Week 3- One thing I don't want to be when I grow up!

Nothing sends me into a rage so harsh that my bile ducts go into overdrive like having to deal with salesmen. I abhor sales as I view most jobs and careers with the word “sales” in it as something only the worst of humanity actually enjoys doing. Now those reading this might be saying to themselves, “But Brad, you are an insurance salesmen are you not?”

To them I say yes but what I do does not involve the normal paradigm as to what a sales job typically rotates around, which is a lack of ethics and the willingness to shake down every one they come in contact with including their very own mother if needs be. The industry terms of “rebuttal”, and “up-sell” sends me back to a couple of the first jobs I ever had where the name of the game was to push something on someone so hard and so fast that they didn’t even have a chance to breathe. If you have never experienced this phenomenon then please consult via telephone with a telemarketer selling an infomercial product of your choosing. After spending forty minutes attempting to make a simple purchase of a zit cream or that pressure cooker you saw will have you wanting to jump out your nearest window.

I have been a telemarketer who has sold a variety of products ranging from long distance phone service to pro-actively up-selling a catalog of products to unsuspecting victims just wanting to get their zit cream. I hate this world and hate those who thrive in it because they have no respect for you or me as a consumer and as a human being.

           Going back to my current job however, will have me coming off as a hypocrite in a sense because I am an insurance salesmen and I really enjoy my job. What I enjoy most is that it is the antithesis of all the other sales jobs that I abhor. I work for a reputable company whose culture really is looking after the customer and does not just use fake empathy as a sales tactic. In addition to that I am not constantly belittled and treated as the scum of the earth if I am not “killing it” one day, or week. There are legalities within insurance that make manipulation illegal and I adore that about the industry. Most importantly I help to inform everyone I speak with on just what their auto, home, renters, or dwelling insurance does and what they are paying for which just gives me the warm squishes. I love being able to help and educate the consumer because what I sell is not only important, but I can very much save someone from loss and pain by showing them what that extra couple of dollars a month can do for them.