I landed the job
After months of job hunting, I finally landed a job in the role that I actually wanted!! I started April 7th.
I chose sales because I want to get really good at speaking with people, understanding nuance, and knowing when to push for the appointment and the sale and when not to. Sales is ultimately a conversation, where one person presents their problem and the other offers a solution when they have let down their guard.
I've also been interested in business for a while. I've read issues of Fast Company as well as books and articles from entrepreneurs, listened to a marketing podcast, read "What is Marketing?" by Seth Godin, and even was in the process of starting my own business. I wanted that nomadic wealth. But now I am okay with working for a company that aligns with my values. I'm doing exactly that.
What I've observed so far is that I'm very comfortable asking for the sale, but not as good at getting the other person on the line warmed up to me. My new goal is to warm them up just enough so that they put me in front of the decision-maker or the person that I need to have a conversation with. This can be done by pointing out something I've found out about that makes their business unique, asking a question, or validating their experience in an authentic way.
I also find it exciting that I can change my intonation, the script, and pick up what is and isn't working and pivot accordingly based on the evidence from that conversation.
For someone just starting out, I've gotten surprisingly close to setting an appointment. I've also made 28 calls in a day so far, on my fourth day of training!
My new sales job is giving me evidence that I can speak to people if I really want to. Socializing, understanding nuance, creating conversations, and making friends is something that has always been difficult for me.
But I'm leaning right into it, not ignoring it. In 2022, I really focused on improving this aspect of my life. I went to meetups with men and women, I had conversations with a guy in French, I really opened up to my co-workers, I initiated conversations with strangers at work [both men and women] while looking them straight in the eyes, I asked people I know in person if they would be interested in a free coaching session on accelerated-learning techniques, I had a long chat with an international stranger at a cafe, I went to my first happy hour work party, I went on friend dates, and I dated for the first time [someone who was difficult to read a lot of the time and not as verbal so I had to talk more]. I also decided to tell people weird things about me such as the podcast episodes I was listening to and strange observations or what I was thinking about that day.
On my second day of training, I did my first set of role-plays where I used Apple Voice Memos by myself to pretend I was having a conversation. I sent a few of those to my mentor on Slack and I did well! To me, it felt like I stumbled a lot.
On my fourth day of training, I also excelled on my first live calls. My mentor shadowed me as I made my first 6 calls. I felt so nervous! But out of two of them I got what I wanted, a name and a call back.
But I still feel nervous that I won't be able to close the deal and set the appointment because of my still average social skills. Also, I’ve never had a job where I wasn’t guaranteed an income, except for the pet sitting I was an independent contractor for in 2019. I didn’t get paid unless I did the sit but that was really easy. I followed instructions.
In this job, there are looser instructions and scripts that I can play with but don't necessarily have to read verbatim. This is a scary job because it is so unpredictable because humans are unpredictable.
The emotion I experience before the first call is always the worst feeling. My goal is to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. I don’t even have to get an appointment out of the call, I just have to make the call and say the first couple words.
I hope that this job also makes me less scared of the phone. Once it is dialing, someone picks up, and I actually say my initial greeting, then I can breathe. Nothing else in the world matters except making this first call.
After that first hour of calls, 10:14-11:14, I got up and stretched. I tracked how many people I called within that hour. It was 7 and my goal was 15.
Before and during making the calls, I chose to see calling as an opportunity to cultivate curiosity. I’m curious about these businesses and curious about how I can help them, particularly the ones I feel more passionate about helping.
I've also been slowly creating a routine. Ideally I get out of the house quickly, stop in for coffee [lately it's been iced matcha lattes], drive to a nature preserve with plentiful grassy trails and wetlands, and walk while talking to myself to get ready for my job.
After my gym workout, I drive back to the house, shower, then started calling.