Years ago, after
coming out of the Army, I had a number of jobs. Back then we had the luxury of
being able to change, because the job market was fairly open. Not so
today…
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| Lines and lines and shelves... |
After
selling hair stuff for a while, I began to get tired of rearranging supermarket
and pharmacy shelves to better show my product; this meant featuring my “boxes”
up front, while pushing the competition’s boxes towards the back end of the
shelves. Well, don’t look at the page
that way… The reason I had to constantly rearrange everything was that someone
else had done it before, putting my
stuff all the way back… My bonuses were based on sales, so… in love, war, and
sales… As time went on, I couldn’t see
myself selling hair coloring for the rest of my life, and the itch began to
gnaw at me. Sales being in my “blood”, I began to search for possibilities.
This looking brought me to the medical field; having more than one doctor in my
family (in Cuba) and becoming one myself having been my onetime life goal, this
field merited some closer looks.
The
first company receiving the benefits of my efforts was the one which brought birth
control to the world… well… to the US Fort Apache ” area which was mostly Hispanic at the time) and the east side of Manhattan ,
from Central Park all the way down to The Battery …
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| Always on to the next call |
My
training took on a whole new meaning… I had to learn about gastric juices and
sugar overflow in the blood; the bronchial tree (wow!!) and the free flow of
blood through the capillaries… Man!! Maybe having so many products wasn’t so
hot… I could even talk about anesthetizing someone as if I really knew what I
was saying… scary, huh? Every day became a continuing education forum, dictated
by the many doctors visited. There were also hospital and pharmacies to call
on, so they could be convinced to stock up on our goodies to be sold when the
prescriptions came in. This, if I did my job getting the MDs to use my stuff.
“Rafe”
my regional manager called me one morning, -“John is coming in next Monday and
he requested to ride with you… call me”.
Remember, cellular phones were someone’s dream still; in order to get
messages and calls we had to get home and listen in to the little blinking
light idiot machine sitting under the phone.
-“Hey,
Jim” I called him back that night… “Why am I the lucky so ‘n so to get John for
a whole day?” John was the Sales VP in
charge of the Northeast, thereby making him our very own home office VP. He was
not an easy guy, known for long quiet contemplations while alongside his ride
for the day. But his review had a heavy weight on the salesperson’s corporate
resume. Jim, our regional director of sales, was a good guy. Straightforward
and quick with a good word as well as with a slap on the hand, when so
deserved.
-“Your
results from the last quarter brought him to you” he said, -“he wants to meet
the new guy who beat out the established salespeople”. This is one of those
times when doing well can be punishable by overwork. I knew, from previous
history, that John liked to see a salesperson be on the move all day, eating a
sandwich either behind the steering wheel of the company car, or at a park bench
so he could get on quickly. A normal work day would usually take in 4 doctor
offices, 2 pharmacies and a hospital. That would be, actually, a good day. But,
as the saying goes… “the best laid plans…” Often the salesperson would be
waylaid by an emergency at the Dr’s office, a late entry, an oversold day, a
flu epidemic, a long line at the pharmacy… you get the picture… Some days 8 overall
visits were planned and laid out, but only 4 calls were actually completed. Not
good enough for “John’s Ride With You Day”. When in doubt… go for the overkill.
My Monday was laid out with 8 Dr calls, 4 pharmacies and three hospitals… all
“friendly” territory where I knew a good reception was almost guaranteed.
John
was waiting for me at the train station early on Monday. -“Hey John, welcome to
Manhattan Manhattan
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| Good Results |
As
we went about making the planned rounds, something highly unusual started to
happen. In every office we visited, the nurse received us with open doors and sent
us into the inner lair without waiting. By lunch time, we had already visited
six doctors and I was beginning to get nervous… what will happen when we run out
of places to go? At the rate we were going, this could actually happen and, in
fact, by 3:30pm we had indeed completed all annotated rounds, pharmacies (where a couple of good orders were placed)
and hospital included. Never before had there been, and never again would there be such a day...
As
we went back to the car after the last visit, he just looked at his watch and
said “Just drop me at the train station”. Not much more said and I, fairly
fresh into the sales world, didn’t know what to add or ask. So I dropped him
off at the train station at 4pm and waved “bye-bye” as he walked into the building’s
ever darkening maws... (that sets the mood I was in all right!)
There
was not much else to do, having actually used up a 2 day schedule in the
preceding 7 hours so I went home as well, wondering whether it had been a good
day or what??? As I arrived at my castle, there was a message waiting in the
blinking light idiot box and it was from Jim, my regional manager.
-“What
The Hell did You Do?”… “Call me as soon as you get this message”
Whoa!!
That greeting was unexpected… On returning the call, his opening comment was:
-“Whatever you did today, is going to set the measure for the rest of the guys”
he said, and continued –“John just could not believe how much was done!” Then he waited one minute and added, laughing his head off –“Get
ready, because everyone will hate your guts!!”
And
so it was… my best ever one day effort in the field, relegated to a dunce
capped corner because the other sales people were now afraid of John’s visits
and ride alongs…
Even
when you win, sometimes you lose…
NYC,
circa 1973
Be
Well, Be back!!
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