Re:
Key Bullets For Me:
* I own the knives.
* I've sold the knives.
* I received my current job partially due to the fact my current boss sold them 30 years before me.
* Everyone whom I sold the knives to LOVES them, and has bought more on their own as I no longer sell them.
* They're an easy product to sell.
* They're one of the best kinds of products to sell: Guaranteed Forever. Read that again.
Where people are mislead...
*Their advertising usually caters to...the lazy, or those looking for HIGH paying hourly jobs with no effort required. "Show up, get paid," are what most people want. That isn't Cutco in anyway. They should re-align their marketing efforts, but they'd rather RECRUIT alot, then wash out a few, rather than target a few and get even fewer. I'm ok with that.
*You get paid based on PER/APPOINTMENT, not hourly, which throws people off. And when you realize an appointment + driving = 2 hours, UNLESS you're very good at scheduling, then you're getting 8-10 per hour.
*You have to buy your DEMO set. However, with my experience you could turn it in. The demo set, for me, was bought at $150, a significant discount, and probably "cost" for such a set. For the broke college student and parents who don't give for such things, they will find it difficult unless they grab a parental loan, or convince their parents of the merit of such a job.
My Experience and Opinion
Compared to life AFTER college, Cutco is CAKE. Kids in college only think it's a ripoff b/c they've never known differently. In the real world, Avon, Tupperware, even online Programs are sold the same. Financial Professionals, beginning Accountants, and more, all market the same way. "Do you know people who could use my service?" The difference being, one is viewed as a professional, the other isn't. Fortunately for the Cutco-pro, buying "pleasure" or avoiding "pain" are the motivations of most consumers, so your wares sell easily to those people.
Sales POST-college works MUCH the same and in some ways much worse, so be THANKFUL for such experiences in your youth which will give you battlefield experience. Pre-college days for many youth is all rosey: go, be hung over, don't have to think, collect a check, spend said money, return to college. I know, I did college. I also did internships, and jobs, that made me miserable, but I had to do them to put gas in my car, while most of my friends got cushy jobs, or no jobs thanks to mom and dad, and when a "job" wasn't rosey, they dropped it, instead of proving their mental fortitude. I get not doing something you don't like...but unless you OWN the biz or are Self-Employed, you're subject to WHATEVER your degree and job market give you.
Day to Day Activity
I'll admit, I didn't know what to expect when I first got there. Sales wouldn't have been my first choice AT all back then. As a 20 year old 'kid', I wanted big money, for no effort, so I could enjoy my summer and save for beer during the last semester. That didn't happen. Turns out, I had to actually DO something to MAKE something. Quite a shoker eh? But it worked out for the best. More than 50% of our recruits washed out after the 1st meeting. Another 50% washed out of what was left. Those who remained, made good money, for the little time we had to put in. They always had great sales contests and the pitch was easy for a college student. Why, you may ask?
Because, Cutco/Vector KNOWS the closing ratio is somewhere around 70% of ALL people given a DEMO, buy 1 thing or more. 70%!!! They sell themselves. Sure, buying something as expensive as a $40 knife is NEW for a majority of your customer base (that's a good thing, b/c it means more PROSPECTS for you), but once they OWN it, if they buy any amount of MEAT, cook on the grill, host parties, gather on holidays, or make desserts, they will need and want those knives. No questions asked. Unlike your TV set, they are guaranteed FOREVER, with free sharpening provided.
All a college student has to do is ask to provide a demonstration for college credit with the OPTION to buy at the end of the presentation, even 1 thing if they so choose. The scissors are even badass. They cut ANYTHING you need in the kitchen, and detach for easy cleaning. The demonstration was had was the "penny demo", where you cut a penny in half with 1 hand (2 for safety). That wowed everyone. My own mother stole my scissors until I moved out because she loved them so much for cutting veggies, or even objects in the house.
The full fledge sets go for more, and surprisingly, ALOT of people buy those, too. As you sell more, you make more, so it encourages salespeople to sell more. During my time I made a few thousand dollars for really no work except having the COURAGE and curiosity to do it. The majority of my class who began wanted to start and just get $20 an hour, NOT realizing, that's the starting pay of alot of healthcare workers in lower-income areas. $20 x 40hours = 800. Beyond that, you need a college degree, or sales experience, or maybe the occasional technical job, which an untrained college student can't get.
The Bad Rap
It's too bad companies like Vector Marketing get a bad rap. My friend in NC sold Cutco, too, during college, but b/c he expected easy things and big money for no work, he was disheartened, too, to learn that he had to make appointments and make 'His way in the world.' My sales manager was an older college student who had interned and sold before, and took this job several hundred miles away from home during the summer. Nice guy. Seemed like a Resident Assistant type. Upbeat. Did his job well in an area near a tough inner city that attracted alot of free-loaders.
Yes, some people may have had bad managers on here, or were desperate for money and were only further enraged to find that you had to PAY some dough to get a return (i.e. investment, this being the ultimate investment IN YOURSELF).
But the product is UNQUESTIONABLY better than most crap being sold told by ANY company...
Do you think it's easy to provide/sell financial advice or plans?
Do you think it's easy to sell/provide pharmaceuticals?
Do you think it's easy to sell advertising?
Do you think it's easy to sell networking solutions, or software programs?
Do you think it's easy to sell cars? (they don't sell themselves)
Etc, etc, etc.
If you don't own the product, don't speak on it. Ok? I've owned it for nearly 7years. Still flawless. Anyone who has bought one, has gone to buy MORE. If, in the off chance someone ever broke it, then they get it replaced. FREE. My uncle/aunt broke theirs...dee, da, dee...using it as a tool for things normal kitchens can't do anyways, and wouldn't be replaced for free for. The knives themselves are RAZOR fvcking sharp, and stay sharp. No more tough meat to cut, no more poor cuts on desserts, sharp cuts on veggies and fruit, thinly cut cheeses. Over time, they repay you. Many of the people who could benefit from them don't think...but it once, own it forever, kind of like Fight Club, except, it really would be the last set you could EVER own. A great gift for a wedding, too.
I would enoucrage anyone who may want to sell POST college and is a GO-getter, or has time to spare and a little money, and wants to be social, do this. I threw it on my resume, with other jobs/internships, and because of the diversity, and the fact I could highlighy ACTUAL results unlike "Worked in an office and typed on a computer," I stuck out more. Fine, you worked at a nice company...but what did you DO there? Can't show much for results on your resume eh? Too bad. Next.
Jobs like that, any job, will boost your chances of future success and of landing a job over someone else. I'd reconsider people's harsh position on what appear to be scams, especially this one, because it's neither. Our generation is just used to cushy, easy jobs that we don't recollect harder times before our parents when jobs like Vector would have people CHOMPING at the bit.
A-Unit
