With the slow economy damaging college students’ prospects for summer and part-time employment, one company is providing them with potentially lucrative job opportunities, according a report from WGO-TV/ABC Channel 7 in Fremont, CA. (http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=6941475)
Vector Marketing, the direct sales division for Cutco Cutlery, trains a sales force of college students to sell this high-end line of kitchen cutlery through in-home personal demonstrations. Channel 7 recently followed Vector sales representative Christine Hanks during a busy day of demonstrations and sales.
According to the news segment, “a visit is kind of like having an infomercial sit down at your kitchen table, an act of selling-as-performance act.”
For Hanks, the position has taught her about the dynamics of sales while providing a solid income during these difficult economic times.
“There is always a sale to be made,” she said after a demonstration which includes slicing and dicing vegetables and even cutting a penny with a pair of sheers.
When asked by the reporter, “Couldn’t you buy a machine to do that?” Hanks replied, “Yes, but you would have to clean the machine and that takes a lot of time.”
That type of answer is all part of the training sales representatives take prior to selling these products which are all manufactured in Olean, NY by the 60-year-old company. The training program teaches these young entrepreneurs a wide range of skills, including time management, making presentations, lead generation, customer service and how to work in a commission-structured environment.
Logo from Vector Marketing