Inside Sales Telesales Tips Blog

Motivation: (This Can’t Be) The Worst Job You’ve Ever Had

Even on bad days when prospects weren't buying, internal systems were failing, and management was having fits because the numbers were down, I was still really glad to be an inside salesperson. When you're having a really bad day (and there have been a few over the last couple of quarters), it might be a great idea to think about a terrible job you had in the past, and compare it with the one you've got now. It provides perspective. I was just telling a lawyer friend about one of mine, and now I'm going to tell you. And you might think about yours, and tell us all about it on the blog. Warning: I'm setting the bar pretty high (or low) with this one. Here it is.

At one point in my life, I served court summons in East Side San Jose to people that were being sued. As a process server, my job was to go to an address, ring the doorbell, ask for John Doe, then hand him a court summons. You then log their physical descriptions in a book in case they deny they were served. The East Side was - and still is - known by the moniker Sal Si Puedes, which means "Get out if you Can." It's still a rough area that has a lot of police activity. People are angry when they're handed a summons, and few visitors are less welcome than Process Servers. I was threatened, insulted, and berated on a daily basis. A standard technique was to throw the summons through the door before it was slammed in your face. I developed a thick skin and fast legs, as the best policy was to run to the car as fast as possible and drive off before trouble occurred.

This was a commission-only job, and I got paid for every served document. After my first two weeks, I went to collect my paycheck. It wasn't there. And it wasn't there because the owner of the Process Serving company was in jail himself! The fellow that hired me was being stiffed, too. He hadn't been paid for a month, and was throwing good money after bad by staying there, believing all the promises that his check would arrive. I quit on the spot, and told a Sheriff's deputy the story, and he agreed to serve MY summons the owner right in his jail cell.

So why am I telling this story? In all of my telesales training courses, there's usually some stuff that comes up regarding not enough leads, poorly functioning internal systems, or internal policies that could be improved upon. I tell my reps that all companies have these problems, especially ones that are so successful that internal systems and policies are constantly being stressed. "Welcome to high tech" is how I usually put it. It goes with the job. So next time you're exasperated with something at work that's just not right, why not think about a job you had in the past that was a whole lot worse. It can be pretty motivating. So now I've told you my story about a really bad job. What's yours?