The Daily K: The Close

So far, I am good at talking to the very few people who answer the phone. When I say that I have called to tell them about the upcoming season at The Opera they listen attentively to what I have to say, but when I am done saying it, they start to, immediately, offer reasons for why they can’t buy, even before I have offered them the opportunity to acquire some fine seats. 

With time, I will learn how to handle these objections, and turn their no’s into yes’s. My boss said not to beat up on myself, to give it a week to learn the pitch. I am the master of instant gratification, and I want to see my name at the top of the board, NOW! I have learned, with age, to be patient however, and to trust that others, in this case, my boss, know more than I do. I will have to wait. The waiting is the hardest part.

I am doing Yoga to The Impotent Sea Snakes, this morning; preparing to take the dogs for a medium long walk. I have been studying for work in the morning, and then tired from work when I get home at night, so the dogs have not been getting the lengthy walks that I like to give them, and that they like to take. Shame on me.

It is the darndest thing: when I do Yoga, both of my cats, and both of my dogs, gather together, and watch me.

Two weeks ago, I got groceries from two different churches. Today, I have the day marked on the calendar when I will get my first pay check from my new job. I really think that prayer had something to do with my transition from having to have my hand out to having a hand in buying my own meals. I did not say, “God, hook me up with a job,” but I did say, over and over, “God, thy will be done not mine, thy will be done not mine,” and I think that His will was for me to have this job at The Opera.

I can hear you cynics, now, you atheists, those of you who don’t have faith in faith.

I’m tired from a long bike ride, this morning, from Midtown to Little Five Points(long for me), and from helping to redistribute food that would have been thrown out. I really don’t want to get in the shower, I want to get in the bed, and take a nap, but I can’t. Well, I can but then I might not have this job that I like, a job that I am finding challenging, and frustrating at the same time. I want to jump right up on the board, have my name hollered out because I made a sale, but it’s just not happening yet. Don’t quit before the miracle.

I have been loading up on carbs, over the past few days, because I have them. Sometimes poverty will dictate not eating healthy. I have been riding my bike 40 minutes a day, to and from work, and I am sure that this has helped combat the evil that the carbs have worked on me.

Boss: they won’t buy if you mispronounce the words. Coworker who is the leading sales person in the office: I used to mispronounce the words all the time. It is a learning process. The main thing is not to quit, said the leading sales person. I don’t see myself quitting. I want to learn how to sell on the phone. I want to be great at selling on the phone.

I am riding my bike to and from work. It is a twenty minute ride each way. I enjoy the ride, and I figure that I am burning calories, and losing pounds in the process. It is a win, win situation to have a job that you like and to be getting exercise to boot in the process.

Often when I reach a male voice on a voice male, the “Hello,” sounds much like the voice on the old t.v.show Mr. Ed, and I will laugh to myself, and say, “Hello, my name is Mr. Ed. Mostly, I am only getting one or two people an hour to actually answer the telephone, so I have to keep myself entertained and in a positive mood, and this is one of the ways that I do it: chuckling to myself over different things that occur on the job.

It is interesting to see sales people argue with the boss when he points out something that they should, or shouldn’t, be doing. I heard someone say today, “Well, that is what I did, yesterday.” Of course, I’m a bit of a know it all myself, but I am really trying to bite my tongue on this jot. I know for sure that my boss knows way more about selling on the phone than I do, and I am here to learn from him.

“Thank you for your call,” one voice mail said, and I muttered, “You are welcome,” as I hung up the phone.

I just handled a lady’s, “I don’t have any money,” objection by telling her that she could get tickets to all three operas for as low as $75 a ticket. She still said no. I hear others in the office making sales, and I want in; I want to get on the board.

Ms. So and So just hung up on me.

The name listed on the computer was Susie Makepeace, and I thought that weird, and interesting. My co-worker said that it is probably a business. The number was disconnected. No more making peace.

Mr. Doe was, “NOT interested. Thank you.” CLICK.

I showed my boss my, “Peace, Love, and Coffee,” cup that I had brought into the office. He said nothing about “Peace, Love, and Coffee,” just “WOW, that is a LARGE cup, you must be an addict. Earlier in the week I had brought a toothbrush into the office and had put it in with the pens in a tin can that I have on my desk. My boss reacted with a, “Wow, a tooth brush. Are you making sure that your breath is fresh for your customers?” I could tell that he wasn’t all that thrilled about it so I took it off my desk and brought it home. It is possible to get a little bit too homey on your desk in the work space.

This job makes me sweat; not the full on sweat of, say, a workout, or a long bicycle ride, but a subtle sweat that you are almost not aware exists. I wipe my brow not frequently, but I wipe it.

Sometimes, by accident, I say, “This is Mikel with the Atlanta Ballet,” and not The Opera. This is rather embarrassing.

I just spoke to a young lady whose last name was Boring.

I was thinking tonight about how Tony Robbins would handle this. I mean there is nothing that can be done about so many people not picking up the telephone. You can’t deliver a pitch, you can’t handle any objections if there is no one to speak to.

Boss Critique: Mikel, they won’t buy if you mispronounce the names.

Disappointment can set in rapidly, and rather easily. After my boss’s critique of a conversation that I had that resulted in no sale, I felt rather down, and out, though I fully realize that the critique was in my best interest. Until I have made a sale, I really don’t know if I can do this.

He said that I was too flippant, that people would have fun listening to me, but that they wouldn’t get serious and buy. The Assistant Boss said that I sound like I am reading from a script, which I am.

I’ve got to stop eating things that get caught in my teeth, like celery.

I just phoned The Partridges. Ha, ha…The Partridge Family.

I bet that I am getting bottom of the barrel leads. Why would they give a rookie the sweet leads to practice on?