Success, For The 1st Time & "Your Fired!"
Breakfast at six, worked all day, home, showered then out till midnight, issue# 78
ifOnlyi…hadn’t taken a two-day vacation, I would have earned well over the anticipated One Million Dollars in commissions. With everything I knew and
the sales information I was given, it was closer to $1.5 million for just six months when I did the calculations. That would have been my highest income at that point in my life. I was only turning 22 years old.
After the fiasco with Pizzazz Catering’s one-night stand (issue #73, a shocking true story to read) and all the canceled events, I had only one option for success: focusing on selling products for my parents' business and earning commissions.
There were no paychecks or guarantees for me. At 21, I learned about the struggle of taking all the risks, knowing that excellent rewards were possible. In a way, it was like my Dad starting with almost no money in his pocket when the ship docked in America and the successful life he created. I wanted to prove I could be successful, too.
So, this time, I had to make it! I had zero choice. As a road salesman, I went from business to business; many stops were without appointments, and in fact, most were.
Seeing buyers without appointments was difficult, as they were always in high demand.
If I went to a Pharmacy to speak with the buyer, the pharmacist would almost always be the buyer, too, and they were even busier. There was a lot of driving, lots of parking expenses, a lot of gas, and a lot of mileage every day, with no income yet. I had to keep it up if I was to succeed!
Meeting with buyers and putting pen to paper to write orders was challenging, yet I needed to give it my all to make a living. I frequently fell into depression. YES, it’s very accurate.
Most mornings, I would stop for an early breakfast at a restaurant called “Eat at Joe’s” in Redondo Beach, grab a newspaper, and read through it before stopping at the movie section to see what was showing in the theater. That particular day, although I was anxious, I started feeling a little more at ease, knowing I wouldn't have to face any rejection, as I had decided to see a movie instead of dealing with customers.
I did this several times earlier in my outside sales career. It was at least an hour's drive from Joe’s to the movie theater. I was dressed in a suit and tie, ready to enjoy a foreign film with those darned subtitles. There were some great ones, and the comedies were my favorites.
I was constantly brainstorming, searching for easier ways to reach buyers. During one of my movie days, I had a brainwave that inspired me for future sales calls: I would buy a couple of dozen long-stemmed Roses with a tiny plastic tube of water on the bottom to keep them looking fresh and beautiful.
Now, I could confidently walk into the customer offices and hand the receptionist a gift: an excellent long-stemmed Red Rose. I asked if she could please have the buyer meet with me. It worked like a charm. I got a huge smile almost every time, and off they went.
I worked long hours and visited around 24 customers daily, opening new or inactive accounts and closing sales. I was making money, or at least on my way to collecting my commission checks. However, after shipping goods, the payments always lagged a month behind. I would always push buyers to take the goods immediately. I needed to pay bills.
After a few months, I found someone who would sell roses to me at wholesale prices. I could save money, but I had to drive daily to Hollywood Blvd. to buy the longer 24” long-stemmed Roses with the tubes to keep them fresh. They were even better, prettier, fresher, and taller. I planned to use these for significantly bigger accounts.
I found that these roses got me in to see the buyers immediately and gave me better results in my total sales. When I arrived unexpectedly, these gems opened up opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
The territory I had to cover was extensive. It went from the 405 Freeway at Hawthorne Blvd., going North all the way up to Santa Barbara, California. That's 102 miles just driving North and then east. It took over 30 minutes of driving to get into my territory every day before I could see a buyer.
Looking at the map, it's hard to comprehend the vast ground I covered and the businesses I had to attend to and manage. As I recall, I think I had about 2,500 accounts to service and find new ones, too.
My Los Angeles County and Ventura County territories were massive areas:
88 Cities in Los Angeles County
4,083 Square Miles
22 Cities in Ventura County
2208 Square Miles
To this point, one of the proudest days of my early sales career was reopening an account on La Cienega and Beverly Boulevard called Rexall Drugstore. The Business started in the fall of 1947 and was very close to the famous Melrose Ave, from the TV series Melrose Place. They had massive walk-in traffic.
When my Dad saw the name of the account and the number of products I sold them, he called me into his office and congratulated me on reopening his first account. He originally started selling those products in 1958/59.
“Ollie,” he said. You’ve made me so happy to reopen Rexall's, as no other salesperson could open that up for us. Very well done. It was the largest Pharmacy I have ever been to, other than one in Paris, France, on the Champs-Élysées, a very famous one with many floors.
Remember, this was back in the 1980s before CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens became massive stores in the thousands. Rexall was remarkable for its time and even had a restaurant.
I certainly took great care of this account, and soon after, the buyer just told me, “Ollie, there’s no need for me to meet with you until next season, as you always come in to take care of the section. It looks fantastic, so just make sure our shelves are kept full. “Yes, Ma'am.”
As time passed, I began reopening older accounts that others couldn't handle and opening new ones daily. I also kept in good standing with accounts that were long-time faithful customers, and I started seeing progress. Soon, sales were about to explode for me in a way I had never imagined.
Side note:
Back in the early to mid-70s, my Mom had a Spiritual reading. A friend highly recommended this reader to her. The only thing Mom shared with me was Ollie: “I was told that when you turn 21, I was 15 when she shared that news with me, you will become a Millionaire.”
“Mom, for real?” I asked. “That’s what I was told, and this person hit so many true things for me, Ollie, right away. If it's right for me, it certainly will be right for you,” she replied. I have never forgotten that moment.
Fast-forward six years. I turned 21 and was doing well with sales, but soon, my parents would come into a colossal opportunity. Huge success was indeed close for the sales team. I know it sounds cryptic, but I will share the reasons soon.
I was given one sample of the new line to show to a few large customers. This was under massive secrecy, and I took it to one of my customers, Fred Segal, whom I was trying to build a rapport with in Hollywood.
They were a top-of-the-line branded clothing and accessory store. I knew the owner would give me a little business, but not like the other competitors, who had a lot of shelf space, which bothered me.
I called the buyer and said I needed to speak in person. He said, “Come over now, Ollie,” and I did. We sat in his office, and I told him he would be the first to see this new product and offered him the chance to secure an early order. OMG!
What a day it was! I wrote the most significant orders ever, and he even placed orders for this new product, which were spread over six months. This meant we would ship goods every few weeks, so his warehouse wasn’t flooded with just our products.
That one meeting with that one account proved that the new products would be a hit. Fred had the hippest Clothing Store in Hollywood, if not all of Los Angeles. He wanted the traffic to come to him. Undoubtedly, he was a wise man, but he only had one store—yes, one!
I made over $40,000 in commissions that afternoon.
I just realized that with all my customers in my territory, I'd like to focus on reactivating the dormant customers on my list, making each one active again. It would be so very easy with this new product. I was going to be a hit at last.
Mom’s Spiritual advisor was 100% right. I was 21 years old, on my way to becoming a Millionaire, and with dedication and a lot of hard work, I was 100% committed to making it happen.
I knew this was it; my time had come. Thank you, God! That weekend, I asked a friend if he would like to go with me to Palm Springs, California. It was a hot week, and spending two nights there would be fantastic. Gary and I packed up, and I drove out.
I needed to leave Palm Springs late Saturday afternoon to be home and ready to attend the California Gift Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center first thing Sunday morning. The show would last for a week and only happened twice a year.
After a fun time in the desert, we walked out of the hotel to pack our bags into the car trunk for the lengthy drive home, but guess what? The car was nowhere to be found. It was gone, and so was the new product sample! How could this possibly have happened?
I handed my car keys to the Valet and left the car with him to park for the night on our return from our night of Dancing. Now the keys were gone, and so was the car.
Management and the Police got involved straight away. I needed to get back home urgently for two reasons:
All my customers from my territory would be walking through, and I needed to be there to have them write orders and make my living, especially with this new item. Oh my goodness, I was starting to panic.
I had one of only two prized samples of the item I had just sold to Fred Segal’s store. This sample had to be in the convention center at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, or my ass was grass.
After around five hours of searching, the Police found my car and returned it to me. It was now around 8 p.m. I loaded the luggage and was about to pull away when I asked, "Gary, where is the sample I hid in the car?" He frantically searched everywhere; I jumped out and joined him; time was running out.
I got the Management and the Police back quickly and explained my dilemma. They could keep the car; I needed this precious product sample. Okay, Ollie, we are on it.
Hours passed, and now it’s after 11 p.m., and my prized possession has not been found.
I would have to call my Mom and tell her. I had already changed one pair of tennis shoes from pacing for all those hours, my feet so sore, and now I had no choice but to give her the bad news. She shouted down the phone, “Ollie, if you and that sample are not back in Los Angeles by eight o’clock tomorrow morning, “You’re Fired.” Fired! How could she? I was so distraught.
“I know you’re just messing around,” she said. You're probably hungover, don’t want to leave, and you’re lying about the whole story.” I had to deal with reactions like this from my Mom frequently: ZERO understanding or willingness to speak with the Hotel management.
Hours went by with no results. At this moment, I knew I was about to lose my first authentic taste of success and the opportunity to live an extraordinary life because of a thief.
I had to call Charlie, the Vice President of Sales, and explain what was happening. Charlie said, “Ollie, just make it in by 8:30 a.m. at the latest, and at least we have one sample to show customers.” He also needed me for sales results.
The Police and Hotel Management were on the job, doing their best to resolve this for me. They all knew my career was on the line, I would be fired, and she, Mom, doesn’t mess around. Sunday Morning came and went. It was now around 11 a.m., and nothing showed up.
Gary knew I was a mess. He did his best to keep me level-headed and away from it; otherwise, I might have been locked up for disorderly conduct. I was losing the plot and could no longer contact Charlie, as he was already in the Convention Center awaiting my arrival, which was three hours away.
At around 4 p.m., I was called into the Hotel Manager's office. He opened his drawer and handed me my missing item. “WHAT?…………………..WHERE did you get that?” I asked shakily.
Ollie, “When your car was taken last night, one of the housekeepers got in with the thief, saw the item, and hid it in her bag. When she came to work this afternoon, she apologized for the stress and handed it to me.”
I called my Mom and told her the precious sample had been returned and was in my hands. It was just after 4 p.m., maybe 4:30 p.m. Sunday, and the show was over in 30 minutes. She replied, “Get home as soon as possible, call Charlie, and
“YOU ARE FIRED!”
“Why, Mom? Because my car was stolen?” I replied. Then Mom said, “It’s your fault, Ollie.” She didn’t believe a word I said. It was obvious she thought the whole thing was complete bullshit and wanted to show me who was Boss.
Not that I didn’t already know who was the Boss at 21 years old. It’s over, I thought. My Goal of becoming a Millionaire was gone, stolen, just like the Sable fur coat I wrote about in Issue # 73 ( Best and Worst Night of my Life). Please read it!
Needless to say, the drive home was in silence.
All my months of building relationships with buyers and increasing sales were for nothing! Thirteen months of my life wasted. I needed to get away. I was totally deflated.
And I did!
The salesperson who replaced me was a rookie and knew little about sales, my customers, our products, or the territory I had established. He made most of his commissions from customers calling the head office and placing repeat and mail-in orders, as well as some from his efforts to visit customers on my list.
In six months, his commissions totaled over $600,000, earned from the relationships I nurtured and some of his efforts.
I was crushed when I learned that.
I would love to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment.