First post after lurking

[Maria K]

Hey all,

My name is Maria. Been lurking here and there for a while now.

Little backstory: I dropped out of community college. Twice. I got a job as a sales agent, learned everything I could about sales and selling over the phone, became a top agent, got promoted to sales lead, managed a team of 15 sales agents, found a math error in our comp plan that effectively gave every manager in my department a 10k raise (which the company did not appreciate much).

And then, most recently, I quit my job. I was at that company for 5 years, and hated all 5. So I quit.

I had been saving up for a rainy day that I knew was a long time coming, so I've been ok as far as paying my rent and bills. But it's been 5 months now and I'm not quite where I wanted to be at this point. I haven't been able to successfully launch my own business or even make any money online (besides an Amazon affiliate commission so small I cannot yet take it out).

I'm not giving up. I'm going to keep working on the things I've been trying to put into play, and I'll post again when I've got something more interesting to say.

Just wanted to get this first one out of the way.

 

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[Andy Black]

Welcome. Thanks for posting.

Just wondering, are you able to build on the contacts, skills, and experience you gained from that 5 year job?

 

[Vigilante]

love to have you here! Welcome. Have you read http://www.themillionairefastlane.com ?

First three chapters available free there. Might help you with some vision.

 

[Maria K]

Welcome. Thanks for posting.

Just wondering, are you able to build on the contacts, skills, and experience you gained from that 5 year job?

Well, there are no real "contacts" to speak of. I can't use the accounts I sold as contacts, and I don't really keep in touch with anyone from work any more. It was a cut-throat place with a really, really high turnover rate (107% when I started, reduced to about 50% over 5 years).

As far as the useful things I've learned on the job, a few are:

1) Optimism. It's so easy to fall into the trap of pessimism and hopelessness, especially in the face of constant rejection. A great book on the subject is "Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life" by Martin Seligman. It's not self-help fluff, I promise.

2) Getting out of your comfort zone. I HATED talking to people on the phone, but I took on a job that involved talking to people for 10 full hours a day, so I had to get good at it.

3) Salesmanship. This is a big one. I knew nothing about sales, so what did I do? I Googled. I read books. I watched Youtube videos. I learned everything about the product I was selling, and all my competitors. I learned to control the tone and pitch of my voice. Most importantly, I learned how to really *listen* to people and how to strike while the iron is hot.

I think one thing that spoiled me is that at work, I didn't have to find my own leads. I worked for an established company, and people called me. Now I have to figure out how to find them. It's a totally different hussle.

I used to hate the company's marketing campaigns, as to me they were just misleading "bait" that put people off and broke trust, leaving me to explain the details and win the customer over. Now I'm trying to learn how to bait people.

 

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[Maria K]

love to have you here! Welcome. Have you read http://www.themillionairefastlane.com ?

First three chapters available free there. Might help you with some vision.

Read it all. Hasn't everybody?

 

[Andy Black]

I used to hate the company's marketing campaigns, as to me they were just misleading "bait" that put people off and broke trust, leaving me to explain the details and win the customer over. Now I'm trying to learn how to bait people.

I prefer to think of sales/lead generation as getting the right offer in front of the right people at the right time.

What would happen if you changed from thinking you are "baiting people" to thinking you are doing them a grave disservice if you DIDN'T get your offer in front of them?

 

[Jon L]

Well, there are no real "contacts" to speak of. I can't use the accounts I sold as contacts, and I don't really keep in touch with anyone from work any more. It was a cut-throat place with a really, really high turnover rate (107% when I started, reduced to about 50% over 5 years).

As far as the useful things I've learned on the job, a few are:

1) Optimism. It's so easy to fall into the trap of pessimism and hopelessness, especially in the face of constant rejection. A great book on the subject is "Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life" by Martin Seligman. It's not self-help fluff, I promise.

2) Getting out of your comfort zone. I HATED talking to people on the phone, but I took on a job that involved talking to people for 10 full hours a day, so I had to get good at it.

3) Salesmanship. This is a big one. I knew nothing about sales, so what did I do? I Googled. I read books. I watched Youtube videos. I learned everything about the product I was selling, and all my competitors. I learned to control the tone and pitch of my voice. Most importantly, I learned how to really *listen* to people and how to strike while the iron is hot.

I think one thing that spoiled me is that at work, I didn't have to find my own leads. I worked for an established company, and people called me. Now I have to figure out how to find them. It's a totally different hussle.

I used to hate the company's marketing campaigns, as to me they were just misleading "bait" that put people off and broke trust, leaving me to explain the details and win the customer over. Now I'm trying to learn how to bait people.

I was at a sales job for 4 years that was a bit shady. We were all a little bit loose with the truth. That has an effect on you over time. You now have an opportunity to chart your own course either by:
1) picking the next company you want to work for (one that is highly ethical in your eyes)
or
2) starting your own company that is highly ethical in your eyes.

You'll feel MUCH better about yourself if you pick an ethical foundation to start off with.

Business should be about genuinely helping people by selling them a product or service that adds value to their life/business.

 

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