by Gordon Gray
When I look back over the years at the good and the bad times, they fall into two clear groups. The good times always happened when I had a good boss. Life was so much better with a boss who had actually experienced what the salesman was going through. He would understand and could often offer valuable advice and guidance. The salesman could then concentrate on the job and did not need to worry about what was going on back in the office. The bad, or frustrating, times seemed to happen when the boss did not understand what was entailed in the job I was trying to do.
Thankfully, there have been far more good times than bad. I have been involved in many successes around the world and I have been honoured to work with a lot of good people as bosses and colleagues, customers and agents, both in the UK and overseas, and I still keep in touch with a lot of them. I have had great job satisfaction from so many aspects of the job, not just when the team won an order. Satisfaction came from just knowing we were doing all the right things, even if it seems that little progress was being made as we worked our way ‘one step at a time’ through a project. Each small positive step along the way boosted our confidence and commitment, as well as job satisfaction. As new doors opened, so we met new people, new opportunities emerged and new ways of winning presented themselves. It all added up and kept us going.
However, all good things must come to an end. I realised that my end was coming when a new sales director, fresh from a desk in corporate HQ, appeared in the division. On our first meeting, I was struck by his casual ‘no tie and open collar’ look and his youthful face. He was chatty and friendly and was, I discovered, just thirty-four. I was fifty-seven. As he studied my tie, I had what Bill Hawley used to call a ‘BGO’ moment (a ‘Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious’). My boss was young enough to be my son and I am sure he must have been looking at me and thinking “Why have I got this silly old codger working for me?”Time to move on, I told myself, Your work here is done and your time here is over.
And so it was. I took a voluntary redundancy package a few months later. At fifty-seven and with the industry contracting, I was not going to find another export sales job in the industry so I retired from the game. However, I had enjoyed myself and had always tried to take the frustrations, or jokes, that life threw at me along the way. As long as the salesman remains honest to himself, does his absolute best, then he can sleep well at night. Anyway, “If you can’t take a joke, you shouldn’t have joined!”
Brief CV of Gordon Gray
Between 1977 and 2007, I was employed by the following companies:
1977 – 1983: Decca Radar/Racal Decca. (Sales Manager and Far East Sales Manager).
1984 – 1985: Sperry Marine, European HQ. (Sales and Marketing Manager).
1985 – 1990: Plessey Displays, then Plessey Naval Systems. (Naval Export Salesman, Middle East Area Salesman).
1990 – 1991: Marconi/ Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS). (Middle East Area Salesman).
1991 – 1994: Thorn EMI Electronics. (Export Sales Director, later Regional Sales Director. Far East).
1994 – 1997: Ultra Electronics. (Export Sales Manager, Command and Control Systems).
1997 – 1999: Capitex Ltd. (Marketing Director).
1999 – 2007: BAE Systems. (International Sales Executive).