UNTHINKIT SALES POSITION

CREATIVE MARKETING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE POSITION OFFERED:
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/med/625393297.html
For more information please contact: sales@unthinkit.com

The Goal Behind UNTHINKIT:
We believe that in kindergarten, when asked what one wanted to do when one grew up, the answers were always idealistic- usually indicitive of innate interest, gifting, or exposure. They were not predicated on money, difficulty, education, schooling etc. Most people, we believe are not earning an income in the area of their true gifting or talent.. they are simply going through economic modalities to sustain themselves in the hopes that one day, when they are nearly dead, they can excercise their gifts. HOWEVER....

Now is the best time in the history of the world for gifting, innovation, and rapid response!
Our overall goal is to enable as many people as possible to earn a living in their gifting. helping them refine their abilties by better applying it to business needs, and then making money
as such, I constantly stream through artists and opportunities. I have often created whole sectors of my business around talented people I have found... instead of the reverse...

AGENCY DISLOYALTIES
This is why agencies are so disloyalto designers: they routinely cast off their talent because they can't seem to make the projects fit their client pool.

Basically the agencies work like this...
1. Client is approached by AE
2. AE schmoozes client
3. Client feigns interest,
4. AE offers incentives (tickets, sports, etc.. events)
5. Client comes back to AE
6. AE sells the firm vs others
7. Client agrees to give the firm the shot
8. Agency/AE presents 3 comps for designs by 3 Agency designers
9. AE and top agency brass pitch the comps
10. Client accepts or rejects the comps
11. Client accepts comp 1 and Agency charges Client up the wazoo,
12. The 2 other comp's designers eventually lose their jobs.

Embedded in the project fees given to Client by Agency in #11 above are the following extraneous costs:

1. Overhead (extra office space for designers and A/E's)
2. Labor for the extra comps not selected
3. The margin associated with comp comp work for LOST clients that never went with the
firm , but the firm still had to pay their employee/contract designers.
4. The schmoozing, boozing, and perks
5. The proofs for all comps
6. Other wasteful overages.

CLIENTS GET HURT AND PAY MORE BY THESE LAYERS OF WASTE

What WE do is a few unique things

1. We offer a full set of creative solutions to service ad agencies, marketing firms, architects, industrial deisgn firms, and web developerswe fill the freelance gap as an agency to agencies; NOT as an HR or staffing firm, but rather a subcontracted resource where an agency can cherry pick what they need from us be it 3d, animation, print, branding, logos, etc web design.

2. We offer a full range of business services to startups ranging from trademark and identity, to product development, market penetration, funding, exit, sales growth ... everything We also work with direct clients.

3. We only use the best talent. We respond to the needs of every client and tailor our approach to them to reflect THEIR business rather than come to them with a pitch or a stylization and then attempt to sell it to them. We hand pick our design team from a ready and changing pool of willing American designers to organically meet the needs of each client.

SHOOTING THE GAPS AND FINDING NEEDS:

I once responded to an inquiry for a sketch artist for 8 bucks an hour .. but when I met with the client to probe the reason WHY the client wanted a sketch artist, I exposed a REAL NEED which was that they were having problems with symmetry and patterning in their prototyping process... I therefore introduced them to my 3d modeling, rendering and animation area and it turned into an 8k contract and I never sketched a thing.

FOCUSING ON THE WHY:
Most people focus on the "what".. .we focus on the "WHY"!

WHY do they need an artist, WHY do they want a logo, WHY are they hiring sales people, WHY are they looking for a Project Manager... etc WHY are they hiring a product designer,.... WHY do they want to build a website we can get to literally dozens of purposeful services that typical agencies cannot. We are VERY dynamic in our approach.

DESIGNING SALES REPS:
We only work with account execs that can design thereby UNTHINKIT can close projects for them that they can become stakeholders in.

MAXIMIZING RELATIONSHIPS:
When we get a startup company client, we are there for the LONG HAUL:
naming, branding, logo, identity, prototype, market deployment, advertising, marketing, internal presentation materials, brand building, web site design, 3d rendering, search engine optimization, sales channel development, business consulting, funding, financing, equity plans, exit strategies

We can MAXIMIZE every client.
A recent client we have, for example came to UNTHINKIT for a cheap logo.
That business has grown into logo, web, signage, fax marketing, webmail, consulting, network maintenance, LAN setup, software support, business development, and internal marketing
150 bucks to several thousand

INCENTIVIZING THE CLIENT:
Every client gets $ for referring new business offsetting their developments.

GETTING PAST NO:
Often times when you, as a designer or small agency, can't close a sale it is because of the client's lack of cash flow either in delayed receivables, no startup capital, or a weak cash position.
We are now opening up a whole new area of business financing that will allow us to help our clients literally finance their development with us through receivable loans, signature loans, secured loans, etc... Thereby we not only remove cashflow as an objection, but we also help our clients acquire our own project fees....

For example when a medical practice wants to do a new website costing 15-20k with video
and they are holding off because of cashflow... it is because they have delayed receivables from
insurance companies, medicare, etc...We can offer them credit-based financing on those receivables to get them the money now to start their projects with us.. then they pay it back to our factor over time and actually build their credit now...

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Do you have offices here in Charlotte?
No, not for the forseeable future. Family is very important to us as business people and we all work from our homes.

Isn't an office necessary to maintain productivity?
No. We use as many networking tools as possible (chat, ftp, blog, phone, e-fax, e-mail, voip, relay, etc) to manage our informational logistics. Typically most industry account execs are selling and meeting clients out in the field at their places of business, coffee shops, restaurants, events, etc. while the design work is usually done at an office. We reduce overhead by working from home offices, networking, and meeting collaboratively at central locations to our team members.

We work with designers and reps all over the region. Forcing them to commute daily to an office adds another layer of unneccessary expense that would result in higher prices for our clients. It also reduces our Ecological Footprint on our economy.

All of our freelancers typically have their own software and computers already which eliminates the need for an office network, extra computers, printers, T1, internal file servers, lighting, office supplies, decor, etc. By virtue of our business being virtually paperless, we not only reduce our Ecological Footprint, but we remove nearly EVERY LAYER of business expense contributing to expanded pricing for our clients. In so doing, we scrape out all of the overages, and present our clients with more integrity in our pricing by getting down to root costs of production. This allows us to actually sell fantastic creative at a nearly wholesale rate. For this reason, other marketing firms, ad agencise, web developers, architects, and industrial design firms don't view us as a competitor, but rather an amazing resource. For, instead of getting the use of a single freelancer for odd projects, they get an entire domestic agency!

What skills are you looking for in an Account Executive?
The thing with the AE for us is that it is really not sales per se- it is more of referral sales and leads generation. Commissions are the same as a sales rep. but you don't have to write contracts, give quotes, handle paperwork, or anything else. the AE is not closing sales... they just digging up leads and referring them to sales we do the closing, the quotes etc if the project involves an area that you are talented in, you get the design work too we collect 70% up front from our clients so as far as payment, commissions are paid when the contract closes NOT when completed work is delivered to the client. The company makes its margin on the back end and pays YOU first.

What are the biggest challenges an AE faces in its position?
Little supervision. We give LOTS of guidance, assistance, and provide great infrastructure as needed, but little supervision....so trust, hard work, and discipline are very important. For our AE's, unlike other companies,

What is the most important part of the job?
Sticking to the plan UNTHINKIT lays out for lead generation.
The other challenge is to be able to listen for and uncover needs that a client may have that may not be apparent
but that need to be uncovered through probing and effective contextual listening/sythesis.

Does each sales rep have a protected territory or region?
Again this is not cold calling or knocking doorsWe have unique niches of people looking for help. We turn you on to these niches and your job would be to talk to them, introduce them to UNTHINKIT, present us favorably, ask about their project, and ask if we can get back to them or set a phone appt to provide a quote get name, time/date, company, contact details etc, and e-mail it in to our closing team. Each niche will have a different approach and presentation, and therefore requires a different level of sophistication, manner of speech, personal approach, use of language, and understanding of industry lingo and technical terms. there are no territories, but focused industries that i give reps autonomy over. No relocation is necessary as our sales come in from all over the country.

Your website says more than one artist works on a given project. How does that work?
We undercut prices in big markets because our fees are indexed to the Charlotte cost of living
depends on the project. One client may want print, logos, web, 3d rendering, and direct mail
different designers are stronger than others in certain disciplines. Also we can meet deadlines way fast through running multiple creative processes concurrently. We call on marketing firms and ad agencies as a wholesale provider so our responses must be fast and accurate.

So you have a wide range of designers that you work with?
Yes. We work with dozens of hand-picked designers, developer, and artists nationwide. All are hand-picked by UNTHINKIT based on portfolio, experience, credibility, efficiency, and communication skill sets.

So with you...every designer must generate their own work/leads?
No. The A/E is a role that is not like other roles typical of our industry. We have a very unique and dynamic business model. With this position, it is basically leads generation. Leads are brought in to unthinkit, we qualify, and close them, pay commissions out, then set up the projects and assign designers to the roles necessary.
We actually fill a lot of gaps in companies who have gotten rid of their designers as an on-call resource. Many of these relationships orginate from designers who have been let go by their firms due to costing/portfolio but they still have good personal relationships with their former agencies. By returning to their firm as an ambassador of UNTHINKIT, the rep can offer dozens of freelance services to their agency, and in many cases, earn more from that new relationship than they did as an hourly employee.

So, do we get started?
what we do is usually discuss what segments of business you are most familiar with and connected in...
telecom, medical, fashion, manufacturing, furniture, nascar, etc and then set up and support a comprehensive lead generation strategy for the market segment(s) you pick.

Am i shooting in the dark with these leads or do i have some direction?
You have a LOT of, not what we would call direction, but assistance. training, exposure, shadowing, coaching, role-playing, etc remember the nice thing is, is that you really arent SELLING. You are just talking enough with people to get them to call, e-mail in, or set an appointment for UNTHINKIT to work with them and develop the projects. Most is by phone, email and personal networking our approach is really very subtle and consultative rather than pushy or agressive. We have some very sophisticated means of generating leads that are almost entirely unused by our profession.

Do you have some materials you could send to me?
Due to the higly competitive nature of our business coupled with our open-source business model, we do require all prospects, designers, and sales reps to sign a pretty stiff non-disclosure, non-circumvent, and non-compete before receiving our procedural documentation.

Does this mean i can not freelance on my own anymore?
Not necessarily, no. Not unlike our clients, every developer's life-situation is unique and we are sensitive to the fact that everyone needs to earn a living. We structure our arrangements as uniquely to each designer as we for each development process. Albeit, we do require protecting our process via an instrument of non-cicrumvention. We do allow deisgners to maintain their own websites etc. but we do have some exclusions: While we allow our designers to un-exclusively consign their portfolio to unthinkit for "pitching" purposes, we do restrict our designers from showing work done through the UNTHINKIT system on their own domains or private portfolios. As a concession, we keep a live listing of this work on our website with design credits and offer hyperlinks back to a designer's website. We have NO problem with you directly freelancing for clients obtained through your own resources provided that the level of work does not interfere with your efficiency as an UNTHINKIT contributor. This is something that we manage on an individual basis.

Are there other benefits to this process?
Yes, because AS a desgner and sales rep, you will be able to do two things:

1. offer WAY more services than you normally would
2. get more money and faster via our sales process

UNTHINKIT is generally better at closing deals more quickly, on a better fee structure, and on a more equitable payment schedule than most freelancers can generate... and on a more consistent basis. We also carry the contract liability, billing, credit card processing, business infrastructure, and in some cases project financing

Are there other incentives?
As a design and lead contributer UNTHINKIT reward each team contributor with points. These are used as an accrual to earn bi-annual or quarterly profit sharing as a dividend for continued production within the system.

In some cases UNTHINKIT is offered equity positions in various companies as a result of its efforts in building developing companies. As a contributor to these several projects, you may be awarded bonus monies in the event that, for various reasons, these equity positions materialize into cash positions. While imbursements are at the sole discretion of UNTHINKIT and no offer is made to designers of private or common stock, UNTHINKIT's position is that it voluntarily seeks to reward its finest contributors with parachute blesssings achieved through its positive long term relationships. Relationships enhanced by that team member's contribution. This incentive is nearly unheard of in our industry and we are very excited to make it a part of our process.

What is the commission structure for repeat business ?
It depends on the project and its margins, but typical residuals are 3-8%. Additionally, if your existing client refers a new client to us independently, you get a 3-5% override of the full value of the new contract originated by your client’s referrals.

Do you offer an expense account for client lunches/dinners?
Not usually, no. The absence of this part of our process and costing model. We DO NOT schmooze people or blow smoke and mirrors with dinners, concert tickets, etc. We provide a phenomenal product at a fantastic price. We shoot very straight with clients when we tell them that their projects are not padded with the entertainment budgets of our account execs. (reference the movie "In Good Company" when Topher Grace's character takes the longtime client to a hip-hop concert to pander for a sale.)

We provide VALUE. Most of what you will do will be on the phone, by email, and MAYBE at a coffee house. We do the closings, client appointments, contract delivering, receivables, etc. Really, it is much much easier a typical A/E role. BUT...We are willing to pay an AE’s commission simply for lead generation!

Do you offer a salary plus commission?
No. Noone in the entire company receives a salary. All income is derived through direct contribution. Contributors earn, non-contributors do not. We will likely never pay anyone a salary ever. That being said, we usually do not hire account execs that do not design. By truly eliminating the A/E position, and offering a lead role in design fees to lead-generating reps, one stands to make more money than doing either independently.
After all, if WE can't sell... what business do we have teaching our CLIENTS how to do it!

For more information please contact: sales@unthinkit.com