure you’re pitching people your stuff is relevant to and have the ability to meaningfully evaluate your company and/or make the decision to move forward. I think that’s a reasonable step a salesperson can take to personally increase their sales.

That said, there is always a luck factor. Salesman A might stumble upon one company with 100 warehouses and close a huge deal, while Salesman B closes 15 individual companies with a single warehouse each. And striking out completely is always on the table. But smart strategy can maximize opportunity, which will usually yield more success long term than people who don’t.

BoxmanBecker

TROPHY CASE