My First Sales Call, AKA, My First Dumpster Fire

It goes without saying that more likely than not, you’re probably going to suck at something when you first start doing it. There are obvious exceptions for people whom are “naturals” at starting something new, but for the most part, you have to develop a practice and a routine to have any success. But whether it’s your job, dating, or any extracurricular activity that you’re just starting, there’s a level of anxiety that comes with the territory.

We always want to feel like we’re doing well and we never want to look like an idiot, but the fear of landing on our faces prevents us from getting good at anything. And if we never get good at anything, we don’t have a shot at finding our passions. Because of that, I thought I’d write about my first ever sales call.

A big portion of my current day job is overseeing our sales and onboarding processes for our firm’s resume writing and career services business segment. Potential customers will call our firm asking about making a change in their career and I set them up with the appropriate service, hoping to close the sale.

I remember the first ever call clear as day and it happened years ago: It was late in the day, around 4:00PM or so, and we had someone call in with a question about our resume services. She was out of Dallas. I remember my boss was sitting right behind me, shadowing me in silence so he could critique my call afterward. I remember the prospective client asked me right of the bat:

“Hi, I’m an executive looking to move on to my next opportunity. Could you give me an idea of what an executive resume service would cost from your firm?”

*ABSOLUTE PANIC AS I SEARCH THROUGH OUR WEBSITE*

“Uh….I think it’s $349…?” I asked the potential client. I asked her, “I’m Ron Burgundy”-style, what our prices were. This lady called in with a rudimentary question about how one of our most basic services were priced and I dropped the ball completely, in front of my boss. Color me embarrassed.

The client responded: “Um, is it $349 or not?” and I said, “That’s correct, it’s $349” and then she goes, “Okay, thank you” and hangs up. I turn around to my boss and go “Was that bad?” and he goes “We have some room for improvement.” Yikes.

And, being an executive service, it was a bigger ticket item for our firm’s resume service line as well. The thing is that I, of course, knew our service prices, but I was far too nervous to interact with customers and I psyched myself out. I was too afraid to look stupid in front of my boss and lose the sale that I formed a mental block and failed miserably.

The idea is that that sales call is the most flagrantly I’ve ever jacked up a sale, but it was far from the only time. I would go on to make silly mistakes as I kept learning over the years and still be growing. But what I can say, is that after that call I never got our prices wrong again. I would answer pricing confidently, explain promotions, and get customers excited about our offerings. The point is that I always made mistakes, but just had to cut down on making the same mistakes. That’s the natural process of getting better at things.

It would’ve been easy to say that “This is not for me” and move on to something else or punt future sales calls, but I didn’t. I took L’s left and right until I got good at it. That’s not just work, but that’s anything in life.

Here’s to a new year of many L’s to build up the W’s we’ve always wanted.