Re:
I'm glad I can be one of the "few" to buck this trend...
-I found the advertisement.
-Went to the recruiting meeting.
-Signed on and bought the set, which I still have and use to this day. [It actually sells itself years later, though I do not sell the knives anymore.]
-Made decent money before I began my finance internship.
-Still have customers buying to this day, through the catalogue.
MY Truths...
**Yes, the sales managers are young and are hokey, but they're supposed to be. Unless you're in HIGH TECH or BIG PHARMA, MOST sales managers are hokey. That's their job, whether they're on X 24-7 or not. They are there to motivate and drive sales and make the office a positive environment, even if it feels like a cult.
**They have a funky compensation structure because they know the stats. Of all the presentations you do to people, 70% of them will buy SOMETHING. That's a VERY high closing ratio. I had people who only bought one expensive cheese cutting knife out of pitty, and NOW bought full sets @ $700 a pop. Why? The knives are GUARANTEED forever. Granted most guys can't appreciate that but...my current partner and mentor brought me on board in finance because I was involved with Cutco. It wasn't so much the company, but it was because it REQUIRES you to do your own leads work through referral, be a self starter, and make it happen. They pay per appointment, but they KNOW if you're doing the appointments you'll make WAY more in commission than the PER APPOINTMENT RATE people first see.
**What makes it wrong or a bad experience? Have you sold and had success with them so you can make decision? It's misleading to people who just want 10-20$ per hour, for sure. But for a sales person who would sell cars or do MLM, it's great. For a self starter looking for an opportunity, it's great. Women do candle parties and jewelry parties, why can't college students offer a product like FOREVER GUARANTEED knives that are so ridiculously sharp you can cut pennies Or carpet Or bone? (My own aunt who bought a big set actually used the knife to rip up her living room carpet since she had nothing sharper in her home; I found 3 knives all around the room while I was helping her). In a world with poor, inferior products, they are above the norm.
Do you ever notice who wants success and wealth and who just wants a job? The people who are pissed about the PER APPOINTMENT compensation don't see the big picture.
Are they knives? Yes. Why is that good? BECAUSE EVERYONE USES THIS PRODUCT. You can sell it at ANY college you go to. You can sell it to family. I think my line was I was doing presentations for sales experience and getting college credit. The products are good, but I just wanted the opportunity to demonstrate what I had to offer. Yeah, you offer the big set at the end, but you always OFFER the most to begin with, then come down from there. Even carsalesman do that.
When i consider the product on it's own, it's a great product, the best anywhere. Knives might seem hokey, but for women who cook alot or for families who have many family parties, these things pay for themselves. My own mother cooks all meals and with cheap knives, eating meat totally sux. No 2 ways about it. It also helps with other knives for presentation, desserts, etc. But the point isn't about a WORLD changing product like some drugs or pharmas, but the fact that the market is HUGE and LOCAL and the increasing commission structure is NICE.
At first I felt burned by the initial introduction. My own GF at that time joined, and she didn't do too well b/c she barely made any appointments. She just wanted hourly wages since she was on college break. She didn't want to WORK beyond that to make a few bucks extra. Had she done that, the word about the knives would have spread and she'd have made 100's to 1000's extra during college.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If these things were sold in stores, they'd fly like hot cakes. Women buy expensive ass bags that better last 1 full season of trendiness. You use utencils everyday. Maybe you don't need the best knives forever. However, the reality is we'll all buy utencils for the home, and perhaps many times over. Even the bachelors here will cook @ home, host parties, and have women over. You can buy many cheap and ugly sets over the years, or buy Cutcos just once forever. This isn't a sales presentation, though it sounds it. As a sales rep you have to buy a small set, which they will refund your money if you want it when you're done, or you can purchase @ a discount and keep them (the discount is about 50% or more). I kept them. People use them and can't believe how wonderful it is to cook with. When my GF cooks for me she doesn't need my help cutting tough vegetables or cutting fine cuts of meat.
Even my partner has a set he's owned since HE sold them 30+ years ago. The same set, same design, never replaced, never broken, and look great.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My RECO's...
*Do this if you can fly a month or two without big checks. OR, get aggressive and land TONS of appointments. Your commission schedule is INCREASING, so the more volume you do, the greater % of the total money you'll get. If you do this while doing something else AND LIKE it, eventually you'll have spread word big enough. You could also get creative and do it in large groups, however they advocate NOT doing that because it can go either way. Some women who have no money might intimidate other women who don't, especially when they see a knife can for $20 to $100 dollars per knife, and a full set is over $700.
*Do this if you like the product and can see value in it. Granted, we're not selling the cure for cancer here, but you don't have to be embarrassed by your family because the product DID NOT work or it BROKE quickly. I think that's big. There aren't many things college students can sell personally AND stand by. Not to mention YOUR product will be used more than tupperware parties products or the candle party products or the jewelry party products, LAST longer, and never have to be replaced. PLUS, when people have other non clients over, they will sell themselves because they'll be using the knives.
*Do this if you want to begin a sales career. Seriously. I never expected my mentor to have done it. Few people did. But I've also gotten involved in questionable MLM's adventures, if nothing else JUST TO BE INVOLVED. Sure I didn't make money, but I learned what was out, what are good products and what are bad ones. Good ones can sell themselves, bad ones need good sales people to make them appear better than they actually are. The knives in this case sell themselves, and if no one here has used them, you can't make a decision on that. Maybe your SALES MANAGER was a joke, or your specific office was a joke, or you found the advertisement for the position a joke, all that is valid. But in the end, it's only the sales person AND the product. You control your schedule. You control your income.
Had I to do it all over, I'd have begun at the start of college, gotten the thing up and running like a business and sold via network through all contacts possible with a SOFT sell presentation, since the demonstration alone sells most people (remember Vector does hold sales stats on the closing ratio, so they know, that's why they offer PER appointment, they don't expect they'll pay the smaller number). Many college students would benefit MORE from doing this than most other college jobs, ONCE they're established.
I'll be interested to hear people's reaction to my post, since most people were negative on the experience from the get-go, but most posts are written also by people who didn't sell or make a dime on them. I'd also say they'd be good for the AIMLESS person in a boring dead end job looking to make a transition to sales. They'll hire MOST people, you can set your hours, it only takes little time, you can do it PART time on weekends, you can make several thousand dollars extra a month, and on and on. Many guys are looking for MORE income, and a place like this is it. But you have to take responsibility and sell it, not the other way around.
Good luck.
A-Unit
