Sales Call Stress

So, tomorrow's the big day. At noon I will get braces for the third time. Feel free to drive to my house with sympathy cards, homemade soup (I'm always a sucker for some creamy chicken wild rice), or DQ S'mores Blizzards, because those things are so amazing I'm sure someday they'll solve world peace.

Close B&J's but DQ's got you beat. 

The downside of having my appointment in the middle of the day is that it doesn't make sense to drive all the way to Minneapolis (where I work) and back to Hastings twice in one day. So I have to work from home. Some of you might be thinking, "You HAVE to work from home?? I would love to work from home!" Well my friends, you must have never made sales calls before.

This summer I have a sales and marketing internship (no that's not my major, but at least I have an internship!) at PreciouStatus, a childcare software that provides parents with instant status updates and photos of their children throughout the day. My job as an Entrepreneurial, Sales, and Marketing Research Specialist (one of the other interns made that up as our title - fancy, right?) is to conduct regional research to create a massive database of all the childcares in the area along with the directors' contact information. Then, we call the centers and try to set up a free trial of the software. PS IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO OWNS A CHILDCARE HIT ME UP!

I really lucked out on my region. (Sarcasm.) I got New Jersey.  I'm just going to say it straight out: those people are mean. Seriously. I have never had so many angry women yell at me. Like honestly, someone needs to go bake them some cookies or something. Needless to say, these sales calls are not my favorite. Ok, that's putting it mildly.

Let me set the scene. It's 9:30 a.m. I've procrastinated long enough. I should probably start making calls. So, I check my email. Maybe do a little more research. Check my email again. Still no new emails. Oh look, my research list is looking a little short, maybe I should do some more. Haven't checked my email in at least two minutes, should probably get on that. Ok it's 10:00 now, I really should start calling. I stare at my phone (I have a work phone and it's an indestructible brick.) It seems to be taunting me. I start to get a queasy feeling in my stomach. Are my hands shaking? Oh look, there's my email, haven't checked that in the last 30 seconds. Stop putting it off; MAKE THE CALL ALEXIS!!

                        The devil in disguise. . . as a brick.

Ok, I'm really gonna do it now. I type in the number and hit the green call button. (Voicemail, voicemail, voicemail, please God just give me a voicemail) "Hello, Little Learners Child Care, Paula speaking" (Nooooooooooooo.) My stomach drops. I give my PreciouStatus spiel and pray for a kind rejection. Maybe she won't yell. Just let it end soon.

And that is the art of the sales call. I've found it's much easier to do in the office where the other interns and I can joke about our nervous stomach aches and sweaty palms. Not a joke though, I'll probably have stomach ulcers from anxiety after this summer.

Tomorrow, I'll have to make the calls all by myself. No support system. No nervous laughter. Just me and Jersey. So, if you feel yourself having a bad day, just picture me staring at my phone about to throw up from nervousness and have a little chuckle. Life is good people. I hope you all have a wonderful day!