ZS Associates

8:30 am... As I glance over my schedule, I can only make a rough outline of what my duties will be for the week. I'm working for a client who is redesigning their current sales force. They decided to increase the number of sales representatives in the field from 70 to 98. Obviously, this creates some issues for their current reps—namely they are losing some old customers and gaining new ones with whom they don't have solid relationships. The client's upper management approved our expansion proposal last week and now the district managers would like to refine a few of the territories we created to help resolve these issues. I plan to be on the phone with the 12 district managers quite often this week as they tweak the proposal we created for them.

9:00 am... Team meeting—every Monday all 9 members of one of my client teams meet to discuss issues relating to our project work. It seems as though Martha, an OR Consultant, needs help learning a marketing research tool that I've used in the past to determine the success of new product launch promotion. Even though she specializes in operations analyses and tools, I happen to be familiar with this specific type of software and offer to help.

10:00 am... Using a few different utilities of the system, we can produce charts and graphs that will help Martha show the client that too many resources are being spent on direct mail. Perhaps directing those resources to other marketing programs would get more people to use their product. Of course, there are some other analyses she needs to perform that I haven't done in the past, but with the help of some of our colleagues in Princeton, we figure it out.

11:30 am... I run into Mary Jane, my Professional Development Manager, in the elevator. She reminds me of our lunch date. I quickly run up to my desk to check my voicemail and email. Sure enough, one of the district managers has called and wants to make some changes to the proposal we created for the territories in his district. I give him a quick call and set up a 2 pm phone date.

12:00 pm... Mary Jane and I head over to the Dixie Kitchen for some jambalaya and grilled chicken sandwiches. After hearing about her recent vacation in Australia and my recent move to the city, we talk about the projects I've been working on lately and what I'm getting out of them. I tell her that I really like working so closely with the clients on the territory redesign and I would like to continue being staffed on projects that would allow me to be very client focused. I also remind her of my desire to become involved in recruiting. She says she has been talking with the Recruiting Manager and the Business Associate track manager and I should be receiving a call soon about my involvement. I thank her again for the direction she's helped give me in getting assigned to projects that fit my career path and my personality. I'm delighted with the boomerang and macadamia nuts she brought me back from her vacation.

1:30 pm... I prepare for my call with Tom, the district manager of the southeast. I open the computer system that shows me a map of the proposal we've created for them. This way, as he's talking, I can see how the changes will affect the size and number of customers in each of his sales reps' territories. I receive a call from Sue, the manager with whom I'm working, and she reminds me that the national sales director would like each territory to have between 50-75 customers.

2:00 pm... Tom calls and we get to work. He would like to move the southern portion of Georgia into the territory that covers the northern part of Florida. We discuss the ramifications of this change - Florida will now have 100 customers and Georgia will be left with only 40. Even though the particular sales rep in northern Florida (Shari) has been working with some of these customers for a few years, I encourage Tom to look at all his options and not simply assign all the customers back to whom they were originally assigned. Together, we find a balance that takes into account drive time of the rep, potential sales in customers who were not targeted in the past and sales rep/customer relationships. We determine territories that are fair for all the sales reps and create maximum potential sales for the company.

Tom and I are finished working and I begin to prepare a summary report for Mr. Ingraham, his manager, who likes to keep abreast of all the changes to the redesign as they are made. While I'm working on this report, one of the new Business Associates comes into my office and asks for my help with some reports and maps that need to be FedEx'd by tonight at 7 pm. She seems desperate, but I also have to finish this report and send it off to Martha at the client site. Since they are on Eastern Time and are about to leave their offices, I promise the BA I can help her in 10 minutes. I do a final check of my report and email it off to Martha.

4:00 pm... The BA is on a tight deadline to produce and send out 25 sets of color maps and reports to her client. There's no way she can produce, proof, print and package all these reports by 7 pm without help. I take care of preparing the reports and printing them, while she writes the cover letters, proofs the reports, and addresses the FedEx packages.

5:45 pm... The reports are printed and ready to go, as are the FedEx boxes and cover letters. We find an empty conference room and move in with all our paper. We have just under an hour to make sure each person's packet contains the specific material they need.

6:15 pm... We are on our way to making the deadline, but it will be close. Martha pokes her head in the door on her way to catch the train home and asks if we need help. The three of us create an assembly line as we have the materials packed and ready for FedEx by 6:45 pm.

I quickly check my voicemail the BA drops the packages downstairs at the FedEx office (how convenient). I received a message from Kathryn, the Recruiting Manager. We will meet tomorrow to discuss my participation in recruiting. I also received a call from Sue thanking me for the updated report after my call with Tom.

7:00 pm... I meet the BA and Martha downstairs and we all head out for the evening.