I turned 17, I Was Given A Credit Card And A Trunk Full Of Samples. Now, Go!
I can't believe they put me out like that... Issue #35
…ifOnlyi…would not have been pissing in my pants, leaving home to drive into cities, towns, villages, and mountain tops that I had never been to or seen before. But What takes place is a journey into releasing one’s fears step by step. I was just hours into my 17th year.
Here I am, wondering why I accepted this job as a salesman for our family business and where I was to go first. All I knew was that I had a Thomas Brothers Road Map and guide, a large printout of accounts I was to visit, and a tank full of gas. Oh yes, I had order forms too. HaHaHa!
When I was sixteen, I gained sales experience by participating in gift trade shows. I went to the LA Convention Center for the week-long event in the summer and watched our salesmen and sales Ladies do their magic, along with my Dad's help.
It went well, and I wrote the most significant trade show order the Company had ever written.
Yes, I did that all by myself.
I was stoked. The other salespeople were jealous. WHY? Because I clinched the deal, the other salespeople lost out on getting any commission. This was a brand new customer, and I knew I had earned enough money to have many great times during my upcoming junior year.
This was a dream for me, but like any order written, it is not final until it ships and the Company gets paid ….I call head office almost daily to see if the order has shipped, as it would be an extraordinary commission.
Well,l I never got paid any commission in the end.
The buyer, from one of the largest businesses in his industry, had ZERO authority to write orders, so it was canceled. I sure learned my first hard lesson in sales.
Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.
I later learned he had written over 10 million dollars in orders during that show with many other vendors. Zero went through, and he was fired on the spot!!
At least I was gaining knowledge and training in selling techniques, but not about going business to business without appointments.
Was I to just walk in with my bag of goodies and say, “Here I am. Where’s my order?” I don’t think so.
Off I went; believe me, I was not thrilled or driving too quickly to get to my first destination. I had dressed for success, always in a suit and tie, with the air conditioning blazing, and off I went all alone, scared!
I decided to pull over and Eat at Joe’s. It was yummy! I was only 15 minutes from home and was already making excuses for not being able to go yet.
By the way, “Eat at Joe’s has fantastic food, especially their breakfast. I would order the John Wayne Special. Try it sometime if you're in Redondo Beach, California. See, I’m even hesitating to write you this story.
Here it is - the John Wayne Special: Two eggs over medium, with cheese, on home fries; tortillas smothered in Spanish sauce, onions, green peppers, and surrounded with Sausage patties.
Do you know why I didn’t start my day? I was waiting until I could eat a healthy breakfast. OMG, I was doing everything I could to delay my journey.
Now, I was ready to tackle the road. I had at least a 50-minute drive to my first stop on the customer list, and I wondered where I would stay at the end of my first day.
I made no reservations, but I had a credit card, so I guess I could pick and choose where I wanted to sleep. Where will I go to dinner in a strange town? I knew no one and certainly didn’t have any recommendations, so I guess I would have to ask for advice. But who?
Arriving at my first stop, I got out, grabbed my goodie bag, and went inside. “Can I please speak with the buyer?” “Do you have an appointment?” she replied. “Oh no, please let them know it’s Ollie G.”
I acted like they should know me, and I expected someone to run. Who did I think I was? “I’m so sorry, Ollie. You need an appointment. The Pharmacist is busy right now, and she will be doing all the buying,” the receptionist said. “Oh, okay. I’ll be sure to make one.” I was excited to go back to the car.
I pondered, "Oh, maybe I need appointments, and I should go find a hotel, check in, and make calls to set things up." Great Idea. It was hot, and I was still nervous and didn't want to be turned down.
So now I had to find a hotel. I was only an hour away from Home, but couldn’t return after just 5 minutes of sales calls. So, I decided to drive around and look for a safe place to call it a day.
I saw hotel chains like Motel 6, Travelers Lodge, Super 8 Motel, Days Inn, and Econo Lodge. I wanted to find something safer, like Marriott, Four Seasons, or Hyatt. Something like that would be okay.
Next, I had to look for a phone booth with a phone book and see where I could find any hotels. It turns out there were no better hotels in this county. Oh boy!
I had to get realistic; my parents would have genuinely been pissed off at me staying at these better hotels, so I picked Motel 6; back then, it was $6.00 a night.
Across the street was Howard Johnson’s, and yes, it had a restaurant attached to it, so my worries about a meal were solved. I spent more time looking for a hotel than I did looking for customers to sell to.
Before I checked in, I found a shop and bought snacks to help me relax while making the cold calls. Now that I was in the room, I decided to unpack; even though it was for just one night, I didn’t want to get my clothes wrinkled more than necessary.
Okay, I opened a can of Coke and sat by the phone as if waiting for it to ring, forgetting I was supposed to make the calls and not receive them. Looking at my customer printout, who was I going to call first?
I had thoughts running through my head that if I called them, it might be too far to drive to, and then I would have to drive a long way to the next appointment. I was, in all honesty, making more excuses for not calling. So I decided to try anyone.
Hello! May I speak with so and so, the buyer? They sometimes had names on the customer list, so that was my go-to. He is not in right now. May I take a message? Please let him know that Ollie G called, and I will try later. I really can’t give them my hotel number; it looks stupid.
This went on for about an hour. I was getting nowhere, but I did have one appointment. It would take me well over an hour to drive to them tomorrow, and I had never been to this town in the mountains of Big Bear Lake.
The next morning, it took over two hours to drive there. I underestimated it big time, and I was late! This was not good.
As I walked in, I was greeted by the buyer. Ollie, is that you? Yes, well, you're awfully young to be out selling. I know it’s my parents; they want me to learn everything about the business, even at this young age. Okay, let’s see what you got.
After another 45 minutes, I walked out with an order for just about 200 Dollars. This was not easy. I made 20 bucks.
This is rough going. I need to find another hotel, check in, and prepare for tomorrow again.
By now, I have been on the road for seven days. These last two days, I have not been well at all. Something was wrong. I needed to get back home and get proper rest. I gathered enough strength to return home and pass out on my bed.
Days went by, and I was still in bed; all I remember was my mother coming in and seeing me hitting my head on the wall.
Mom screamed out, “OLLIE, what the hell is happening?” “I can’t get rid of my headache.” I whimpered. She felt my head, looked under my shirt, saw how much weight I had lost, and called an Ambulance.
She followed up with a call to our Doctor in Beverly Hills, California, and I was rushed off to U.C.L.A. Hospital.
…ifOnlyi… short stories are published chronologically and follow my life growing up in California from 4 years old. If you’ve just found me, the stories will come together when you start reading from...Issue #1