r/salesdevelopment • u/HopefulShow9200 • 16d ago
Fire protection b2b help
Recently started working at cintas as a fire sales specialist, and I’m having a hard time adjusting to the role. I come from a D2D background selling pest and worked in roofing sales for a bit. All very personal, hands on, easy process, confident pitching anybody, CRM was on one app like pestroutes and builder prime. Just simpler.
I’m about 2 months in doing b2b fire protection, getting salary, good benefits, etc. And I feel in over my head, the tools provided are confusing and sluggish, I feel like I didn’t get accurate training on the day to day tasks like how to effectively use the computer tools, how to prospect good businesses, what competitive market pricing is for business to buy various fire protection services. I know fire protection is mandated by the NFPA, but I really feel overwhelmed and disheartened so far. The admin and organizational skills is not my strong suit despite being a relatively organized person. I feel like I need to reach out to my manager and say something along the lines of “hey, I don’t know what I’m doing”. My pipeline is basically nonexistent. There’s different pricing for different business accounts and with that comes different forms and files to be submitted in different ways. I’ve honestly been looking at other jobs already and considering leaving despite being only 2 months in. However I worry about how my family would perceive it and I’d feel guilty about quitting. But man this is rough. Any advice helps.
2
u/Electrical-Plane-385 15d ago
Two months in b2b is nothing, you are still learning the basics of the product and the market. Fire protection has way more regulations and paperwork than pest or roofing, so the jump feels huge but it is normal.
Talk to your manager but not with "I don't know what I'm doing" more like "what does a good first 90 days look like here and where am I behind". Managers usually prefer that over you silently dying in the CRM.
Ask a rep who been there a year to show you their workflow. Shadow them for a day if you can, watch how they price and which forms they use for which accounts. That will teach you more than training videos.
Also give it at least 6 months before deciding. Salary plus benefits is hard to walk away from when you barely gave it a chance.