Salesmen

I hate salesmen. You know the ones. They make you feel icky and pressured, and you know that all they are thinking is $$$ when they look at you. They’re pushy and come in all different shapes and sizes:

-There are the car salesmen. Slick, polished. Annoying.

-Telemarketers, who happen to know the minute you are either a) about to leave the house b) just walked in the house or c) about to eat food/watch your favorite show. (they have been lessened somewhat since the age of cell phones, but some people still have house phones…right?)

-Electronics salesmen (like, Best buy, Circuit City, Fry’s) who don’t really know anything, but try to pretend like they do.

-Cell phone salesmen. They are trying to sell you their carrier, their phones, their different data plans…all while you walk by them in the mall.

-Speaking of Kiosk people, what about the ones who want to rub lotion on your hands or do something to your hair? Why do they ever think I am going to let them touch me?

-Furniture salesmen. They stop you (read pounce on you) the second you walk through the door. And if you tell them “just looking,” they unobtrusively (this is in italics because it’s not true, but I didn’t want to use quotes again, since I just did) follow you around and every time you sit on a couch or pause at a table, they ask again and again if you need help.

Anyway, I’m sure there are more, but these are some of the different types of salesmen I can think of at the moment. And every single one bothers me. Because I love cars (and because I am an informed consumer) odds are, I’m going to know all about the vehicle I want before I get there. Probably more than them. The same is true with cell phones and electronics…or pretty much any big ticket item. I’m not saying that having someone there to ask questions of isn’t a plus, but I will ask YOU, until then, do NOT bother me. Thank you.

So, now that I have you in this mindset and you’re all thinking the worst possible things about salesmen, I feel that this is the perfect time to tell you my profession. I am, in fact, a salesman (or saleswoman, for the PC crowd out there). And, well, I hate it. I’m not any of the aforementioned salespeople, though, thank God. I am a business to business salesperson. Or, officially, a “Business Development Representative.” Which means that I do cold calls to companies and try to convince them that they need our services. And what services are those, you may ask? We are a staffing agency. Which isn’t bad in and of itself, but how the hell do you SELL that? Yeah, I don’t know either.

And to clear up the obvious question of “well, if you don’t like being a salesperson, and (more to the point) you don’t know how to sell this company at all, why in the world did you apply for this position?” I didn’t. I went in to apply for a position they had available in a call center for one of their clients. About 2 days after the interview, they called and told me that I didn’t get the call center position, but wanted to know if I wanted a position in their office doing something similar for the same pay. Since I had just *moved to California the week before and had no money, of course I said yes. I started the next day. And it’s been downhill since then. But the pay is really decent (especially with commission) and the hours rock (Mon-Fri 8:30-5:30, which I would NEVER be able to get in a call center) I have decided not to quit. Yet. But every day it gets harder. And I know there are a lot of blogs out there about hating your job, and I don’t want to be another one, but I thought I would share this today, since…well…I hate my job. That is all.

*More to come on this story later, as it is the move that changed my life.