cutco

After abruptly quitting Blockbuster Video, I got a job as a Sales Representative with Vector Marketing to sell The World's Finest Cutlery, CUTCO. This was immediately after I graduated high school in the summer of 2002.

After the group interview, they offered everyone that showed up a job if they could buy a starter kit that they would use when they conducted their in-home sales demonstrations. The starter kit, they said, was a great value because not only were you buying a set of the world's finest knives but this was an investment in your future!

I immediately purchased the starter kit and then completed the 3 day intensive training program that was comprised of memorization, brain washing and role playing. At first, they basically have you take advantage of your family and friends. You have to build your own client base so they have you set appointments with everyone you know. So, my parents bought a few knives, and my grandparents bought a small set and my next door neighbor bought a bunch of stuff from me.

From there, you have to ask everyone you meet with to provide you a list of their family and friends so you can call them up and set appointments with them. After a while of visiting everyone you know, you will begin to start meeting with strangers who are friends of friends of friends. At first, my mom was not happy about my spending so much of time in strangers homes but I quickly reminded her that I had a bag of knives with me - what could possibly go wrong that I couldn't defend myself against?

Luckily, their brainwashing was quite effective as I truly believed, and still kinda do, that I was selling the best knives on the market. I did well for myself and sold over $10,000 in cutlery in about 10 weeks.

After the summer was over, I moved to San Diego to attend San Diego State University. After spending 2 and 1/2 months building a client base in Los Angeles, I now had to start over in San Diego if I was going to continue down this path. I did have a few relatives and friends in the area so I gave it the old college try. I lasted about 2 months before I realized that I would not be able to build up my business while attending school full time. And, the branch manager at the Vector Marketing office in San Diego was very different from the manager I had in LA. He wanted me to attend all these team meetings which I could not attend because I had class and after one particularly distressing confrontation and a few weeks of sliding my orders under the door (so I could avoid him) after office hours, I decided it was time to move on.

Though my time selling CUTCO was short, I am so grateful for the experience. I learned basic sales skills & important lessons including (1) "No" doesn't mean "No" unless they say it at least 5 times (2) Don't be afraid to ask for anything because you'll be surprised how often you get what you ask for and (3) Don't underestimate the power of cutting a penny with a pair of Super Shears to close a deal.