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Training: Day Two (Con't)
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"The intrigue I felt for the potential of this job was quickly waning, and so was my attention."
“This guy was uncanny; he seemed to know exactly what to say and when, to keep me on the hook."
"No one, that’s who.” Again, answering his own question. “But we’re not selling expensive equipment; in fact we’re not selling any equipment.”
Being the kind of person I am, I often get frustrated with people who side step and manipulate, I wished he would just get to the point of it all, instead of slowly and painfully bringing out all these hidden little treats for us. I was beginning to get the impression that he enjoyed having all the answers, while the rest of us had none.
"What we’re selling is a contract to monitor the alarm system we’re giving away for free.” He continued.
The intrigue I felt for the potential of this job was quickly waning, and so was my attention. I minded what he was saying from this point forward, but my enthusiasm for being a star pupil was gone.
From the rest of his dialogue, I gathered, quite accurately, that the sales gimmick was for a free ADT alarm system, worth anywhere up to $300.00, installed and monitored for the low monthly cost, the catch was simple; the customer had to sign a monitoring contract for four years with ADT.
Being the kind of person I am, I often get frustrated with people who side step and manipulate, I wished he would just get to the point of it all, instead of slowly and painfully bringing out all these hidden little treats for us. I was beginning to get the impression that he enjoyed having all the answers, while the rest of us had none.
"What we’re selling is a contract to monitor the alarm system we’re giving away for free.” He continued.
The intrigue I felt for the potential of this job was quickly waning, and so was my attention. I minded what he was saying from this point forward, but my enthusiasm for being a star pupil was gone.
From the rest of his dialogue, I gathered, quite accurately, that the sales gimmick was for a free ADT alarm system, worth anywhere up to $300.00, installed and monitored for the low monthly cost, the catch was simple; the customer had to sign a monitoring contract for four years with ADT.
Though it hadn’t been part of his plan, this line of discussion did segue nicely into the rest of the sales curriculum.
We moved through the material in the folder rather quickly, discussing ways of building rapport, creating interest, overcoming objection, instilling urgency (enter our homework assignment from the previous day) and of course most importantly, closing techniques.
Mr. James iterated that the interpersonal relationship between the sales man and the buyer was the most important element, so important that it didn’t matter where the interaction took place: in an office, on the sidewalk, in someone’s living room, as long as we could build rapport, we could sell any product. Hidden in his instruction was another unspoken gem of the alarm sales industry; there are two places were alarms are sold, the second most popular is on residential construction sites, and the first is within the front door of the consumer’s home.
We moved through the material in the folder rather quickly, discussing ways of building rapport, creating interest, overcoming objection, instilling urgency (enter our homework assignment from the previous day) and of course most importantly, closing techniques.
Mr. James iterated that the interpersonal relationship between the sales man and the buyer was the most important element, so important that it didn’t matter where the interaction took place: in an office, on the sidewalk, in someone’s living room, as long as we could build rapport, we could sell any product. Hidden in his instruction was another unspoken gem of the alarm sales industry; there are two places were alarms are sold, the second most popular is on residential construction sites, and the first is within the front door of the consumer’s home.
“If we were to knock on someone’s door,” He asked. “…and ask them to buy an expensive piece of equipment; something that might save their lives, something that might even become a household convenience, what do you think they would say?”
Now moving into a more rhetorical mode, he quickly answered his own question.
"They’d say Hell No!” He exclaimed. “Who wants to make those kinds of decisions with the pressure of a door-to-door salesman standing over them?”
Now moving into a more rhetorical mode, he quickly answered his own question.
"They’d say Hell No!” He exclaimed. “Who wants to make those kinds of decisions with the pressure of a door-to-door salesman standing over them?”
So, in effect, we weren’t selling anything, at least we wouldn’t be for some time. Our job was to get our foot in the door and let the boss take over. It was now clear why we hadn’t discussed salary or compensation.
Halfway through the day, we broke up into teams to practice pitching and rapport building; our task was to get through a dictum of prewritten sales material in a certain amount of time, 30 seconds to be exact. We were told to make an introduction and get the client (our desk mate) to allow us to present our first pitch within the first 30 seconds of meeting. This was to represent the amount of time it takes a potential client to dismiss a salesman and close their front door.
Someone joked during the initial lesson, about putting their foot in the door so it couldn’t be closed, to which Mr. James explained that he was more than welcome to try, but he better be able to run with a limp, since having a door slammed on your foot hurts, and angry husbands can hurt more.
The exercise worked well enough in the classroom, but I suspected it would be a different story in the real world, and my desire to find out had all but worn away. We continued with the role playing throughout the afternoon, trading places and becoming increasingly complacent with the whole situation, which may have been Mr. James’ goal in the first place.
My partner and I, a quiet man in his 40’s who had been seated behind me, casually discussed the situation between turns. He too was more than a little concerned with the way things were shaping up. He told me of his own previous sales experience in an unrelated field, and was surprised to hear that I had been interviewed for the position, since he had only filled out an application and been invited to come to the training.
Halfway through the day, we broke up into teams to practice pitching and rapport building; our task was to get through a dictum of prewritten sales material in a certain amount of time, 30 seconds to be exact. We were told to make an introduction and get the client (our desk mate) to allow us to present our first pitch within the first 30 seconds of meeting. This was to represent the amount of time it takes a potential client to dismiss a salesman and close their front door.
Someone joked during the initial lesson, about putting their foot in the door so it couldn’t be closed, to which Mr. James explained that he was more than welcome to try, but he better be able to run with a limp, since having a door slammed on your foot hurts, and angry husbands can hurt more.
The exercise worked well enough in the classroom, but I suspected it would be a different story in the real world, and my desire to find out had all but worn away. We continued with the role playing throughout the afternoon, trading places and becoming increasingly complacent with the whole situation, which may have been Mr. James’ goal in the first place.
My partner and I, a quiet man in his 40’s who had been seated behind me, casually discussed the situation between turns. He too was more than a little concerned with the way things were shaping up. He told me of his own previous sales experience in an unrelated field, and was surprised to hear that I had been interviewed for the position, since he had only filled out an application and been invited to come to the training.
"Our job was to get our foot in the door and let the boss take over. It was now clear why we hadn’t discussed salary or compensation."
As it turned out, theirs was an engineered sales process, for which we were intended to be the first cog in their security sales machine. Our role was as the front line; the few call centre operators that were yet to be hired, were tasked with canvassing local neighbourhoods by cold calling in the name of ADT (misleading to say the least), they would generate soft leads and set open appointments on scheduled days when the sales team would “be in the area”. Those soft leads would be followed up by the senior sales staff (at this point being Mr. Santos), and the rest of the team would converge on the neighbourhood, performing our own version of salesman’s dance, door-to-door, generating more soft leads, which would again be followed up by the senior sales staff.
In all honesty, I was well prepared to end my involvement with this charade right then and there; in fact I’m still not entirely sure what I was waiting for, other than maybe the other shoe to drop.
At shortly past 3:00pm, Mr. James called everyone back to their seats for a brief pep talk to wrap up the day. He explained that the situation with Weston was slightly different than normal because it was a start up company, and they didn’t already have a senior sales team in place. Because of that, there would be one more day of in class instruction before he and Mr. Santos would lead us into the field to try out our newly learned skills.
At shortly past 3:00pm, Mr. James called everyone back to their seats for a brief pep talk to wrap up the day. He explained that the situation with Weston was slightly different than normal because it was a start up company, and they didn’t already have a senior sales team in place. Because of that, there would be one more day of in class instruction before he and Mr. Santos would lead us into the field to try out our newly learned skills.
“Mr. Santos was impressed with you today.” He said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Oh?” I asked. “What did I do that was impressive?”
"I’m not sure it was one thing, but he does want to sit down with you tomorrow, to discuss the management role.”
This guy was uncanny; he seemed to know exactly what to say and when, to keep me on the hook. So far everything that had been discussed was catered to the junior sales position, it was all elementary and pedestrian, and I’m sure they were both aware that it would take more than that to keep my attention.
"No thanks" was right on the tip of my tongue, it would have been a well deserved answer in hind sight, but my response was interrupted by Mr. James’ almost psychic ability to head off objections.
"Do me a favour and come back tomorrow…” He said. “…you won’t regret it.”
I am a sucker for a cliff hanger ending, so I agreed with as much interest as I could muster. And with that Mr. James disappeared again behind the door of Mr. Santos’ office, and I was left with my list of unanswered questions and more than a pocketful of doubt.
"Oh?” I asked. “What did I do that was impressive?”
"I’m not sure it was one thing, but he does want to sit down with you tomorrow, to discuss the management role.”
This guy was uncanny; he seemed to know exactly what to say and when, to keep me on the hook. So far everything that had been discussed was catered to the junior sales position, it was all elementary and pedestrian, and I’m sure they were both aware that it would take more than that to keep my attention.
"No thanks" was right on the tip of my tongue, it would have been a well deserved answer in hind sight, but my response was interrupted by Mr. James’ almost psychic ability to head off objections.
"Do me a favour and come back tomorrow…” He said. “…you won’t regret it.”
I am a sucker for a cliff hanger ending, so I agreed with as much interest as I could muster. And with that Mr. James disappeared again behind the door of Mr. Santos’ office, and I was left with my list of unanswered questions and more than a pocketful of doubt.
He thanked everyone for wearing their game faces that day and like straight out of a corporate team building manual, had everyone gather in the middle of the room and huddle like we were some misfit’s ball team about to take on the champs in the home stadium.
Just after our huddle break, I began gathering my notes and other material from my desk and Mr. James made direct eye contact with me. He waited for the majority of the class to head into the foyer, and then approached in the manner of someone about to break bad news. I was prepared for the worst, I may have been hoping for it actually, though I couldn’t fathom what might have prompted that kind of reaction already.
Just after our huddle break, I began gathering my notes and other material from my desk and Mr. James made direct eye contact with me. He waited for the majority of the class to head into the foyer, and then approached in the manner of someone about to break bad news. I was prepared for the worst, I may have been hoping for it actually, though I couldn’t fathom what might have prompted that kind of reaction already.
Working For A Home Security "Sub Dealer": Career Opportunity, Or Pitfall?