This is a rant about salesmen and good info to know if you’re planning on accepting a sales job.
I’ve had a couple of jobs in sales. One was a temporary job at sears when I was 18 or so. That was more of a “ring sales up and help customers” type of deal. Another was a temp job selling anti-fog solution for eyeglasses near the exit of some department store when I was maybe 20. That stuff basically sold itself because you would coat one eyeglass lens with the solution and leave the other lens alone and hold the glasses over a steamer. The treated side was clear while the untreated side was fogged up. This stuff was handy when it was cold outside and people would walk inside and their glasses would fog up.
Then there was this lawn care gig. You would walk around people’s yards, write up stuff about their lawn, and give them an estimate for lawn care. Then you’d go to a sales office in the evening and call to try and sell them on the idea of lawn care. This was when I discovered the nasty side of sales.
We would try and sell lawn care at all costs. If you’re an old lady on a fixed income…so what, sell them something they really don’t need. If people are worried about their pets or children exposed to the chemicals, tell them it’s okay after it dries. There was one guy who used to spray lawns and he got this infection in his leg and the rumor was that it was from the chemicals they used and the company had been paying him for years even though he sat at home, just so he’d keep quiet about it. Then there were issues about the chemicals polluting the waters and stuff, and we were supposed to gloss over this issue.
Then there was the backroom politics. One salesman had been there for years and always had the top sales. I accidentally overheard my boss and this salesman talking one day and the boss was saying that we had 6 call-ins and he was giving 3 of them to him and the rest was being distributed among 3 other salespeople. Call-ins are people who call and want you to come out to give them an estimate. It’s almost a given that you’ll make a sale this way because the person is already interested. He gave me one call-in and said I was now “in the loop.” This implied I was now involved in some backroom politics.
Then I’d have callbacks that this salesman would get. A callback is someone who is interested and wants you to call them back in a few days or something. These usually translate into a sale. Well, I would call these people back in a few days and discover that another salesman had called them and they bought the lawn care from them instead. We get commission, so people were stealing my sales, and my money. I’d find out this top salesman would come in early and call these people the day I was supposed to call them. They were going through my desk and finding my callbacks and making the sale before I was scheduled to arrive that evening.
We were also guaranteed a salary, so even if I made no sales, at least I had a little money coming in. So I got fed up with this crap and gave them my 2-weeks notice. The first 10 days of this, I carefully kept track of the people who were really interested in sales, and the people who were really nasty on the phone. You’d have people who would say they used to use our company and hated them and would never use them again. I kept track of all these people. The last 3 days, I pretended like I was talking to people on the phone all evening. I would write stuff down, look busy, laugh like I was talking to people, and even act like people had hung up on me.
The last day I was there, I made these notes on my sales sheets. I’d put down stuff like, “Mr. so-and-so is very interested, and wants a callback Friday 27.” Mr. so-and-so would be one of the people who hated us. I’d put like 4 stars on the paper showing that this person was a definite sale. I did this over and over again. The people who were actually interested. ..well, let’s just say those papers disappeared. I could see them now: calling all these people thinking they had some hot lead, only to get cussed out over the phone, time and time again.
Then I had people from Office Depot interested in me. They wanted me to sell computers, software, and peripherals for them. They told me that they make virtually nothing off the sale. They said they make their money from selling extended warranties. Then they made the comment about how I probably heard all this bad press about extended warranties from shows like 20-20. In other words, you’ll have an uphill battle convincing people they need something they really don’t need.
If any of you plan to post your resume on sites such as Careerbuilder and Monster, be prepared. I’ve had people call and ask me to come in for an interview. I get there only to discover they want me for a sales position. Nowhere on my resume do I suggest I want to be in sales, but they are looking for drones they can train to do their bidding.
Then you get spammed with email from people who want you for sales even though your resume mentions nothing about sales. I finally told one company off last night.
I’ve had a couple of jobs in sales. One was a temporary job at sears when I was 18 or so. That was more of a “ring sales up and help customers” type of deal. Another was a temp job selling anti-fog solution for eyeglasses near the exit of some department store when I was maybe 20. That stuff basically sold itself because you would coat one eyeglass lens with the solution and leave the other lens alone and hold the glasses over a steamer. The treated side was clear while the untreated side was fogged up. This stuff was handy when it was cold outside and people would walk inside and their glasses would fog up.
Then there was this lawn care gig. You would walk around people’s yards, write up stuff about their lawn, and give them an estimate for lawn care. Then you’d go to a sales office in the evening and call to try and sell them on the idea of lawn care. This was when I discovered the nasty side of sales.
We would try and sell lawn care at all costs. If you’re an old lady on a fixed income…so what, sell them something they really don’t need. If people are worried about their pets or children exposed to the chemicals, tell them it’s okay after it dries. There was one guy who used to spray lawns and he got this infection in his leg and the rumor was that it was from the chemicals they used and the company had been paying him for years even though he sat at home, just so he’d keep quiet about it. Then there were issues about the chemicals polluting the waters and stuff, and we were supposed to gloss over this issue.
Then there was the backroom politics. One salesman had been there for years and always had the top sales. I accidentally overheard my boss and this salesman talking one day and the boss was saying that we had 6 call-ins and he was giving 3 of them to him and the rest was being distributed among 3 other salespeople. Call-ins are people who call and want you to come out to give them an estimate. It’s almost a given that you’ll make a sale this way because the person is already interested. He gave me one call-in and said I was now “in the loop.” This implied I was now involved in some backroom politics.
Then I’d have callbacks that this salesman would get. A callback is someone who is interested and wants you to call them back in a few days or something. These usually translate into a sale. Well, I would call these people back in a few days and discover that another salesman had called them and they bought the lawn care from them instead. We get commission, so people were stealing my sales, and my money. I’d find out this top salesman would come in early and call these people the day I was supposed to call them. They were going through my desk and finding my callbacks and making the sale before I was scheduled to arrive that evening.
We were also guaranteed a salary, so even if I made no sales, at least I had a little money coming in. So I got fed up with this crap and gave them my 2-weeks notice. The first 10 days of this, I carefully kept track of the people who were really interested in sales, and the people who were really nasty on the phone. You’d have people who would say they used to use our company and hated them and would never use them again. I kept track of all these people. The last 3 days, I pretended like I was talking to people on the phone all evening. I would write stuff down, look busy, laugh like I was talking to people, and even act like people had hung up on me.
The last day I was there, I made these notes on my sales sheets. I’d put down stuff like, “Mr. so-and-so is very interested, and wants a callback Friday 27.” Mr. so-and-so would be one of the people who hated us. I’d put like 4 stars on the paper showing that this person was a definite sale. I did this over and over again. The people who were actually interested. ..well, let’s just say those papers disappeared. I could see them now: calling all these people thinking they had some hot lead, only to get cussed out over the phone, time and time again.
Then I had people from Office Depot interested in me. They wanted me to sell computers, software, and peripherals for them. They told me that they make virtually nothing off the sale. They said they make their money from selling extended warranties. Then they made the comment about how I probably heard all this bad press about extended warranties from shows like 20-20. In other words, you’ll have an uphill battle convincing people they need something they really don’t need.
If any of you plan to post your resume on sites such as Careerbuilder and Monster, be prepared. I’ve had people call and ask me to come in for an interview. I get there only to discover they want me for a sales position. Nowhere on my resume do I suggest I want to be in sales, but they are looking for drones they can train to do their bidding.
Then you get spammed with email from people who want you for sales even though your resume mentions nothing about sales. I finally told one company off last night.
:tup: 
