Moises Flores: Door-to-Door
I have never worked harder for something than I did this past summer. My breakaway was a mentorship program with ClearDefense Pest Control as a door-to-door salesman. I was pushed physically, mentally, and emotionally.
On my first day I learned as much as I could about the product, service, and sales approach in about three hours. I took notes and was given Door-to-Door Millionaire: Secrets of Making the Sale by Lenny Gray to read on my own. My first week was the most physically challenging and spirit-breaking of the whole summer. They say you always remember the first door you knock. It was nerve-racking and embarrassing because all that was going through my head was how to get out of that conversation as fast as possible. I was not physically prepared to walk on average ten miles a day in the sun. I had painful headaches from the constant heat and struggled to manage conversation through them. Working sunup to sundown, I had never sweat that much in my life. I had to work hard to become comfortable, a better salesman. My mentorship was of course full of both highs and lows. The lows hurt more when they start off as a high.
One such day was when my partner and I were in Blythewood County. We were assigned a huge, gated neighborhood with plenty of sales potential. Both of us were feeling great and by early afternoon we were already at two sales each. We were crushing it.
Things took a turn when I got to a house near an end gate. It sat eerily on top of a hill with one neighboring house with a shared driveway. Like most homes in the neighborhood, it was around one thousand square feet with a Ring camera doorbell. I ring the doorbell and gladly wait for someone to answer. I see someone walk past the front of the door and watch them do a double take as they notice me standing outside. They stop to grab something and step out. Immediately he asks what I was doing at his doorstep? By that time, I notice that he has a gun tucked under his armpit and as I’m struggling to respond he cuts me off by shouting why didn’t I ring the doorbell? I repeat that I did ring the doorbell, but by then he’s already changed his focus to asking why we were parked in the road? I try to explain that and the reason I was there anyway. He shouts back at me that he doesn’t care and that I couldn’t be coming to people’s homes like this unless I wanted to get myself killed.
I slowly back away from his house and get in the car. My friend and I deliberate a bit and decide we were not going to let it ruin our day and choose to continue on the other side. We get a few houses down and notice a black SUV slow down next to us. He rolls his window down and has his phone out recording. He repeatedly asks us who we work for and because of the fear of the firearm I nervously answer. He drives off and I am left feeling like I just made a huge mistake.
My first response was and typically is to put the blame on myself and then ask myself why? “What did I do to make you so upset? You don’t even know my name yet! ”, I said to myself.
I cannot control how someone’s day is going or what’s happened in their life. When someone reacts that way, I’m the unlucky person that they release their frustrations onto. Yes, he absolutely went too far. But when it was over, I felt sorrier for him than I did myself. Where was his heart? He lives a life of so little love that just to answer his door he needs a weapon. Perhaps he has had a more difficult life than me and I accept the fact that not everyone understands where I’m coming from. Yet, I hate that he so quickly changed my great day into fear.
There is a belief that we salesman are generally pushy, dishonest, annoying, etc. Salesperson are set apart between those that care about forming a relationship with you and are respectful, yet pushy. The best salesman are the best because they understand that sales is about what you can do for the customer, not vice versa. Apart from teaching me how to sell, my mentorship helped me strengthen skills that are essential in any profession and in life. Time management, having discipline, patience, and of course communicating were all exercised on a daily basis. I stopped trying to be someone else and turned what I originally saw as disadvantages into advantages. I spoke two languages which allowed me to reach a market they could not. Most of all, my perspective on challenges have shifted from a feeling of heavy self-doubt to excited for what’s next. I now sit at the front of class, go to office hours, and smile and say hi to everyone. I went through so many emotions this summer but I’m so grateful I did.
Please, if a door-to-door salesman ever shows up at your doorstep, even if you are not interested in what they are selling, give them the kindness and respect they give you. It goes farther than you know!
Moises Flores is a Computer Information Systems major with Emphasis in Software development and a minor in Cyber Security. He completed a mentorship with ClearDefense Pest Control in Columbia, SC. He will graduate in Spring 2023 and find a career in software development or cybersecurity after graduating.