Last week was a record week for me in my advertising sales position. I had the entire front page of ads and half of the back page, and many in the middle as well. I had a lot of luck with selling ads, even through one of the busiest weeks I have ever experienced.
During our freshman semesters of school, finishing our general education and university requirements, we learn an array of different things. We learn how to run a computer, how to read each others body language in psychology, the basic human anatomy in biology, the places of the world in geography and where we stand politically during introduction to politics and government. Biggest of all... we enter into speech class. My particular class had more than 50 students in it. Speaking in front of others has never been a problem for me but it is a 102% adrenaline rush. Your blood pressure spikes, your heart races crazy fast, and your palms start to sweat.
All of those things are what I experience daily in this job. I walk into a business, not wanting to buy something from them, but wanting them to buy something from me. Does that seem any bit ironic to you? We ask people to spend their hard earned money, to advertise in a newspaper. I walk in with my head high, (I'm actually on crutches right now so sometimes it's down) and I ask them about their business and how things are going. I give them a comforting feeling that I care about their business and I am only there to do what is best for them and what is in their best interest. I tell them all about what we have to offer and give them the options. If you get a yes, I want to throw your first up in the air and scream "I ROCK!", if I get a no, I say thank you and walk out just like I do a thousand other times throughout the day.
Sales can teach you a lot about who you are and what you are capable of. When I found out I had to have an internship to graduate I knew that I wanted to do something where I was going to learn. I didn't want to do something I already knew how to do I wanted to expand my resume skills and be able to grow within myself. 120 hours into my internship and almost finished I have definitely grown and learned so much about myself. I have learned that I do not take rejection well and it is something I haven't had to deal with before. I have learned that I too, much like a child, get welts of tears in my eyes if someone says no too aggressively. I have learned that I enjoy a "pat on the back" when I do something worthy. I have learned that stress consumes me in a weird way and makes me crazy. I have learned that hearing a compliment can really make a person's day better.
As we grow older we start to find out things about ourselves that we were once not attuned to. We learn that we have qualities that we never paid attention to. I am only 20 years old but I have come to a point in my life where I analyze everything that I do, and learn more about myself through it.
I learned through this job that I cry a lot because I am an emotional human being. Many times I like to tell people, I don't cry, but when it comes to it, I definitely do.
I learned that working out every day helps me release a lot of anger and frustration that builds up inside of me, and without that I am an incredibly cranky person.
I learned that I am hard to please. I don't settle for whatever, I like things to be up to a standard that I have set. This isn't always a good thing.
I learned that I do not, "Go with the flow" or "Just let it happen". I actually stress about everything and need each tiny detail to be planned out.
I learned that I am not always 100% honest with myself or others. In my negotiations class we learned about when it is okay to lie in a negotiation. This pointed out to me that I often break many of the rules when it comes to when it is okay to lie.
I learned that when a business is struggling, or even if they aren't, the first funds to be cut to allocate elsewhere, are advertising funds.
I learned that having a relationship with people is half of the battle, and if they like you they will buy ads from you.
Each week I learn something new about myself and about others. I have began to appreciate other personalities and the way that people act. I realize that not every person is the same and they are all unique in their own way. There are not two people I see for advertising that are the same.
My mom has always said that she believe that every single person should have to be a waitress in their life so that they understand what they are going through and so that you respect them instead of act rude towards them. Just this last semester, 3 years into my degree, I learned about something called "the waitress rule". The rule is that you can tell a lot about a person based on how they treat their waitress. If they are rude towards the waitress, they are going to be rude towards you. If they are demanding, this is how they will be towards you. Many make the comment that it is because they are low level workers and should be treated that way when they mess up, but this is not true. Based off of what my mother has always told me I am going to add to it that everyone should have to experience advertising or door to door sales at some point in their life. It is equally as difficult and you deal with the same type of people, in a different setting, and instead of them being mad about their food, they are mad about their money.
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