manufacturer golf sales rep. information wanted

Eec55 · April 11, 2007

looking to get employment in golf.....

I am trying to get some information on the proper way to break into the golf field of employment. i would love to be a sales rep for one of the major manufacturers ie...taylor made/adidas,ping,titleist...etc. If anyone is associated with any companys or has any info to help i would appreciate it. i have 8 years merchandising experience and i love golf. thanks....eric

HoosierGolfer · April 11, 2007

Here is a link from Callaway;

http://www.callawaygolf.com/en.cg.Corporat...ntOpenings.html

Hope this helps.

Good luck with your search.

jared · April 11, 2007

If you really want to do sales you better love golf to pursue one of these jobs. Typically you have to go the customer service route and they are big about promoting within. It is easier to acquire a position at a smaller company however I doubt the money is that great. I have almost 6 years of outside sales in the medical industry, I played collegiate golf and am a 1 index. And they wouldn't take me for anything other than customer service....if there is a better fit than my credentials i'd like to hear it. Your better off trying to get into another line of sales if your in it for the money.

NIUeman25 · April 11, 2007

Jared hit the nail on the head. Sales rep positions these das get more resumes than investment bankers, and the turnover is so low that is extremely hard to obtain a position from outside the company. Most times, it is even hard to get an interview for a cust. service spot. Best of luck.

dansrixon · April 11, 2007

If you really want to do it, be prepaired to suffer through a couple years in cust service.

rareguitar · April 11, 2007

Where there is a will there is a way. If it were me and I really wanted to be in that postion I would offer to work for free for 3 months so they can see what I am made of and how I can sell. From there they could decide if I was an assest to them. Sometimes you need to shake it up a bit and be outrageous to be noticed.

RG

glenwayputters · April 11, 2007

Where there is a will there is a way. If it were me and I really wanted to be in that postion I would offer to work for free for 3 months so they can see what I am made of and how I can sell. From there they could decide if I was an assest to them. Sometimes you need to shake it up a bit and be outrageous to be noticed.

RG

Brad

very well said. I employ 14 sales people in my "day job" and I beg them to be creative and sacrifice. Those are traits you cannot find in sales people today.

jay

jared · April 12, 2007

Where there is a will there is a way. If it were me and I really wanted to be in that postion I would offer to work for free for 3 months so they can see what I am made of and how I can sell. From there they could decide if I was an assest to them. Sometimes you need to shake it up a bit and be outrageous to be noticed.

RG

Brad

very well said. I employ 14 sales people in my "day job" and I beg them to be creative and sacrifice. Those are traits you cannot find in sales people today.

jay

Unfortunately in todays day in age the above is not possible or realistic. No company is going to let someone work for free etc. anyway. The overwhelmingly resounding point here guys is that unless your willing to really work your way up it is not worth it. I love golf. But, I also love a lifestyle that awards me the ability to afford my country club membership. The two ironically go hand in hand. Golf is not a cheap sport. Living in San Diego I cannot imagine taking a customer service job after making a great living in the medical community.

tina · April 12, 2007

its easier to teach someone the product than how to sell....... you might try what jared said, start with a small company and make a name for yourself.. trust me the regionals are always looking at other reps. Word gets around fast if you are any good. Even faster if your a bad rep. Taylor Made is the only one ive seen hire from outside of the industry for a new sales rep. PING, and TITLEIST are one of the hardest jobs to get because the reps just dont leave very often. Not to sure about Callaway. MAybe Cleveland or Adams. I think the Adams Guys are making decent $ now.

rareguitar · April 13, 2007

Where there is a will there is a way. If it were me and I really wanted to be in that postion I would offer to work for free for 3 months so they can see what I am made of and how I can sell. From there they could decide if I was an assest to them. Sometimes you need to shake it up a bit and be outrageous to be noticed.

RG

Brad

very well said. I employ 14 sales people in my "day job" and I beg them to be creative and sacrifice. Those are traits you cannot find in sales people today.

jay

Unfortunately in todays day in age the above is not possible or realistic. No company is going to let someone work for free etc. anyway. The overwhelmingly resounding point here guys is that unless your willing to really work your way up it is not worth it. I love golf. But, I also love a lifestyle that awards me the ability to afford my country club membership. The two ironically go hand in hand. Golf is not a cheap sport. Living in San Diego I cannot imagine taking a customer service job after making a great living in the medical community.

Not true in my industry, I employ quite a few salespeople and I have people approach me all the time wanting to join our group because of our reputation. I turn most of them down but the ones that walked in and said I do whatever it takes to be here usually get hired.

RG

dansrixon · April 13, 2007

its easier to teach someone the product than how to sell....... you might try what jared said, start with a small company and make a name for yourself.. trust me the regionals are always looking at other reps. Word gets around fast if you are any good. Even faster if your a bad rep. Taylor Made is the only one ive seen hire from outside of the industry for a new sales rep. PING, and TITLEIST are one of the hardest jobs to get because the reps just dont leave very often. Not to sure about Callaway. MAybe Cleveland or Adams. I think the Adams Guys are making decent $ now.

Cleveland and Adams are probably about the last two real good independent rep jobs left.

Orientblue3 · April 14, 2007

Adams is so damn small its hard to get a job there unless you have CAD training or something.

NST · May 16, 2007

There are two prominent websites that can help an independent sales reps to contact manufacturers or principals and find new product lines.

I just did a "keyword" search using "golf" as my keyword to find out how many manufacturers are on RepHunter - there are 114 that use the keyword golf in their profiles.

One is RepHunter at http://www.rephunter.net and the other is Replocate at http://www.replocate.com.

The best of these is RepHunter because it has a larger database and tracks online the contacts that you have made.

RepHunter also provides training and they have an informative FAQ page located at http://www.rephunter.net/faq.php.

Both sites post their phone numbers, so you can get to a real person. And you will usually get to a person right away. The posted number for RepHunter is 612-486-5020; for Replocate the number is 651-438-3364.

This is a FREE service for Independent Reps.

villa · May 16, 2007

There are a lot of ways into the industry if you really want it. Same with anything.

Most of the big companies have a careers section on their website and if there's nothing available then send your info anyway. If they don't have a recruitment section, find the contact info somewhere and send your info. DON'T just send your resume and hope for the best. Send a well written letter explaining what it is that you want from a company and what your career intentions are. Add on the letter that if they can't help you at this time, could they point you in the direction of someone who could.

The more shots you take, the more goals you score. Simple.

Don't be afraid to look at the smaller companies and even the accesories companies just to get yourself in the industry. Don't be afraid to start in customer service or even as an assistant somewhere within a company. Once your in, your in, and then it's up to you to make it to where you want to be.

Find every piece information available. Go to demo nights and talk to the reps about how they got in to the industry. Take your resume with you and give it to them. What's the worst that can happen?

Be confident, be well spoken, be well presented, be assertive, be knowledgable but DON'T confuse any of this with arrogance.

It's good to see someone asking the questions about how to get into the industry that they love. I don't want you to be sitting in an office in five years time doing a job you don't enjoy just because you didn't research every possible opportunity.

Go for it mate.

homerthedog · May 16, 2007

As someone who has had a rep job with one of the big OEM's I thought I could add a bit to this discussion. First of all, you should know that golf reps do not play much golf. Everyone thinks reps play golf 3 times week but they don't. Your handicap will go up - I promise. You will be working weekends. Yes, you will have fun working the demo days at the high end country clubs. But you will be miserable when you have to do a demo days at the local muni and the "customers" are just there to hit free balls. It is a high-pressure job. You will have numbers to hit and if you aren't hitting them, the regionals will be out looking for someone to replace you. The pay is decent but nothing to brag about.

I was lucky when I got my job and I was hired immediately as a rep. But the previous posters are correct in that it is VERY difficult to get a rep job without working in customer service first. And you can't be picky about where you work. Once a rep job opens up, it may be Southern California and it may be Montana.

As I mentioned above, I had the job. I am no longer with TMAG. I loved the opportunity but real estate is far more lucritive and I play a lot more golf. Leaving was a great decision for me.

Stogie · July 30, 2012

Hello to all,

We are a manufacture of a E-Cigar that is really starting to become popular by demand. If anyone is interested in become a manufacture representative for some or all of our products we would be more than happy to hear from you.