The Day to Day Grind

 Every Monday morning we had a weekly sales meeting where we had to come in earlier than normal to discuss our numbers, our goals and the weekly grind.  I was usually met by the local homeless man as he was sleeping on some cardboard outside the store.

The meeting took place in the dining room which was next to the open air kitchen.  It was so distracting.  While we met, the morning deliveries would arrive and if the Chef or Sous Chef’s were not in yet, once of us would have to get up from the meeting and check in the various produce, fish or meat.

Each week, they would set ridiculous goals for us.  Each day you have to make 20 phone calls and contact via phone or e-mail a total of 100 people a day.  Our software tracked this.  Every time you made a phone call or sent an e-mail, you could record a “contact” of whether or not you spoke, what you talked about, any questions, etc… At the end of the day, Arnie could look at the contact sheet and let the bosses know how many people we collectively reached out to each day.  I sometimes made shit up.  I hate calling people so sometimes I would pretend dial and pretend to leave a message to the dial tone.  Thank god we didn’t have a system where the bosses could listen in like a real telemarketing company.

What was helpful to me was each week one person was assigned a winery that we carried to research it and tell the group about it so we had some buzz words about it and a good grip on who they were and what the produced.  I actually liked this part as it broadened my knowledge, but some of these people would put me to sleep with their lack of presentation skills.

We also went over any new items to push and the newbies like me could ask the veterans for any advice.  Did I mention that at the age of 33, I was the oldest person in the room?

For my first few weeks, I would go up to the office each morning and start my contacting or creating an e-mail to blast out.  We all did this in silence with most people listening to their ipods through ear buds.  Sometimes, Arnie would have me sit at his desk to watch him work or listen to his selling spiel.  After lunch I would stay on the floor and learn the products and help what little foot traffic came in the door.

One of the Salesmen, Stan was a regular fixture on the floor.  He had a desk on the floor in front of Bitch #3’s desk.  This job was important in case a big fish walked in off the street and a seasoned wine expert was immediately on hand.  Stan taught me a lot about the job, wine and life in general.  He was one of the only ones who actually wanted to help me and answer my questions and I was grateful to have him.

I actually liked the sales floor a lot better than the office.  The Store is what I fell in love with.  When a new customer came in we always took pride in showing them around, especially in the kitchen. It was just as exciting for me to see a new customer’s wonder into the little gem they just found.

After awhile Stan, decided to leave the Store to head out to wine country and I expressed an interest in taking over his role as the Salesperson on the floor.  What I didn’t know at the time was that Bitch #3, Gertrude told my boss Arnie that she wanted her shipping person Dina to get the desk.  Dina’s desk wasn’t really a desk at all.  She sat at the end of Stan’s desk with her laptop and phone next to her.  Arnie fought for the desk and later lost out.  So, now I got the move to the sales floor, but I had to STAND in the corner all day and phone/e-mail people.  Good times.

Like my blog?  She me some love at localwineevents.com.