MY VERY OWN TERRITORY

There were a number of things about my new job/company that were first class.

The first plus was to have my exclusive sales territory. Wow! No one could sell in there but me. The territory included a large portion of downtown Philadelphia and a very large portion of Southern New jersey that included five counties and the city of Camden. The cities would demand most of my time because of the concentration of prospects. Less time would be spent in the rural counties because of fewer prospects, but required critical planning because of time spent traveling between towns.

The second plus was the amount of training I received. Every week there was a training meeting, usually in the evening, at which time each salesman was involved in role-playing, taking turns playing Mr. Prospect to the calling salesman. It was lots of fun and at the same time, a learning experience.

The third plus was my compensation plan, which was a challenging one. It consisted of a monthly draw of $400.00 against commission. If your commission for the month totaled $300.00, you owed the company the difference which you were expected to make up the following month. This was the incentive to increase your calls per month, knowing that the more calls you made, the better your chances for sales.

More, later.

FINAL JOB CHANGE

My final (and sixth) job change happened in an unusual way.

Realizing the need for a change, I began perusing the newspaper employment sections , looking for just the right move because I was in my thirties, but still employable to most companies.

One day I saw an ad for an office copier salesman. Wow! I had the experience gained selling the E.K. copiers, plus this offered an opportunity to see a copier line that was completely unique in the business world. It was an all-electric copier, which meant that there were no messy chemicals involved. Wow, again.

I made a phone call, had an interview, and said,"this is for me." After a discussion with my dear wife, who was reluctant to see me change, she changed her mind when I mentioned the 25 percent pay increase. Once again, with some reluctance, I gave my notice to the camera company and moved to another downtown office.

My new employer was an international company with a fine reputation and they did things the right way. My first week was spent in New York City, traveling with experienced salesmen. It was the right way to get started. While I was in New York City, I got a call from my new manager saying that he had sold two copiers for me in my territory. I knew then that I had made the right move.

More, later.

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA

An interesting feature to my new job was the opportunity to gain some sales experience, and it happened this way.

When my office work was caught up I would spend time at the company's retail counter watching what took place. Eventually, I found myself selling non-technical items (film, flashbulbs and inexpensive cameras), and enjoying it very much.

In my second year on the job, the firm began to expand its product lines to out-of-the-store prospects. The major additions were projectors to the education market, commercial Polaroid equipment and office photo copiers. My boss wanted me to try selling the latter two product lines, releasing me from day-to-day office responsibilities. I was happy to oblige, and soon found myself enjoying immensely the "outside" work.

One big advantage of this outside selling was the training I received from the company representatives of these products, in particular, the Eastman Kodak Company and its photocopier line. One of the representatives, Ed____, was the catalyst for motivating me to succeed.

Once again I found myself pondering my job status. There were no promotion possibilities in this family-run business, and I received no extra commissions for these sales. With a daughter nearing college age I knew that I needed more money. Was it time for me to seek other employment? Read my next blog to find out what happened.

More, later.

CIGARS (Part II)

I found my new job very interesting, particularly in my relatiomship with the fifteen retail cigar salesmen. They were a friendly lot given to much joking with each other and with the eight office staff. The office manager, Mr. B______, a veteran in the business, was very thorough in the way he directed the office, and very patient with me as he taught me the business from the ground up, as they say.

My primary job, as assistant office manager, was inventory control. I had to balance, on a daily basis, the number of cigars carried by each salesman (beginning number, less sales for the day, and ending balance on each panel truck) add to this total the number of cigars in the warehouse, and come up with the total by physical counting. Exacting work, but quite interesting.

I had this job for about three and a half years. In addition to taking inventory, I wrote monthly reports to the general sales office and directed the office staff when Mr. B_____ was absent.

The one drawback to the job was financial. The yearly raise was miniscule and was reflected in my take-home pay, which just about covered our expenses. I decided to look around for another opportunity and found it!!

In the church we attended was a man my age whose father had a retail camera store in downtown Philadelphia. O____ told me one day that the company needed an office manager to give some relief to his dad, at the store. Once I got the details and found the pay to be fifty percent more than my current job, I took the leap, although it meant working for half day on Saturdays. I left the cigar companyy with some regrets (isn't it always so?), but was anxious to "run the show" in this new venture.

The camera company was quite small personnel-wise, but a growing business. The atmoshphere was relaxed and friendly, and I thrived in it.

More, later.