Sales - Questions

Hey everyone,
Been here for a while looking but new member.
I'm looking at sales as a career choice, I just have a few questions, any answers would be appreciated.

-Do people on the sales side of trading ever work weekends? I've heard they don't but I'd think with sales you'd be communicating with clients all the time, even weekends?

-What does an analyst in sales actually do, is it just mainly paperwork and the things the associates don't want to do? I'm guessing analysts don't go and meet clients, is this true?

-Does anyone have any idea in sales around the world, for me I'm in Australia. Here there is the big players are UBS, Macquarie, Goldman Sachs JBW and JPMorgan, however after reading recruitment forums nobody seems to be interested in sales/trading. Is this because the salaries are lower?

Any answers/ideas would be much appreciated,

 
Best Response

Answers

  • sometimes I work weekends but that mostly b/c I'm an analyst. People who come in on weekends who are more senior usually do only when they are getting ready for a big meeting/business trip.

  • Depends on the bank. I do the stuff others don't want to do, but I also have met several clients and have a few I take after myself. I think my bank is a bit more open to having analysts do work though, as I know at other places people aren't allowed to talk to clients for 6 months to 1 year.

-Don't know much about Australia - sorry! In terms of why people seem to be more IBD than S&T, I think it's that at the top recruited schools, there is a sense that IBD takes more intelligence and so it's more desired. That was certainly the case where I went - IBD or consulting were far more attractive career choices. But you should do what suits you best, not what most people think is the best choice.

 

Thanks a lot fp175, Yeah I don't expect many people to know much about the conditions in Australia. Would you expect salaries/bonuses in sales to be inline with IBD?

If anyone else is in sales I'd love to hear your experiences in relation to the questions above :)

Cheers

 

From what I have heard, and what I have experienced: - It's really hard to get into sales because a lot of people want to do it, and more often than not an ex trader will switch to the sale side. - Your base salary is the same as M&A, bonuses your first 2-3 years are calculated the same as in M&A, but once that is over: the sky is the limit! The sales associate I knew were making more than their M&A counterparts. - Sale also has a more balanced men/women ratio than any other front office positions. - The hours are better than in IBD, I was told I will not work week ends as an analyst, but I am pretty certain that was just to entice me to accept the job offer ;) - Why is it all about M&A at school? A lot of people are interested in trading as well, but it takes a different type of character to do trading, and not a lot of people are excited about a trading floor. Also trading seems to attract more quant types and people with a finance background, where as M&A attracts everyone. For sales, there just arn't that many jobs in banks, also when the economy is not doing too hot, the sales force is very "expandable". M&A on the other hand has plenty more job opps to offer. Look at it this way: a sales person might end up staying with the company 10 years, an M&A person will stay with the company 2 years. - In the end, I will start in July, and I know about sales only through all my contacts and what not. Apparently you do quiet a bit of grunt work at first, but if you are not a moron you are allowed to talk to smaller clients within your first 6 months at the desk. - I had around 11 sales people convincing me to do sales; I had about 0 person convincing me to do M&A. It seems that people in sales enjoy their job a bit more :)

Disclaimer: the information above might be full of s..., I do not work yet in sales. All of this is based on my talks with people from the industry and future colleagues (who all had an incentive to convince me to join)


Remember, you will always be a salesman, no matter how fancy your title is. - My ex girlfriend

 

Because attempting to beat the market is a futile endeavour. muuuwahahahahahah. Atleast thats what the silly academics and their EMH believe. Thats why they focus on IBD, trading while it can be quantitative, the actual execution of pulling the trigger is very much an art. Why sales isnt taught? Very good question, that i cannot answer. Any takers?

"Oh - the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion?"

"Oh the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion" - Frank Slaughtery 25th Hour.
 

I have heard the words 'copy and paste' associated with sales people far too often than I care to believe. How true is this? A few traders have told me that clients frequently bypass the sales person and will discuss a trade directly with them.

 

If you're talking cash equities or some kind of basic flow - yeah, you can bypass sales. Of course, that means the client is competent enough to trade as a market counterparty.

If you want structured stuff - that is, the kind of trades that make good P&L - no trader in the world will spend time trying to help a client work out a good trade idea or hedge. That what sales does.

Good salespeople add value and shitty ones don't - period.

 

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"Oh the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion" - Frank Slaughtery 25th Hour.

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