The first sales.

...and its not an easy sales

I spent one week knocking, talking, and getting rejections before I actually sold a book.

I clearly remembered that day was a Saturday. Throughout the whole morning, I had been talking and showing the books to many families. But none of them are wiling to buy the book. Some asked me to come back later, which normally means they wont be at home later. Some asked me to call them at the end of the month, to check whether they have extra money to get the books, which normally means they dont plan to get the books, unless they hit a lottery.

Well, REJECTIONS~

I was so tired being rejected for the whole morning/noon, so I decided to just take a break. As I drove around the neighborhood, I saw a man, gardening. Well, since it was so hot, taking break in a shady place is a good option! So, I parked my car in his yard, and pretended to be lost. lol. I walked towards that man, and asked him directions to some of the people in the neighborhood. He was really nice and informative. He knows who is who, and who stays where. Then after getting the directions, he asked me what am I doing here. I just briefly told him what I am doing, without any intention of showing him the books.

Well, I did sense some awkwardness from him when I mentioned internship-books. You know, those avoiding sales man awkwardness. Anyway, I quickly changed "channel" because I just want to take a break in his nice & shady garden. So, I talked to him, praised his garden (I love his huge wind chimney hung on a huge old tree). As our convo went on, suddenly we talked about black history...and I told him I have some good black history books in my car, and he said he want to take a look. After flipping through the pages, he told me he really love the books, but he cant afford to get them. I was like okay; I am supposed to push the books, not agree with him! Anyway, he told me to find his best friend, Big Boy, which he thought that Big Boy might be really interested with the books.

So, I went to Big Boy's house. When he opened the door, he told me that he already bought a whole set from a boy from ...ne-sia? I corrected him, "You mean Malaysia, right?". He replied, "Ya, Malaysia, he's a short chinese guy with long hair. He came here 3 yrs ago." SIGH. I really dont want to leave this house although I knew he already gotten the whole set. I just tried my luck, I told him, maybe this time I have some new books for you. And he said, "come on in!". That moment, I saw some "light-the light of hope". So, I brought in my book bag, and I took out the books one by one, and asked him whether he already has it or not. To my dissappointment, he told me he already owned all the books except for the health book and children bible. I was not expecting him to get any because his wife is a nurse (no need health book), and he's children are all adults, and he seems not interested in Bible materials (no need children bible). sigh. Well, as I was trying to get some referrals from him, he suddenly took the health book, and started flipping the pages. and within few minutes, He said I like this book, how much is it? I told him the price, and he said okay, I want it.

fly~ my heart is flying with happiness. I did my very first sales after struggling for the whole week! Although its only one single book, but it is one of my happiest achievement I ever made in my life!

My first sales, thanks to the gardening-man and Big Boy ^-^

The first door.

...my very first door.

This is it. Knocking on the first door. Talking to the very first man/woman.

First door. It was SO TOUGH. not as in physcially tough, but mentally tough. Alot of courages needed. It took me about 30 minutes, to make up my mind on knocking this targeted house. I drove & drove around the area, passed by the targeted house for 4 times. At the fifth time, I decided to stop my car and just go down and knock! (sei jau sei la)

Why I picked this house?
1. It is not small -meaning can afford buying something gua
2. There is some toys at the yard- meaning got kids
3. Nice yard with flowers- meaning this is family house, not a single man house
4. My sixth sense ask me to- meaning...I feel safe to go in?

So, I slowly drove into the yard. I was SO FREAKIN' NERVOUS! But, before I actually completely parked my car, a lady came out from the house! OMG. and she was on the phone! OMG. and she saw me. OMG. and she shouted for some1 to come out from the house. OMG and she gave me a suspicious look. OMG!
I get down from the car, putting on the most friendly smile on earth, and...before I could talk to her, she gave me a wait-a-sec hand wave (she is still on the phone). After that, she went in, and a man came out. A young man, a pretty cute man.
"Umm...Hi, my name is.., and you are....the lady's S-O-... (anak lelaki)"
"I am the man in this house, that's my wife just now."

OMG. he is her husband? I nearly ruined my first attempt. I am so glad that I did not mention the word "son". Trust me, that lady is not young enough to be this man's wife. Stop the jealousy, girl. Just be glad that the first potential customer you talked to, is a CUTE man. sweet~

So, back to work. I tried to tell him all the words I memorized from sales talk. But Failed. I was too nervous, and my mind is BLANK. Well, guess I just need to be frank, friendly frank to him. I told him this is my first day of work, and my first house. At first he refused to listen further. But when I told him to just let me practice my demo skills, he was like OK!

I showed him two books, nervously. I knew he is not going to get the books. So, I was just showing the books for the sake of practice. And, I did not get to finish demo-ing the whole two books because of my nervousness. And he sensed it. And he even asked me to
"take a deep breath! breath in, breath out". lol.

At the end, he did not get the books (as expected), but he showed me where are the potential areas on the map, and wished me luck!

My first door, I met a cute young man. a married young man.

what did I do in Georgia?

After reviewing all the blogs posted, I did not exactly be specific on what actually did I do in Georgia. It sounded like a "lonely" roadtrip of a girl from iowa all the way to georgia, right? Well, let me clarify things here (as detail as possible)

What brings you to Americus, Georgia?

my lovely Georgie (the name of my car). lol. Ok, ok, serious.

*Sales talk mode* : I am actually doing an internship program here, to work my way through school. Its not a big deal, all I am doing is I will show you a set of books, consist of educational and spiritual books. Just give me a chance to show it to you, if you like it, you really help me to go back to school :)

*Sebenarnya*: jual buku la. Its like a direct selling thing, going door-to-door, smartly.

What was my daily schedule like?

Worked long hours, mon to sat. Woke up at 7am, 8am leave the house, drove 30 minutes to my county, started to knock on the first door at 8.30am (if possible). Took a short break in between, then worked till 9pm, then drove 30 minutes back to home.
Sun, no need to work but need to go for sunday meeting, 1 n half hour drive from Americus. We had lunch, did laundry, had meeting, did grocery, watched movies, had dinner...all together-gether.

What are the equipments needed to work?

Firstly, a durable car. Then....

Lunch Box for quick lunch, snacks, and cool water!

County map for the purpose of searching roads and houses

Pre-approach pad for jotting down customers' info.

Atlas for atlas-ing, more reliable than Google map and GPS.

Book Bag where I put all the books for demo-ing.

What are the unforgettable experiences?

...too many. Keep reading this blog, and you will find out, soon ^-^

...in Georgia, already.

"Safely in Americus, Georgia. What's next?"

1am, arrived at the Apartment. As expected, no furnitures provided. Meaning I really have to fully utilized my newly bought air bed. Air bed. looks so uncomfortable and unstable. But, I dont have a choice here. I were so damn tired. My friend helped me to pump in air to the air bed (luv her deep2 ^-^)...took shower ,then sleepz.

The next morning, woke up early. Had a not-so-satisfying sleep. Partly because of my handache (drive too long), backache (sit too long), the airbed...and also mentally exhausted. Although it was a Sunday, but we had to go for Sunday meeting in another county. 1 and half hour drive from my apartment. Yup, and I need to drive again that morning. Gosh, to be honest, I was not mentally and physically "settle-down". So many questions were clouding in my head: what is this sun meeting? why is it so far? will i get intensive sales school from someone? which county will I work at? who will I meet later? how to knock at doors? do I need to memorize everything in the sales talk? Which house should I knock? what is trailer house? what is log house? how to demo the books? how many books in my whole set? how to sell the Bible? etc etc ETC.

Gladly, mostly all my questions were answered at the end of the day. Phew~

I were assigned to work at Crisp County. 30-40 minutes drive from Americus. Only two cities in this whole county, Cordele and Arabi. Guided by my friend/house8/student manager, below is a simple what-I-should-do-once-I-get-to-my-county summary guide:
1. Drive to the biggest city in the county, and search for chamber of commerce or city hall.
2. Get the county map, the area phone book, and ask about the safety condition of the area from the people in the chamber of commerce/city hall.
3. Study the county map.
4. Survey the area.
5. Pick a small area to start knocking on doors.

And what actually happened was...

When I reached Cordele,the biggest city in my county, I finally found Chamber of Commerce (Summary guide #1) after asking the cashier in this drug store (a store similar to Walgreens).

"Excuse me, do you know where is Chamber of Commerce?"

"Yes, you see the little building across the street? that's it."

I was like THAT IS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE? Its only less than 1 min drive from this store. I dont mean to "not see" it. But, it does not look like the Chamber of Commerce! Although I had not seen one before, but the name for this place sound so grand, agree? That is why I was hunting for a grand, rome architecture looking building! And I dont expect this white, small house looking is the Chamber of Commerce, with a huge sliced-watermelon "statue" in front of it. So, well, girl, stop criticising the place! Go in and do what you are supposed to do.
So, after parked my car (the only car in the parking lot), nervously, I walked towards a small-wooden-normal house-like door. I just went in, and a young girl greet me. A young girl? I was expecting some middle aged woman/man. Well, with lots of erm and er, I asked for county map and phone book(Summary guide #2). So the girl went to the other room to grab a map for me. She was wearing a cute black dress, with no shoes aka kaki ayam. While waiting for her, I scanned through the whole room, and I saw alot of Cordele information brochures. Scanned through them, and grabbed this particular brochure that really caught my attention.

Cordele Watermelon Days Festival 2008. Some of the competitions listed and scheduled: Watermelon eating contest, Watermelon Seed Splitting contest (ewww~), Watermelon Beauty Pagent (huh?), Watermelon Photography contest, Watermelon etc etc contests... WHAT THE...? Am I in a watermelon-crazed city?

Okay, my curiousity level rose. I must clarified this watermelon-crazed thingy! So, after gotten the map and phone book from the girl,

I told her, "I am new here, and I am wondering is watermelon a popular thingy here?"

She replied, with a giggle, " Yup, Cordele is known as the Watermelon capital of the world. We produce the sweetest watermelon in the world. That's why around this time every year, we have this watermelon festival."

Sweetest watermelon in the world? Did she just say world? Why I did not study this in geography? I have been eating watermelons for so many years, and I know how to differenciate between sweet and not sweet, but not sweetest...lor. Gosh, what is this? I really wanted to ask her, how do the people measure the level of sweetness? When measuring this, did they compare just the watermelons in the US or the watermelons around the world, like Malaysia? Do you know that US is not the only country that produce watermelons? Of course, I dare not to ask these questions la.

After getting the map, phone book, and answer for my curiousity, I get out from the place, got in to my car, and studied the map (Summary guide #3). Okay, set, now summary guide #4: survey area? how? Should I drive from the county border line to the end of another border line? c.o.n.f.u.s.e.d! Nvm, I can fit in this step with summary guide #5, randomly pick a small area and start knocking on doors. Looked at the map again, and yup, this is the targeted area!

Target area, selected.

Next, execution.

A story to Georgia III

"Another 8 more hours, I will be in Georgia!"

After a mentally and physically challenged night (Lost in the dark), I woke up and start fresh. I told myself, another 4 parts of 2 hours of drive, then I will be in Americus, Georgia! So, again, to the Interstate...drove from KN to TN. From TN...ENTERED GA (Georgia)...FINALLY!

Okay, I am in Georgia now. But in order to be in Americus (south of Georgia), I need to drive like 4-5 hours! 4-5 hours...FOUR TO FIVE HOURS...gosh, I am in Georgia already, yet I need to drive 4-5 hours to Americus (one of the city in GA). Well, I just drove...and drove. Suddenly, I entered to this Interstate...with a speed limit of 55. As usual I maintained a speed of 55. But the cars behind me were driving like CRAZY...Its like a racing going on, taking place in thIS Interstate. I was in the slow lane (right lane), yet I feel like I am so blocking their way. And if I keep on maintaining 55, I will die...die of being crashed by other cars. So, for the sake of my life, I drove fast...about 60-75. Other cars where driving like 90-100!

Welcome to Atlanta, Georgia, baby! where people drive like CRAZY.

I think the state gov, should change their speed limit in the interstate. They should have 55 as their minimum limit, and for the maximum speed limit ...100 maybe?

All the cars are too fast. And when I found out that I am at the wrong lane, its too late. I could not have the chance to go to the right lane, although my right signal is blinking "Sympathetically", the drivers have no sympathy. So, yup...I went to the wrong lane, entered the wrong exit, and I am lost, again. lol. So, I made a U-turn in this junction, then head back to where I am supposed to go. After driving (fast) for 15 min, I saw the exit which I am supposed to go in (yay).When I am approaching the lane, suddenly, there was this huge orange digitally blinking sign saying, "Exit close" ."Detour Exit XYZ"...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. *fainted mentally*

After regained my conciousness (within 3 sec), I went with the flow; Detour is my only option~ I just drove following the other cars, the next thing I know is I am in the city, already! To add my misery, that time was a rush hour! where all types of cars and drivers are "stucked" in the traffic. The traffic was so slow. It sounds safer for me, right? NO...its not safer! its so damn dangerous! All the cars are like "kissing" each other, and the cars in front and behind me were luxury cars. Yup, Luxury cars! Can you imagine what will happen to my bank account when I ter-kiss one of the cars? So, I drove super cautiously, be as united to my brake as possible. Despite this tension-ness, I were still able to scan the luxury cars's drivers. hoho~ 1 word: hopeless. The car behind me is an ah pek, and the car next to me is a career lady. SIGH~

Afer an hour, finally my car and I can breathe! We were out from the city area! yay! Now, continue the journey to Americus before the sky gets darker and darker! I cant recall how long did I drive, how many roads did I missed, how many illegal turnings did I make, how many minutes did I spend calling for help...all I can recall is, when I reached the apartment where I am supposed to stay, its already 1 am.

My friend came out and said, "Welcome to Americus!"
Without realizing, my tears were flowing. Sobbingly,I told my friend, "I am finally here."

Those are not tears of saddness, they are tears of proudness and happiness. Me, a girl who rarely drive in her hometown, just get Iowa driver's licence for a week, never drove more than 2 hours/day in her entire life, reached Americus, Georgia from Des Moines, Iowa.

And this is just the beginning...

A story to Georgia II

"Congrats, gal. You are in St Louis, now!"

Okay, I admit. I did insist on turning my steering towards the Arch. But, due to some psycological reason, and also the traffic, I kept on driving towards "the mission-Georgia". Gal, its just a humongous-silverly-curvy-shaped-steel sitting in the middle of the city; not a super leng chai, why bother to take picture with it? (trying to comfort myself for not taking pictures with the arch). Anyway, I continue driving...into the Interstate again...another part of two hours again...this time, entering Missouri.

Driving towards Missouri is slightly depressing. Half an hour ago, I was being surrounded with nice buildings, nice cars, and the humongous-silverly-curvy-shaped-steel. Now? again trees,grass,cars,trucks,roadsigns...and sometimes...cows. This part of two hours is full of yawning. I yawned zillion times. I did fall asleep three times (only), so I decided to take a break in a nice gas station. Tips for choosing the nice gas station with nice toilet: choose the exit with roadsigns printed with lots of gas station,food area, and lodging logos! If you see a walmart sign there, you MUST GO! normally, exit with walmart is huge and has nice toilets, generously. Or you can just go to Walmart for a short break; they have nice toilets, and cheap food!

Entered Missouri...by then, I already drove 8-9 hours. The sky is getting darker. I already planned to stay in this Super8 Motel in Clarksville, Tennessee. Looked at my map, another 2 hours then I can get to S.L.E.E.P! I drove...and drove...according to the map, I have another 15 minutes towards the motel. I just drove...15 minutes already!...but where is the Motel??? By then, the sky is already dark. OMG, I think I am LOST...in the middle of darkness. I dont know what to do. I keep telling myself: dont panic! I called my friend. With her mutual companion, I drove all my way out of this dark place. And after driving (babi-buta-ly), I found an exit with LIGHTS and lots of shops. I have no idea where is my exact location, no idea how many hours spent in the dark roads, all I know is its already 1am, and I am exhausted. So, I just check-in to a random motel with free wireless. Thank God, the receiptionist is so nice, she gave me a two bed room with a price of single bed room, and the room is the nearest from the main door (maybe she sensed that I can barely walk that time. lol)

After getting in to the room, I switch on my laptop. Checked my exact location, KN...kansas? I am supposed to be in TN (Tenneessee)..NOT KN! Gosh, why I ended up in Kansas? Well, no point "praising" my "good" sense of direction, right now. Again, I relocate my directions to Georgia using Google Map. When I found out that I am not really far from from TN, I am so relieved...at least, I just need to drive extra 1 and half hours to be back to where I am supposed to be- Clarksville, Tennessee. Okay, directions...set! Now, sleeping time, 03:00.
Tomorrow, another 4 parts of two hours...

A story to Georgia

"This is it. I am so heading to Georgia. Alone."

I remembered clearly, how I bravely started my journey to Georgia from Iowa. With only the help of maps printed from Google Map, and a cellphone, I drove to Georgia. I told myself, Girl, only 18hours drive, then I will reach Americus, Georgia.

After loading my car with all the necessities, including a huge vacuum (due to miscommunication, I brought it accidentally), making sure my seat was nicely adjusted and comfortable, putting on my sunglasses, I am set. I am ready to drive! So I drove slowly following the Google map "blindly". Then, after few minutes, I were in the Interstate (Highway)...minimum speed 40, max 60. I tried to maintain a speed of 50 as I just got my fresh licence a week ago, I am trying to be a "safe" driver. Well, I drove...50...drove...55...drove 65...slow down..60...okay...maintained the speed...62...opps...60...63...opps! Yup, that's what happening throught the whole journey: Problematic girl in Maintaining the speed!

I looked at the map, approximately 2 hours till the next exit. TWO HOURS. Gosh, I never drove more than 2 hours/day in my life. And this 2 hours is just the first part of the Interstate. I have like nine parts of TWO HOURS to drive in order to reach Georgia. Well, two hours, it wont be that bad right. Two hours only, girl. So, I drove excitedly and focusly throughout the whole first part of two hours. No turning on the radio, no munching on snacks, no calling people. Just focus, focus, and focus. Seating stiffly, controlling the steering stiffly. Two words to describe the me that time: Stiffly Focus or Nerdly Focus.

Okay, first two hours, succeeded! I am now continuing the second part of two hours. I wanted to shout out loud: IT'S BORING!...Its so boring! Throughout the whole first journey of two hours. All I saw were trees, cars, trucks, road, and roadsigns. No shops, no leng chai, not even leng lui. So, I decided to turn on the radio..LOUD. Okay, this time, not so stiff anymore. I started to relax a little. Change my hand position on the steering. Be more relax and enjoy the nature. Well, I still maintaing the maximum speed inconsistently. I am still a problematic girl in maintaining speed, despite having two hours "training". And a trivial issue which I need to mention; I took off my sunglasses although it's super sunny and hot. Reason? I felt uncomfortable within the eyes area, and gosh, the sunglasses leave a super red mark within the eyes area. My suggestion to those who plan to wear sunnies, Don't wear it when you need to drive more than 1 hour, non stop. I am so glad to realize the red marks below my eyes, or else, I wont dare to get down from the car to meet people!

So, I kept on driving. After few hours, I was in St. Louis. I saw the Arch! I wanted to stop and take some pictures. But, I dont dare to do it! My Google map does not show me how to get to and from the Arch! Silly me. I was being too dependent to the map. To be honest, the map is my lifesaver. So, I cant "betray" it. Anyway, when I reached St. Louis, driving across a nice bridge, I felt super accomplished and happy. Me, a girl who never drive for 2 years, just got the licence for one week, and never drive more than 2 hours/day in her life...reached St. Louis! wwooohoooo~
I told myself, "Girl, calm down. You mission is to reach Georgia, not St Louis!"...yup, I continued the journey.