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Ok this is from my very short stint at SF Enterprises (selling high-end vacuums.) The company provides leads, you drive to the customers' houses and demo the vacuum (with the intent to sell them the vacuum.) Now this appointment was set up by a woman who was taking care of a very old man (this will be important.) She set up the appointment, so I knew I would have to focus my energy on her to sell the vacuum (as a 100 year old man won't shell out 2 grand for a vacuum)
She steps out to go to the store, I decide that I should wait for her. He asks what I am waiting for, I say "She is the one who set up this appointment, I am waiting for her to come back so I can show her the vacuum." He says "This is my house, you will start now." So immediately I knew I wasn't making this sale. I do a half-ass job of showing the parts of the vacuum (he doesn't care) and clean the rug. At this point she returns, asks me if everything is alright, I say yes. So she goes upstairs to talk to a friend on the phone.
At this point, I have several rags full of dirt on the floor (this is part of the demo process and must be done.) At first, the old man begins by turning off the light. I turn it back on to see what I am doing, he turns it off again. I go find the woman who says "its ok, he does tis all the time." So I go back down and continue cleaning. He won't stop, and instead starts telling me "that's enough, get out of my house." So I run to find the woman again and explain the situation. She says "just finish the shampooing. You can't leave it half-done." I say "I know but he is throwing me out." She still stays upstairs on the phone, at this point I am livid. I go down to finish. He turns out the light, and starts to dump the rags of dirt back onto the carpet. At this point I've had enough. I go back upstairs and tell the woman that he won't let me finish, and that she has to come down and talk to him. She's reluctant, but I won't take no for an answer on this one. Eventually, she comes down and talks him into at least letting me finish. I do a damn good job of it too. At this point I bid them farewell, but leave my card asking the woman if she wants to set up an appointment to do a demo at her house. She says she'll call, which means no. So I've just wasted 3 hours of my life, but I think the stress of that demo caused me to lose a couple of years off my life.
This is where it gets tough. The old man was definitely sucky, but it's hard to put blame on him cause at 100+ years, he's senile and completely unaware that what he's doing is sucky. The problem lies with the woman, who knew that this was how he would behave, and yet refused to help me (I was scared because he was trying to throw me out of his house. I seriously thought he was going to call the cops on me. But I couldn't just leave with the rug all full of shampoo!)
I left the job 2 days later, after having never fully recovered from that disasterous appointment.
She steps out to go to the store, I decide that I should wait for her. He asks what I am waiting for, I say "She is the one who set up this appointment, I am waiting for her to come back so I can show her the vacuum." He says "This is my house, you will start now." So immediately I knew I wasn't making this sale. I do a half-ass job of showing the parts of the vacuum (he doesn't care) and clean the rug. At this point she returns, asks me if everything is alright, I say yes. So she goes upstairs to talk to a friend on the phone.
At this point, I have several rags full of dirt on the floor (this is part of the demo process and must be done.) At first, the old man begins by turning off the light. I turn it back on to see what I am doing, he turns it off again. I go find the woman who says "its ok, he does tis all the time." So I go back down and continue cleaning. He won't stop, and instead starts telling me "that's enough, get out of my house." So I run to find the woman again and explain the situation. She says "just finish the shampooing. You can't leave it half-done." I say "I know but he is throwing me out." She still stays upstairs on the phone, at this point I am livid. I go down to finish. He turns out the light, and starts to dump the rags of dirt back onto the carpet. At this point I've had enough. I go back upstairs and tell the woman that he won't let me finish, and that she has to come down and talk to him. She's reluctant, but I won't take no for an answer on this one. Eventually, she comes down and talks him into at least letting me finish. I do a damn good job of it too. At this point I bid them farewell, but leave my card asking the woman if she wants to set up an appointment to do a demo at her house. She says she'll call, which means no. So I've just wasted 3 hours of my life, but I think the stress of that demo caused me to lose a couple of years off my life.
This is where it gets tough. The old man was definitely sucky, but it's hard to put blame on him cause at 100+ years, he's senile and completely unaware that what he's doing is sucky. The problem lies with the woman, who knew that this was how he would behave, and yet refused to help me (I was scared because he was trying to throw me out of his house. I seriously thought he was going to call the cops on me. But I couldn't just leave with the rug all full of shampoo!)
I left the job 2 days later, after having never fully recovered from that disasterous appointment.
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