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I have an idea!
October 18, 2007

I have an idea.

A client in California called me today to enroll two reps into my Get Sales NOW!  training program.  One of them is a 19 year old kid whose only other sales experience was working in a kiosk in a mall selling for Sprint.  We’ve all seen those kids as we walk by and most of us have felt their pain.  What a tough job that must be.

One thing you learn when you are a member of Kiosk Nation is rejection.  In fact, you probably learn a LOT about rejection.  If you are aggressive enough to speak out to someone walking by, the reaction is generally somewhere between a polite shake of the head and more coarse grunt and scowl.  Still, you are hardened quickly, which becomes a good lesson for the future.

Here’s my idea: Let’s make the first 30 days of any new sales hire a experience they won’t forget.  Put them in a mall kiosk and stick a cell phone in their hand.  For 30 days they must hawk for Sprint and feel what rejection is.

Can you imagine what would come from such a training experience?  I’d bet not one of them would EVER complain about how hard selling printing is. I’d be no one would get rattled on the phone.  After you gone through cell hell, anything looks better.

Don’t you think?
 

Posted by Bill Farquharson on October 18, 2007 | Comments (0)