One thing I noticed, at least in Utah, is that when guys comes off their mission their first job often ends up being some kind of commission based, MLM type sales job.

I did. Within a month of returning from my mission I got sucked into TRYING to sell food storage. After that failed miserably I went from that to selling Cutco knives until I finally realized, that, just because I went on a mission doesn't mean I will be good at sales, and that, not only am I sick of harassing friends and family for "leads" but with all the extra costs and the amount of time I put into it, I'm not even making min wage.

A lot of other recent RM's my age were doing the same thing. One was selling Nonu, another was selling insurance, another, some type of newspaper ad thing, another Book of Mormon cartoon videos, and so forth.

Have you guys noticed the same thing? What were the "products" that you saw recent RM's selling?

burglar protection...ADT and others, also that lawyer stuff

I was actually a salesman before my mission. That's why when I went on my mission I was shocked to find very outdated techniques that have done nothing but to piss off customers/investigators.

Sad to say, but since I disregarded what the mission president said and suggested, I was more successful at finding investigators. Gladly though, most of the morons that followed trying to teach them couldn't keep a conversation going well enough to explain anything gospel related, so those investigators all left.

Missionaries are just salesmen, and they are selling a pretty crappy product. I am not cut out to be a salesman, so I hated my 2 year, unpaid job.

Yes. It was terrible. I sold for a guy who became a founder in NuSkin. I had known him on my mission, and admired how he could command people. He had sworn to become a millionaire before age 30, and he did. But he would have sold his own mother into sex bondage in order to do it. He was that kind of person, and seemingly dishonest to the core.

Yes, but I had done door-to-door gigs and call center gigs years prior to my mission as well. I haven't had an hourly wage in over 5 years because I prefer straight commission and having no real boss.

-V

I was WAY too good at it. It bothered me immensely that A) I ALWAYS sold expensive books to the people who could least afford it. B) the most effective sales technique: spouses arguing to the point one of them exclaims: "*&^#@#$ we are getting this for the kids!!!"

Other downsides:

From the mission: I can probably still teach a 3rd, 4th or 5th discussion without pondering too hard (30 yrs after the fact).

From Britanica sales: I still remember my exact break even point -- much lower than I was ever willing to go.

And just like Britanica, Google is killing LDS Inc.

Information is power.

The moment I got off my mission the LAST thing I wanted to do was sell anything. But, being in Happy Valley and a recent RM I found myself, along with some friends, at a recruiting session for Eagle Marketing in Provo.

I can't even remember what the hell it was they sold but the whole experience creeped me out. Their facility felt like a church visitors center. We were taken to a video room and shown some kind of video about truth, justice, sales and the American way. The guys who spoke to us dressed and looked just like AP's in a mission. We were then taken individually to meet with these perpetual AP's where the pressure was put on us to join up with them. When I declined I was - in so many words - told that I was destined to be a loser. My friends experienced similar tactics. In all, I personally knew 2 people who signed up with them, were transported off to Texas for a summer and didn't make a penny (in fact, lost $).

I don't know whatever happened to Eagle Marketing or what it may have morphed into but they were without a doubt the sleaziest people I've ever encountered.

I was also hit up by a guy in my ward to sell something called Slender Now. I declined again. I was annoyed that just because I was an RM that I was somehow Mr Super Salesman.

When church leader types say missions prepare you for your career, they imagine a career in white-collar business. Specifically sales. Sales of defective products and nonexistent service with horrible lifetime contracts.

I hated the two years I spent trying to sell something so bad that all I wanted to do when I got home was find a manual labor job where I didn't have to talk much. Six months later I got talked into working at a mobile phone store where I got paid commission. I was actually pretty good at it but I was miserable and I quit soon.

He sold AmWay, Shaklee, Miracle Maid cookware, food storage, vitamins & herbs, etc. funny you should mention that. hahahaha

Couldn't stand it any longer. It was door to door, and the spiel we were required to give reminded me too much of the crap Alvin R. Dyer forced us to spout.

Did-have-more-success-selling-encyclopedias-than-selling-TSCC-though-ly yrs,

S

I served my mission in the mid-seventies, when Pail H. Dunn was the bee's knees. I'm not sure how much his agenda influenced the church as a whole, but at the time and for many years thereafter being a successful salesman was seen as the ultimate goal for any sensible Mormon young person. Or am I mistaken? Did anybody else get that impression?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2013 09:37PM by steve benson.