Interesting Opportunity: Work from Home in your PJs talking all day about Porsches!

[Wayne 962]

I knew that headline would get some people's attention. No, it's not a joke. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have had a difficult time finding qualified Porsche & BMW sales people to:

1- Man the phones
2- Show up on time
3- Be reliable
4- Know what their talking about
5- Be able to commute to our El Segundo Location

With that in mind, I've decided to embark on a program to outsource our sales department - to India (just kidding, how about Indiana).

Seriously, I have been testing technology at my home office which creates a VPN (Virtual Private Network) with my home to the shop. Using a variety of high-tech gear, this has allowed me to use a standard PBX phone which seamlessly integrates with our phone system, and a standard computer terminal to interface with our computer systems. Thus, you can be located in your house in New England, and your computer and phone would effectively be as if you were located here in an office in El Segundo. I'm still working on the phone voice quality, but it looks like the plan will work well.

I'm looking for people who might be interested in a program like this. Each and every time I've posted job offerings on this site, I've gotten flooded with emails that ask for a telecommuting job. Now, I think I may have a solution. Keep in mind, that I would be looking for super-top notch people with Porsche knowledge (BMW knowledge is a HUGE plus). A large post count on the BBS wouldn't be bad either.

This remote salesperson would be either paid on salary or commission or a combination of both. I have not worked out or calculated the details quite yet.

The advantages are huge. No office infrastructure. No high California operating costs. We can have East Coast salesreps man the phones early in the morning for the Atlantic crowd, and the people calling from Europe. For the salesrep, the advantages are huge. You can work from home in your PJs. No commuting. More time with wifey and family, etc. If your sales numbers are good, and your feedback surveys are good, then that's all I care about.

In a nutshell, this idea seems like the best of both worlds both for me, and the potential salesrep. I would also be interested in people working commission, surfing the web boards, helping people with parts purchases, for which they get credit. Salary would be based mostly on performance. Overall, the whole plan seems like a win-win plan for me.

The timeframe on this? I would like to deploy at least one salesrep out on the East Coast within the next six months. I'm looking for people who are interested in potentially trying this. You have to be qualified of course, and we would bring you into LA for 2-3 weeks to train you on our systems and our procedures prior to setting you up. I'm not prepared to act right away, but I would like to be talking to a few potential candidates over the next few months.

I expect that interest will be big in this plan, based on the number of people who have contacted me in the past about working remotely for us. In addition to qualified people, I also need people who are willing to take a chance on this - it's a new pilot program and it may not work out exactly as planned (may fall prey to technology glitches, or other problems). However, I'm tossing this out to see who may be interested in the near future. I do have one friend of mine who may be a good first candidate, but he is at a pretty good job right now with super A+ benefits that his wife may not want him to jettison.

Anyways, if this sounds interesting, it's best to drop me a line at wayne@pelicanparts.com and let me know. I usually have a 24-48 response time on emails...

-Wayne

[Superman]

I already have a job, but I've decided to give up sleeping. I'll take the customers on the other side of the ball.

[Jamie79SC]

Wayne,

PM me if you want to talk about the telcom infrastructure. I'm in the business and I'd be happy to steer you around any blind alleys.

[bigrubberjeep]

Wayne, you have a PM.

[MysticLlama]

Awesome idea Wayne.

I've built the same sort of infastructure at our office, I just can't get management as enthusiastic about the idea as you are.

It's sad, we just lost a really good employee because she had to commute 62 miles each way in traffic, and they wouldn't let her telecommute 3 days a week, even though her job was a perfect fit for it.

I think it's a great idea.

[Grady Clay]

Wayne,

I don’t want a job but I might be convinced to do some bata testing and help you with training. I’ll think on it and e-mail you.

Best,
Grady

[Beethoven]

How cool would that be--you call up Pelican for a part and get Grady on the phone to give you advice!

[masraum]

Awesome, good luck with that Wayne. I wish I was a candidate, but I've got a job.

[Zeke]

No doubt the labor pool just got larger. Can't hurt.

How will you monitor calls? You better have a way so that you can be sure your remote employees conform to the Pelican ethos.

[Leland Pate]

I have never wished to be unemployed more in my life than at this exact moment.

Some day.

[jbrinkley]

in 41 days a doc will tell me if I can do my real job ever again. I've been home for 75 days already. Something like this happens and it makes you think about things, I mean really think.

[Superman]

I wish I were unemployed too. Wait, no I don't but if I were.......

Rob, it's a sad fact that some managers are determined to bring up the rear in terms of vision and competition. As a labor guy, I think I can safely predict that this telecommuting thing is going to get real big. It's perfect for many jobs, it meshes with family considerations and it's HUGELY less expensive for the employer. And hey, most of these positions are easy to evaluate in terms of work performance. It's a true no-brainer that many managers lack the foresight, or testicles, to adopt.

[juan ruiz]

My friends wife works from home just like this she works for Flowers.com she has 2 lines one for them and another line for another company she is doing pretty good, all done from her house. Good Idea.

The way that it works everytime she wants to work she just "Log in" soon after the phone start to ring and she takes and places orders, pretty slick.

[Jays72T]

Sign me up!

[MotoSook]

WOW! I might just have to think good and hard about this..hmmm.

[gduke]

Geat idea,Wayne. I wish I was qualified. I learned so much about Porsches in the last two years but, need to learn much more.

[dimps8]

Wayne, how about Australia! with the time difference we could work nights, and with our dollar valve, you could pay us around $1.50 per hour.

[fryardds]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
I knew that headline would get some people's attention. No, it's not a joke. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have had a difficult time finding qualified Porsche & BMW sales people to:

1- Man the phones
2- Show up on time
3- Be reliable
4- Know what their talking about
5- Be able to commute to our El Segundo Location

With that in mind, I've decided to embark on a program to outsource our sales department - to India (just kidding, how about Indiana).

Cool, oh wait you were kidding about Indiana. Maybe I could do this between patients. Everyone knows that orthodontists don't really have to work very much.

Wayne,
This sound like a great idea. There will probably be so much interest that you will have a tough time choosing the right person for the sales job.

[RallyJon]

How about taking it one step farther? Hire an East Coast guy with a big garage to be a "mini-DC" for you, and stock a few hundred of the more commonly ordered maintenance parts. He can work the phones in the AM and ship orders in the PM.

Nowadays when I order computer and office supplies on-line, I always try to figure out where the warehouse is. I'll gladly pay a slightly higher price from a vendor in NJ or DE from which I get overnight delivery at UPS ground prices.

[nostatic]

I've got the high post count, but the knowledge part.....hmmmm

I know...I can be the "on hold" entertainment. Another first from Pelican: live performances "on hold".