Our mission is to become a global leader in the outsourced sales and marketing industry by taking a genuine and passionate interest in the growth of our people and our clients.
We will continue to expand and increase our influence on the domestic and international stage, while constantly developing our leadership roles in the for-profit and non-profit sectors.
Through our vision, our competitive drive to be the best, and our unrelenting work ethic, we will make our positive mark on the world by making a positive mark in the lives of every individual or organization we come in contact with.
On June 15, 2010 I saw a job posting on Craigslist that intrigued me. The mission (what’s above) sounded legit. I called the number on the Craiglist posting and spoke to a person by the name of Sandy. She instructed me to email my resume.
Shortly after submitting my resume, I received another email to show up for an interview on June 21st, 2010, at 2:00PM in the city of Orange. The email stated to wear professional attire so I wore a suit.
On the 21st I drove to the office location and walked through the door. From the description of the company I was taken back slightly. The lobby was small (and bland), but I introduced myself to Sandy. She told me to wait and that I’d be called back for my interview shortly. The wait wasn’t long and I was nervous sitting there not sure what to expect.
A tall man (Ted) walked into the lobby, introduced himself, and invited me back into his office. We talked briefly, he asked questions about myself (I don’t remember the details), but there wasn’t any technical or marketing related questions. They were more geared toward personality and what type of person I was. Hmm..
I believe I also spoke to another person (David) that same day. Apparently I’d be working under him if I was hired. And guess what? I was hired! I believe they told me to show up the next day.
This is where things get interesting. I walk into the lobby, dressed in my suit, and I’m invited to the back room. When I walked through the door I was expecting cubicles, office chairs and rooms filled with people working. There wasn’t and I still wasn’t sure what they did.
Instead, the room was basically empty. A few whiteboards on the walls and a couple others standing around in their professional attire. Dafuq? I asked a few of them what we were doing and they said I’d find out shortly.
I forget what time we started in the mornings, but I believe it was 7:30AM. The day was finally starting and they instructed all of us to stand in a circle. I’m still standing there thinking there’s got to be another floor in this building where people sit down and work. One of the “Leaders” started asking/stating phrases to people standing in the circle, what I learned were called “objections” in sales. I’m standing there awkwardly, confused af, thinking what did I get myself into. Some of them were yelling, some of them were talking very loudly to the point it was almost screaming, and others were stumbling with their responses to the objections they were practicing responding to.
Eventually, I got asked some objection and I didn’t even know how to respond. I had no clue what these were from, why I was being asked an objection, and one of the leaders just says that I’d learn to be able to handle those objections.
After about 30 minutes of this nonsense, everyone starts leaving in groups of 2. I’m standing there lost, but thinking ok they must be going to another floor to work. Hype train over, work time begins, right?
I was wrong.
One of the “Leaders” named David pulled me aside and said I’d be shadowing him for the day. In my head, I thought I’d be shadowing him in the office. Nope. We walked outside to his car, he pulls out a cigarette and starts smoking with the window crack as we drove to his territory.
We eventually arrive to a commercial business area and he says to follow him, observe, and listen. I was still confused.
We walk into a business and he pulls out this huge book (Staples) from his briefcase as he asks the receptionist if any decision makers are available to speak. He starts asking them who they’re ordering their paper and printer cartridges form and if they needed any other office supplies.
I quickly learned this was a sales job. I don’t recall how the interaction went, but he didn’t close this particular business. I was furious inside, but told myself I’d give it a shot since I couldn’t find a job elsewhere. I thought to myself that at the very least, I’d learn valuable skills.
For about a month I was cold calling businesses in my own territory and I was horrible at it. I only closed a handful of businesses on small orders that didn’t amount to much commission. It was a hard and difficult pill to swallow, but I didn’t think I was cut out for this.
I walked into the office one morning and was told that we were switching “clients”. We were now representing AT&T and would be given territories in residential neighborhoods to try and get homeowners to switch from their current ISP to AT&T’s Cable and Fiber Internet package.
We went through a couple weeks of training at another sales office (these were franchises under some umbrella company I can’t remember the name of. Eventually, I found myself walking door to door during the day in the summer California heat. I had territories in Anaheim, Fullerton, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Orange, Garden Gove, Santa Ana, and other cities in that area.
The territories consisted of ~100-150 homes in a neighborhood. You could go through those doors very quickly since I was knocking during the day and no one was home. We were instructed to keep knocking on the same doors (up to 3+ times) if no one answered or if they didn’t give you a direct “No” when you first spoke to them.
This would legitimately piss homeowners off. This was before the time of Ring and other doorbells with cameras so people would peek through a side window or the door and ignore you. But if they didn’t open and speak to me, I would keep coming until they did.
One day, a homeowner came out of his house. Started yelling at the top of his lungs to GET THE F*CK OUT OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD BEFORE I CALL THE COPS. He followed me to my car yelling and cussing, which made me feel a bit uneasy at the time. I responded to him that I was just doing my job and trying to make some money. This guy was so aggressive I thought he was actually going to attack me. So I drove off and took a break at some random parking lot.
Random thought, at the time I had downloaded the Starbucks app. Why? Not because I needed caffeine (I didn’t drink coffee at the time), but because there was a Starbucks on nearly every street corner. Perfect for a free cup of ice cold water and access to bathrooms.
There was another time I thought I’d close homeowner and get them to switch, but he ask what the price would be for the package after a year. Of course, the price would nearly double and wouldn’t make sense based on what he was already paying with his current provider. He taught me a new phrase, ticklebang. He told me it’s like going to pass a semi-truck and then not being able to because of oncoming traffic. I now relate that word to anything where you think something will happen, you get your hopes up, and then it doesn’t.
There were two songs that were on the radio every single day. The lyrics to each song resonated with me.. I wanna be a billionaire so fucking bad and Just gonna stand there and watch me burn…I felt hopeless.
Travie McCoy (Feat. Bruno Mars) – I Want to Be a Billionaire
Eminem (Feat. Rihanna) – Love The Way You Lie
There were times I took breaks and at the end of the day (8PM) I’d sit in a parking lot to reflect. At the time I hated life. Things weren’t going how I thought they would (thanks Great Recession) and I didn’t think anything would improve. As I sat parked in random parking lots or drove myself home I’d be at stop lights or off ramps and tears would start running down my cheeks. I would legit cry. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. By the time I got home, I’d wipe the tears away and pretend like everything was alright. I didn’t want to appear weak.
When I got home, I’d shower and immediately start applying for jobs. I don’t recall how many I applied to, but it was a lot. One day, I received an email from a company called Internet Brands in El Segundo. They wanted to interview me for a sales position. I got the job, not in sales (more about this in another post) and I was ecstatic.
Walking door to door went one for ~5 months (if I recall correctly). I was hardly making a couple hundred dollars in commission every two weeks (remember, this was commission only) and after getting a job offer at Internet Brands, I walked in one morning and told my “Leader” (David) that I had found another job and I was done.
This was tough at the time because of the culture they foster and relationship you form with your “Leader”. Your “Leader” was like a mentor and David and I had become friends outside of work as well.
I learned to be resilient, grew a thick skin, and even though it felt awkward to (cold call) walk into a businesses and residential neighborhoods knocking on doors I eventually became comfortable doing it. More so in the hopes that I’d close a business and put some money in my pocket.
This was a character building experience. Would I ever do it again? Hell no. But at the end of the day I did what I had to do at the time and it helped me grow and learn about myself.