Knock Knock!

People often ask me how my sales career began, so I thought I would share the back story with you. Between my junior and senior year of high school, a good friend told me about a summer job opportunity. I was not interested in the least because I played summer baseball every year and didn't want to miss the season. My first response to my friend Richard was a big, "No."

Persistence

Richard wouldn't drop it and explained to me how he had made almost $2K the previous summer. This got my attention and made me rethink my position. The job was with Southwestern Publishing Company out of Nashville, Tennessee. What would I have to do? Sell Bible Libraries, Cookbooks, and Children's Learn to Read books door to door.

The Offer

Here's where it became interesting for my parents and me. The facts:

No income guarantee
Pay 100% of your expenses
Unknown territory placement
Knock on doors in a strange town
Didn't know summer roommates
Attend a one-week sales school in Nashville
14-week commitment

You Can't Quit

My mom and dad listened to the story, and I'm sure they had many discussions I was unaware of before they gave me permission to go. We had all the expected conversations about being smart, staying safe, eating well, and working hard. The conversation I vividly remember, the one I'll never forget, is the one when my dad said, "Son, I don't care how tough it gets, quitting is not an option. If you go, you must finish out your commitment." I knew I could not give up and come home if things got hard.

Sales School

Sales school consisted of motivation techniques, practice, and sales strategies for 14 hours/day for five straight days. It was intense, well-executed preparation for what we were about to do. Sales experts shared their knowledge with the eager group of high school and college students from across the United States. This is the week I received a copy of The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. It truly changed my life, and I still have that same copy.

West Virginia

My territory was in Hurricane and Milton, West Virginia. We rented rooms from a family we met through a Baptist preacher. I lived in their basement with three other guys. My schedule Monday through Friday was as follows:

Wake up 5:00 am
Read for 15 minutes
Exercise for 30 minutes
Cold shower (they said it worked)
Breakfast with team
Depart for territory at 6:45 am

How did I arrive in my area? Believe it or not, they taught us to hitchhike. Turns out, I was really good at flagging down a lift. I met some nice people and never had an issue that first summer. It's a different world today, and they have dropped this practice.

Activity

My goals were defined and understood. It was a simple math equation, and it gave me something to shoot for every day. Being intensely competitive, this was highly motivating to me even at the age of 16.

The Numbers

Knock on 80 doors
Get in 30 houses
Give a dynamic 20-minute presentation
Ask 30 to buy
Close 6 per day

Start time: first knock 7:45 am
End time: last knock 9:45 pm

84 hours per week
4,800 knocks
180 presentations
36 sales

They told us that if we stuck to the plan, we could make $2K for the summer. I was all in and raring to go on day one. That summer was filled with life-changing experiences, which I will share another time. To say I learned a lot is an understatement. For the purpose of today's article, let's go right into the results.

My Summer

The days were brutal. I did want to quit on more than one occasion. Any time I felt like quitting though, my father's words and my mother's encouragement drove me to keep going and stay true to my commitment.

I did win 14 straight "pie in the eye" sales match-up contests, and there's nothing like delivering a blueberry cream chess pie topped with heavy whipped cream directly into the face of a competitor on a Sunday at the State Park.

I did finish what I started.

I did place in the Top 10 nationally for their entire sales force.

I did win a ski trip.

I did receive lunch from kind people in their homes every day.

I did bring home $4,786 after expenses for my efforts.

I did make my parents immensely proud.

More importantly, I fell in love with the art and science of selling in the back roads of West Virginia. It's incredible to discover what you love and enjoy at such an early age.