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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Big Global Conference

Well I flew to the company HQ for their annual global conference and rah rah show. Some people were making money and we were supposed to hang around them and learn from them. In fact the few real producers pretty much hung around together shunning us other 80% leaving us to share our sad tales of woe. Didn't learn a thing. Pretty much got the impression that there was no formula for success. The winners didn't know if they had a hot territory or that they were that good. The rest of us were left with the magic words, "follow the script." Flew back on the plane and felt even more let down. Back to work.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

They are watching me fall and don't care

Friday, June 26, 2009

The pressue mounts

After leaving the mentor and returning home I had just a few weeks before our mandatory meeting at company HQ. Things were going nowhere and my spiritual battle worsened. I blogged most of that and my life since at: http://wilderness.blogstream.com/
Now the few appoints I had ended in futility. World wide meeting coming up and I had nothing to show.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Mentor or not much help

Well I traveled to my mentors city. Real nice guy. Let me stay at his house. But he was some former "hot shot" salesman. He didn't help me much in the area's I felt that were the problem, qualifying leads and marketing. Instead he uses the sales manger approach. I was told you didn't need those techniques if you follow the script. This guy made me nuts. Stand here, sit here, say this, do this, he was a hard boiled seasoned sales pro. Well if that what it takes why was I lied to?
The whole way home on the plane I prayed to die. I had sunk to a new low.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

A lot of prayer

Well as I was working out of my house and not getting any appointments. I had increased my mailings to 15 a week (recommended max.) After making that 15 or so phone call follow ups 3 times a day and memorizing my materials I had a lot of time left over. I began to read my bible and pray much more. This set off now a spiritual battle that would add to the mounting pressure.
Not having much success making appointments I was then advised to travel to my mentors house for some personal coaching.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Summertime blues

First appointment went OK. Kind of lost the guy during the 30 minute presentation. Oh well, my first under my belt. The second was harder to get. Several weeks passed and nothing happened. All my mentor could do was pick apart my deliveries of scripts this is why I'm am getting phone rejection. Instead of mentor and franchise it was more like I bought into some crappy telemarketing company complete with jackassed sales managers.
There solution was to call these business owners 3-5 times a day an press for an appointment. I was advised to introduce myself as president of the company, so I could be on equal terms. What president cold calls another 3-5 times a day. But these guys are the geniuses. My summer of 2006 was getting crappy.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Magic Words

Ever since I did my original do diligence into this franchise I was told by everybody, "The only way to succeed is to follow the scripts." These are the magic words. The scripts are wordsmithed by geniuses of the business. You buy a McDonald's you don't tweak the special sauce nor do you mess with the Colonel's recipe. So, you don't fuddle with the words, every thing by the book. Mr. B.S. referred to himself as "by the book Bob."
I had them all memorized and was ready for my first appointment.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Unraveling

I'm a country club member

I came from lower middle class Appalachia.The thought of a country club was never in the collective mind of any friend, acquaintance or relative I ever knew. Now I have lived next door to a country club for 6 years. I need to hold my meetings someplace. I join the country club. Now I can hold meetings , play golf, and dine my clients. I can tell future customers that my meetings will be held at, "My Club," makes sense.

Beginning to smell a rat

As I start to make calls and ramp up business, I get this e-mail from Mr. B.S. saying that if I want help, I need to enroll in a mentoring program with one of the other franchisees. I thought training and help were included. Now I find I got to give one of my peers half of my sales commission just to talk to me on the phone. What exactly did I pay 60k for anyway, a handful of dvd's. They made me pay for all my marketing material and my MAGIC handouts. Now I am dinged for mentoring.
So, I get 1 appointment and 1 maybe after my first mailing and follow up phone call. I'm feeling O.K. End of first week in business.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Pressing on

I had to have foot surgery so that gave me time to practice and get ready to start mailing out my marketing material. This material they said was so fine tuned and perfected that it will bring results if you follow the scrpit and could deliver it "word for word." More practice.
I mailed out the first introductory letters. Everything by the book. Had everything in place.
Next step set up my meeting place and then follow up on my mailings.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

On my own.

Well I was assured that when I bought this franchise I would get training and support. Well if you call a handful of dvd's training, I guess. As for support; I met with my fellow area franchisee, the one who was holding his sessions at my group leaders business office. He shall I say, was less than enthusiastic about me being I in the area. I had been told this would be a real plus and beside the territory was big enough to support 6 or more franchises.
I then set out to get my business started I had to set up a corporation out of my 401 k money. Get an accountant (his name was Dave.) Then I had to memorize word for word a 25 page script. This was in order to give a 30 minute presentation to the VITO. This I was told were the golden words and the magic presentation that my success would depend upon my knowing this and following it exactly. Practice, practice and more practice.
Then after a couple of weeks I can get to work and make money.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Well now I'm in

There was a scene in the movie, "The Magnificant Seven," were the bandits made a point about robbing peasants. Their rational was that God didn't made them sheep therefore he wants them fleeced. Well now that I'm in and on my way home. The franchisee has my money,the fleecing is done.
BAA

Saturday, June 13, 2009

The one that got away!

The five of us that were in the class were now all in except for one. The guy from Chicago who was in banking had his eye on another franchise and was holding out. He told me he was looking at a check cashing franchise. The was lucrative and can't miss. In retrospect he's the one fish that got away clean from the bait these guys used to real us in. But I thought, "See I'm in this for the ministry and he's in for the money. My heart is right. This can't fail."
Well, now I'm in and the next step was to call my boss and resign from my job that I had for 20 years. Yes, my dream job. Making tons of money doing very little and enjoying the good life. But I'm trading that for a life with a purpose a mission or so I thought.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Bought the deal

Well we got back from riding with Dave and decision time has come. We are waiting for the franchise founder founder to bring us in to make the close. Then while awaiting my turn Dave says to me, " I have my doubts about the other guy, but I think you'll make it in this business. That was the closing of the deal for me.
After all I had been reading about knowing "God's will," I had done everything possible too ascertain that this was the right path.
Godly counsel.
Spouse in agreement.
Open doors.
Confirmations.
Pastor in agreement.
Word from fellow Christians.
Well I signed the papers. No turning back now, I had bought a franchise and I was on my way.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

This is it!

We then spent 2 days of going through the training we'll be selling. All my fellow prospective buyers are enthused and are convinced we can be successful.
Then I get to ride around for two days and attend a training session held by superstar
Dave. During the ride around with Dave I become even more convinced this is God really lining things up. Dave was everything I had been praying to become. everything Dave in Florida and everything Dave the story I was reading when I got the call was. This job was his ministry. He used this to launch his second half life. He also had a connection to the founding father of the sales and motivation business from a Christian standpoint. If ever I needed confirmation this was it.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Another Dave enters the mix

Now after Mr BS. has to leave to check on his wife they had to improvise. First we saw videos of Mr Franchise with the greats of the success and motivation field. It was like watching a video of the founding fathers.
Then local franchisee shows up a true superstar. Just happened to be named Dave. Third Dave confirmation. He goes on to tell us how we can all be huge successes at this business. But he reminds us of a key point. YOU MUST FOLLOW THE SCRIPT! Well this was what I had been told by every franchisee and now it was becoming apparent. We are buying a franchise. So it must be done their way and they have the magic words and marketing and if you follow everything you can't lose.
Thus the Dave confirmation again.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

No BS

On our first day our trainer meets us in the lobby. We share some small talk and I mention golf. He says he tried it but it was too easy. Golf! Even Tiger won't say that. So we get to class and he no more than introduces himself when he gets an emergency call. His wife had her purse grabbed and was injured in the process. He had to leave, no more BS and those also were his initials. But then the other BS really started.