Sales Success

Preface

"How can you be so incompetent? One sale! One sale! How can you only make one sale in a month? That is ridiculous. It was a measly sale at that!" bellowed an extremely angry and frustrated sales manager. "Jack, if I don't see improvement soon, you are out of here."

"Not again," thought a very depressed, dejected Jack Blake. This was his third sales job in a year and he was failing again. "What is wrong with me?"

As Jack left his manager's office, he felt lost. He had no clue on how to improve. He had no clue on where to even start. "It wouldn't make any difference anyway," thought Jack.

Eleven months ago, Jack had entered the world of selling full of excitement. Now he just felt like giving up. He thought back to the previous eleven months, to that excitement he felt as he accepted that first job selling insurance.

When he graduated from college a year and a half ago, he had felt like the world was his. He thought he was ready. He graduated in the top ten percent of his class with a double BA in Marketing and Business Administration, so why wasn't he able to succeed at sales?

After taking a few weeks to travel and relax, Jack had taken a job as a sales representative for FSI Insurance Company. FSI is the third largest insurance company in the nation and very selective on whom they let represent them as a sales representative.

Jack has always been interested in sales and knew he was going to rip this industry up with success. Jack first became interested in sales when he sold grapefruits to earn money for a Florida baseball trip for his little league team. He had sold more grapefruits than anyone else and paid for his entire trip without having to get any money from his parents.

Jack's first month at FSI went extremely well. That month, he had the third most sales on the team, beating the numbers of many veterans. He sold his parents a policy, his uncle and aunt in Michigan, his cousin Susanne in Georgia, and a number of his friends.

However, from there it began to go downhill. His second month was mediocre. In fact, that is where he ended up in the team rankings. Smack dab in the middle. His third month was awful. He ended the month better than only one other sales person, and he knew that guy was going to be fired. Jack was only mildly surprised when he was fired too.

It didn't take Jack long to get another job, though. He landed what appeared to be a lucrative position with the largest auto dealer in the area. He was now one of the select sales representatives for Frank's Auto World, which represented Toyota, Honda, Ford, and Volvo cars. Talk about variety. This should be easy. He is just glad they didn't ask about his previous job in the interview. Frank's Auto World was so impressed with his college career that they hired Jack on the spot.

Now, all Jack had to do was prove that he could sell..which he didn't. He sold only three cars in his first six weeks. In fact, that isn't quite true. He only sold two. The third sale came when a couple came in and bought a car in ten minutes. They were sold before they had walked on the lot. They knew the make, model, color, and features that they wanted. In fact, they knew more about that particular car than Jack did.

That was the highlight of Jack's life as a car sales professional. In his second six weeks with Frank's Auto World, Jack only sold one car. They let him go shortly after that. Now, it looked like the same thing was going to happen again.

Jack's current job was selling Professional Training DVD and Audio Programs for Success is Yours Incorporated to businesses and individuals. Jack loved the product. Every time he watched or listened to one of the programs, he got motivated and began to believe he could succeed too.

Jack's thoughts finally brought him back to the reality at hand. "It is just so hard," he thought. "Well, it is about 4:30 PM. I may as well go home, get a good night's sleep, and give it another try in the morning."

As Jack walked into the entry door of his dingy apartment building, he opened his mailbox. "Junk mail, junk mail, what is this?" It was a light green envelope that just had his name on it. Someone had obviously just dropped it into the mailbox.

As Jack opened the plain envelope, his stomach sank. It was from his landlady, Mrs. Norris. Mrs. Norris was a sweet lady around 65 years of age. She had lost her husband about three years ago and had been running the apartment building ever since. She had salt and pepper hair, a plump figure, and always wore a warm, caring demeanor on her face. More than once, Jack had enjoyed sitting with her on a warm, sunny afternoon on a bench under the old sweet gum tree adjacent to the apartment complex parking lot.

Mrs. Norris seemed to understand Jack's feelings about how hard of a struggle he was having with his job. She had always been so supportive. It was always comforting to talk with her.

As he opened the small envelope, he saw a short handwritten note inside it. Jack unfolded the note and began to read:

Dear Jack,

I hate to write a note like this, but I really have no choice. I know how hard your job is for you right now and I understand you are under a lot of stress. However, I am trying to separate my personal feelings for you and run my apartment complex like a business.

Please know that you are like a son to me and I love you very, very much. If you could at least show intent to pay your rent. You haven't paid anything for the last two months. Can you at least pay half of your rent this month? If not, I will have no choice but to ask you to move out. I am so sorry about this Jack.

God bless,
Mrs. Norris

"Great." Jack said out loud in a muffled tone. He understood of course. He also was embarrassed. Where was he going to get $350 in the next two weeks? His entire rent was $700 a month, and he knew that would be almost impossible for him to get a hold of in just two weeks. If only he could make a couple of big sales in the next two weeks.

As Jack made his way upstairs to his one-bedroom apartment, he felt as though he was totally alone. He felt no one completely understood.or at least cared. Jack knew these thoughts weren't true, but that is how he felt.

Sure, he could ask his parents to float him a little loan. But, he had done that before. He didn't want to do that again. He had to do this on his own. He had to figure out a way. For the first time in a long time, Jack began to feel the twinkle of a little determination.

He needed some air. Maybe a walk would clear his mind. As he thought about his parents, Jack knew where he needed to go to clear his mind. Jack's parents had given him a Christmas gift of a season pass to the Cincinnati Zoo. Jack loved the zoo. As a kid, they would go to the Cincinnati Zoo about once a week during the summer. It is a wonderful zoo and one with a good bit of history too. It is the second oldest zoo in the United States.

Jack only lived about two miles from the zoo. In fact, Jack has lived in the Cincy area all his life. He grew up in the beautiful Cincinnati suburb of Loveland, OH.

As Jack entered the zoo entrance gates, he could already feel a bit of the stress leave his body. He walked past the entrance and headed to his favorite spot, the gorilla exhibit. He loved the gorillas. They are so majestic with such strength but also such poise as they climb up the trees and other elements in their zoo home. Everything Jack wasn't and wanted to be.

Jack walked into the exhibit and his eyes immediately caught the big guy, one of the main attractions to the zoo itself. Sam, the large male gorilla, was huge. He was snorting and pacing for the crowd. As he did, his blackish, gray fur bristled. He was larger than most male silverbacks, and he ruled his kingdom without question. Such confidence. "Boy," thought Jack. "If I had just a tiny piece of Sam's confidence, I wouldn't be in this mess."

Jack moved to the series of benches directly in the middle of the exhibit and took a seat. It felt good to sit down. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was. For a moment, Jack closed his eyes and let the thoughts and stress ease from his weary presence.

Jack was knocked out of his inner reverie by a voice. The voice said, "Is this seat taken?" Jack looked up and said "What?" An older gentleman was looking down at Jack. The man must have been in his seventies, maybe even eighties. He had stark white hair with just a touch of black in the back. His skin was wrinkly with the miles of successful living behind him. He was wearing a pair of business casual style Khaki pants, a solid baby blue golf shirt with just a hint of a stripe, and stark white (looked like he just took them out of the box) tennis shoes. But his eyes, there was something about his blue eyes. They sparkled with an energy and aliveness that Jack had never seen before. The old man said again, "Is this seat taken?"

Jack shook off the cobwebs in his mind and remembered his manners. Jack gestured to the open seat next to him on the bench and said, "Ah, no. Please." Before Jack could get the words out, the old man sat down right next to him.

Now, Jack felt uncomfortable. He felt like this man could see through the façade he showed the world and peer directly to the depths of his starved, despaired soul. He felt as though the old man was staring at him. Jack...