Story time my friends, gather around......
I feel like every sales person needs to have a really bad sales job so we know even when our current job feels like shit we know it really isnt. My worst sales job was over a decade and a half ago.
Moved to Chicago and needed work, coming off the retail environment the past 5 years and stores and wholesale business shuttered by the recession in 08, i thought maybe sales is still the way. I interviewed with a Sales company and part of that interview was a day in the life with one of their sellers- red flag.
Day in the life comes and we meet at the office at 730am in suits (red flag 2) and start practice pitching (orange flag but almost red flag 3). After a half hour of practice pitching and rah rah meeting we hit the car (our own cars and mileage not reimbursed red flag 4) and hit our "territory". We try and sell credit card processing all day long battling rejection after rejection as we are the 10th person here that day alredy selling this shit. We go back to office and there is a legit drum circle and we celebrate anyone that closed 1 deal they hit bell, 2 deals hit the triangle, red flag 5. Anybody with a close went home (or drinking) anybody that didnt close, more practice pitching, red flag 6 i think losing track.
So they offer me the job and say what do you want the $300 a week draw or commission only? I accept as we just moved here and i know its a bad job but i need the work while i find a real job this was not going to be long term i knew it they knew it. I get hard sold on nobody takes the draw you are leaving money on the table. I may be young but i am not dumb and i saw nobody ring that fucking bell besides 2 out of 15 people, this shit doesnt print money so i take the draw.
Next step is training in LA for 2 weeks as they open a new line of business, 4 dudes one hotel and no per diem, red flag 1000, came back after that training and during the training the team there told me the philosophy of Every Door, Every Store, Every Floor. You hit every damn building. I am in South Central LA in a suit and tie, there is a convenient store roped off with news cameras and active crime scene. i say "well we can obviously skip this one" nope, against the philosophy.
Came home after all that worked for like 2 weeks, sold a few deals first week, so much that i was given the Day in the life interviewers that would eventually join my team, and i would become a leader, then own an office (this is from the current "owners" mouth). It was this point i told these people this is a ponzi scheme and they should run, i worked there 4 weeks 2 of which were unpaid training (besides the draw cause im smart in LA). The worst job i ever had.
Please share your horror story so we know how good we really have it at the end of a quarter, end of my fiscal, still in a pandemic, while layoffs occur all around us. It is still not as bad as that job!!!!
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