Last Updated on March 19, 2024 by Rocky
I was working three jobs, going to college part-time, and partying way too much. Monday at 3 am, I’d wake up, drive 30 minutes to the UPS center, and unload trucks or sort packages if I was lucky. $12.50 an hour in 1984 was pretty good. I am off shift at 8:30, then go to classes 9 am-2 pm, then at 7 pm, run meetings selling retirement and life insurance. Or at least I was going to the meetings they set for me, I never sold anything there. On the weekends, I’d deliver and install sod. That was tough in the Louisiana summer heat and humidity. But hey, I always had money in my pocket. After nine months of this, I was burnt out. I knew there had to be a better way.
I picked up the classified section in the newspaper, and there was “Management Opportunity…with potential for growth with a salary of $1200 a month. I had to apply! I showed up the next Thursday for what I now know as a group interview. There must have been 40 people there. Of course, I was in the front row. From 8:30 am to 3, there was a new speaker every 30-45 minutes. In between speakers, we watched the VCR with motivational talks from actors, businessmen, women, and a few athletes. I was thinking all day, when do I find out what this is really about? All the while, there was a large conference table in the front corner with a white sheet covering a bunch of lumps of all different sizes. At 3 pm, Caleb, the main guy for the day, gave one final motivational talk, then walked over to the table and ripped off the white sheet.
To everyone’s surprise, underneath was a parted-out Kirby vacuum cleaner. I busted out laughing. I couldn’t help myself. Caleb looked at me with the white sheet in his hand like I had just slapped him. Insulted was his non-verbal facial expression. He casually sauntered over to me and asked, what are you laughing at? I boisterously replied, “Really, you kept us here all day for a vacuum cleaner! You gotta be kidding me, man”. Caleb said calmly but sternly, “Yeah, you probably couldn’t sell any of these anyway.” Of course, I took the bait without knowing the hook was set. I said, “Oh yeah, I bet I can sell more than anyone in this room by Monday. He replied, “Prove it! “
That was Thursday afternoon. By Sunday afternoon, I had sold six at full price, only two of which were to friends and family. I made $3600.00 that weekend. The next Monday, I quit college, UPS, Insurance, and Landscaping on the weekends. I had found my ticket! For the next six months, I sold Kirby Vacuums and cleaned up!
As all good things come to an end, so did this. My last sale was to a poor old woman with nine kids in a run-down house on the poor side of town with no carpet. I couldn’t sleep and realized I had used my God-given talents for the wrong outcomes. I quit the next morning.
What was your first sales job, and what did you learn?
Rocky is the founder and CEO of Sales Development Expert, bringing over 35 years of hands-on experience in building championship sales teams for more than 2,800 businesses worldwide. As a recognized leader in sales hiring, training, and team development, Rocky is known for his results-driven strategies, deep expertise in sales-specific assessments, and passion for helping companies achieve breakthrough growth.