Maybe’s for Days

I spent the last two days of 2018 and the first day of 2019 attempting to close old leads with a substantial discount offered by my company.

I worked those three days making phone calls for every viable lead I met with since August. I would have gone further back, but I ran out of time.

In my previous career as an educator and administrator, I would have been kicking back and relaxing, not working at all. I also would not have had the option to earn a bonus by working those three days, as is possible with my current position.

This is the problem with education. I’m a hard worker, as most educators are, but no matter how hard I work or how many hours I put in, my paycheck remained the same.

There is no bonus at any time for your dedication or efforts.

The only addition to your paycheck requires a promotion. Any promotion requires another degree. And, the “company,” in most states and school systems, doesn’t offer to pay for schooling, as so many other companies do.

It sounds like I may have left education for money, but I didn’t. My last job had a great salary, and it’s exactly why I knew I had to leave. The money still wasn’t enough. The challenge presented by the job just wasn’t the challenge I needed.

At the same time though, most people who leave education don’t spend 13 years climbing the ladder before they abandon ship. They are jaded, burned out, or sick of the social abuse long before and find a less complicated career.

One thing is for sure though, in my years of education, I rarely meant any “customers” who hesitated to share their uncensored feelings. I would get an earful over the most trivial things imaginable. Somehow, receiving a zero for not turning in an assignment would become bullying by a teacher and 30-minutes of listening to a parent soapbox on the injustice their poor (lazy) child had suffered.

In sales, however, it is shocking how many people would rather lead you on than just be honest.

I guess these are the people who do not like confrontation, which is not something you encounter when dealing with people’s children.

Maybe it’s because of my first career; maybe it’s because I am from New Jersey; maybe it’s because I am pretty dry and straightforward in general; maybe it’s because I don’t remember growing up with a lot of Maybe’s. Either way, I am used to the immediate yes or no, and I respect it.

Either way, I certainly don’t consider a salesman asking whether or not you want to buy something a confrontation. It’s inevitable, especially if you invited him into your home to try and sell you something.

The question is pretty simple. The answer is even simpler: Yes or No.

I have no personal attachment to this answer. Sure, I want a Yes. My bank account wants a Yes. My boss wants a Yes, and the owner of my company wants a Yes.

But, I want an answer more than anything. Don’t give me the, “I’ll think about it.”

What a bunch of nonsense that is. Maybe the person saying it believes it; maybe they actually will think about it. In that case, they should come to the realization all they will be doing is thinking. They will think about it forever because the commitment is harder than the debate.

The reality is the “think about it” people drive me crazy. Maybe a more seasoned salesman could convince these people to buy, but in my shallow pool of 6-months experience, even when I convince these flip-floppers to buy, they cancel shortly after, wasting my time, their time, and countless other people’s time.