Oh where to begin.
First off doing research on this company really made me feel like I was being scammed to begin with, but I used my better judgement to give it a chance especially when I found out it was under new ownership.
I have a degree in advertising/public relations and have worked with telemarketing in the past, but nothing could prepare me for this disaster.
The main goal of this job is by selling timeshare to people in exchange for free gifts. This is something EXTREMELY tough to do, but under the right training it is possible.
Unfortunately the "training" at this job only lasted a total of 3 hours, and most of it was paperwork and orientation. Two middle aged women came and attempted to work as well with me and after the first day or orientation. I wont even call it training because no real training went on. There was a loose pamphlet, an itinerary per to se. Again I can't call it a real training outline because we didnt go over half the things in the booklet. One thing however was made clear for us, IF we werent making sales in the first few days, the manager would try to help us, and if still nothing, Joel, the head boss and owner would sit down with us. Alright fair enough.
Second day comes and I expect our group to sit down, get a feel for the computers, listen to how people make their calls, and maybe do a little roleplaying to see how we would handle situations. Heck, even our booklet stated that! But no, what happens was a short 10 minute run down of the computer followed by putting us DIRECTLY to work. One of the ladies had a freak out, but was told to return tomorrow and give it another shot. I had no clue how to fill out forms, manual dial, or do anything since I was never trained to handle this.
However I did my best and straggled through the work day without any sales. Honestly I was proud of myself for making it that far on my own.
The next day comes along, and the woman who was told to come back immediately gets "terminated", 10 minutes later the second woman who comes along also gets fired, leaving me. The college graduate to wipe up the mess that is this dubacle. I struggled again, most of my calls were answering machines, and I noticed that MANY of the older employees were good at making sales.
On our first break I went to Joel, the owner of the firm and told him how I was struggling, on my second day, and if he could sit down and maybe help me with my script. He said he would, and he never showed up.
So I sat down with one of the managers, another of the people on the floor. She was a TERRIFIC person to work with, and gave me some advice, but ultimately told me it was up to me to find my own selling nitch in the company. Second day ends and I almost made a few sales, but still nothing. Hey, its my second day, with no training at all, I felt I was starting to make my own progress.
I told the floor managers that I'd be willing to try to round out the week by working one more day. They promptly told me that it really wasnt my choice, and that usually they would fire people after their second day on the phones, but if I wanted to I could study up and come back on Friday. Woah, what happened to the boss sitting down with me and monitering my calls to help me? Wait, didnt I originally hear no quotas at first, and that theyd be willing to help me improve?
With those thoughts rambling in my head, I chose not to return. I think getting fired for 2 first days without 0 appointments couldve been fixed with the right amount of training and supervision. From working in the public relations business, I know how to properly train a person and how to slowly work with them and churn them out to be the ideal worker.
This CANNOT be done in two days to the normal person and in all honesty I dont think the company really wants to attempt to do that. I think they want to find their one in a 100 good sellers and keep them by inticing them with money and commissions.
Honestly it shows, there are about 6-7 people on day shift at a time. One wonders why its dwindling so. I honestly believe that the newly found owner of this business needs to sit down and re-evaluate how he wants things to be run, or else this company will slash and burn and it will happen slowly and painfully. So I warn you, the prospective employee, even if youre straight out of high school.
Be VERY careful with this job unless you think you can sell on your own with little to no training. Its a difficult task, Im sure a few of you out there could do it. However, for the majority of us, including us people with a degree in PR/advertising. Try something else; much like the resort pitch itself, this job is a total gimmick.
They told me its not for "everyone"; and they are right. But I'd like to think that its not for "most people"
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