LACK OF EDUCATION BUT STILL BETTER SUITED

[♔Chello]

LACK OF EDUCATION BUT STILL BETTER SUITED

I remember my last job as a CNC operator, which I had for 5 years until just over 10 years ago - I retired after this.
I only had a 5-year background in the mechanical industry when I started with CNC.
We had many apprentices, and I was the only one without a professional education.

All apprentices were trained by a foreman or an Iraqi Petter Smart, who also had all the training of new workers.
This Petter Smart was our Einstein, who found new ingenious solutions to all problems that arose, and he was also responsible for all existing production methods.

He thought quite early on that I should take over his job of training new workers, because I had the ability as he said, but also because he didn't have the time.
That's how it turned out.

After a while, however, the apprentices started asking to be with me, because they felt I explained things better than the foremen, and had other ways of working.

I had a permanent apprentice for a couple of years, and when she sat for her final exam, she received the most decorated diploma ever given at the company.

After this, I was given the main responsibility for the calibration and maintenance of all measuring tools as well as the adaptation of workstations.

For many months I did what I wanted - I went around the company looking for things that could be rearranged, which caused a lot of envy and irritation among the others, because I had no professional education.
Every day all workers had to be responsible for me when they took out measuring tools, also when they handed them back in at the end of the shift.

I was also responsible for testing new cutting tools and how long all production processes took (or how little time they could take).

There were about 30 other workers, but I was given this responsibility, despite the fact that they were theoretically better suited.


Both my grandparents, mother and uncle have had similar responsibilities without having a professional background.
The case shows that papers do not always tell who you are and what you can do..!

[⚅Graham UK]

Chello. Interesting...A number of points in your article I recognize as the way my sales experience progressed.

After my two years National Service in the Royal Airforce at age 20.

Having no plans I joined the Nottingham Ambulance Service as this would give me time to try to enter the Sound Audio field which had been my hobby through school years.
Unexpectedly I really enjoyed Ambulance work which delayed me getting into Audio.

One of my monthly Hi-Fi mags, a London Audio company, was advertising for a sales representative in the London area. 
I applied stating I knew they did not have sales in Midlands and I would be interested.
It appears they liked my approach and offered me the job to cover the Midland area.
I frightened myself as I had no sales experience but this turned out to be beneficial because being none aggressive I obtained many orders. 
The downside was within the first year I was earning a good commission which the company thought I was being paid too much and decided to reduce my commision. BIG Mistake !.
I had brought in new business from an area the company had not covered before and that's how I was treated, so I left within one month.  
This was the first Job I applied for and the last I applied for because I was approached by other companies asking me to join them.

My soft sales approach has served me well over the years and from that day my earnings were never reduced and earnings were unlimited.

[♔Chello]

Chello. Interesting...A number of points in your article I recognize as the way my sales experience progressed.

After my two years National Service in the Royal Airforce at age 20.

Having no plans I joined the Nottingham Ambulance Service as this would give me time to try to enter the Sound Audio field which had been my hobby through school years.
Unexpectedly I really enjoyed Ambulance work which delayed me getting into Audio.

One of my monthly Hi-Fi mags, a London Audio company, was advertising for a sales representative in the London area. 
I applied stating I knew they did not have sales in Midlands and I would be interested.
It appears they liked my approach and offered me the job to cover the Midland area.
I frightened myself as I had no sales experience but this turned out to be beneficial because being none aggressive I obtained many orders. 
The downside was within the first year I was earning a good commission which the company thought I was being paid too much and decided to reduce my commision. BIG Mistake !.
I had brought in new business from an area the company had not covered before and that's how I was treated, so I left within one month.  
This was the first Job I applied for and the last I applied for because I was approached by other companies asking me to join them.

My soft sales approach has served me well over the years and from that day my earnings were never reduced and earnings were unlimited.

Graham
Interesting what you say too - it has several parallels back.
My brother served in the Norwegian Air Force - and he was an ambulance driver...!

I have also been involved in sales; I had my own business for a while, in an over-established market.
All said it was impossible to establish a viable shop within the area.
I said no, you are wrong.

There is a saying that the customer is always right, and by making sure that the customer was always satisfied, I avoided creating negative customer experiences.
My competitors had a more aggressive sales technique, treating customers as a short-term source of income.
More and more of their customers came to me, because they could trust that they were always satisfied with the trade - if problems arose, I always sorted them out so that they were satisfied.

In short, I created ambassador customers, and often it was those who originally bought something they were not happy with who ended up getting a deal they didn't think was possible.

So a soft sales approach is something I've always been convinced is the best.
Another point is that a seller must be able to offer what the customer wants, and if you as a seller can do this, you can establish a point of sale in an over-established industry and still be able to make a good living from it.