Surf's Up Dude!

When you hear "sales gurus" telling you that you can make as much as you want in this business or not because "it all depends upon you", that's not total BS. It really is true, you can make a lot of money in sales but doesn't that saying apply to any job in life. It is what you make it, and if you let other people push you one way or another, then you're screwed. Life is hard and in sales you need to roll with the punches.

As a Sales Manager a few years back, I had a sales person who was absolutely fantastic! Personable, looked great, presented great, and really was able to bond with people in a short period of time. One of those guys who can seduce any woman in the room and get every guy to like him right off the bat. Just the type of guy you'd want on your team. Except there was one problem: he couldn't get his ass out of bed in the morning! He would have made a fortune in commissions if he could just get his lazy butt out of bed.

He had a habit of taking a month off at a time, til I wrote him up for poor performance or he needed money and then he would just go out in the field and kill it! And I mean kill it! There was no mercy, he needed money he went and got it. And it seemed like he always needed that push from me every other month to keep him going. Well after about a year of threatening his job, I got tired of it. But what was I supposed to do...he kept selling. So I decided I would ride with him everyday til he developed the habit of getting up early and getting out in the field. I felt if I could change his habits, I could change the behavior. Ha ha , great theory!

So for about 4 days, I rode with him and things were better. He didn't even need me, he was that good. I think he sold 4 accounts in 4 days. A great week, and I was very proud of his efforts. We were riding back to the office after a great sale on a Thursday afternoon when he suddenly started coughing. So I'm thinking here it comes, "someone's gonna be sick tomorrow." And he keeps coughing in the car and I'm trying to ignore it because I know what he's going to say, but he says it anyway.

"I think I'm coming down with something. I can't shake this cough."

"Shawn...it's July. No one gets a cold in July. And you've been fine all week."

" I know. I know. It's weird but I feel light headed, and I'm having trouble breathing."

" Really? Seriously? You're getting sick. All after such a great week. That's too bad. Well just one more day tomorrow."

" I don't know man. I may have to call in sick. This is pretty bad.", and he coughed really hard after he said "bad" just to emphasize how bad it was.

" You're out of sick days. I can't pay you if you don't come in tomorrow.
Just come in for the first 2 appointments and then you'll be done by 1."
He knew I was not going to let him off that easy. I couldn't. We were making progress.

"Okay, I think I can get through it. Just 2 appointments right?", he said and then coughed again, "It's gonna be tough. I'll take something for it tonight and drink tea."

"Okay great. Bright and early that way we're done early", I said and he nodded his head and then coughed again. What a performance!

We got back to the office and he left immediately. I woke up the next morning and I knew he was not going to show up. I got to the office at 7:30 am and of course there was a voicemail message left at 5 am with coughing and weasing sounds mixed into the message. Shawn was a real pro.

"Uh, I don't think I'm gonna make it today. Sorry man. Really, really sick."

I knew it was going to happen, so I didn't get upset. I went on the calls myself, and sold one account but blew on another. As I was heading to lunch, I turned on the radio to KROQ in Los Angeles. They were live on location in Huntington Beach covering the OP Pro surfing contest and they were speaking to a bunch of surfers and fans. I heard a few interviews and listen to some music in between when all of the sudden I heard Shawn's voice. On the radio!

"Wooohooo dude! I am so stoked for this competition. Kelly Slater is gonna dominate today. The waves are awesome, my beer is awesome, and look at this weather. Where else would you wanna be."

The interviewer asked him, " what's your name and where are you from?"

The idiot actually blurted out his name, "Shawn Johnson from Hermosa Beach by way of Oceanside. Wooo wooo!"

"Shawn, shouldn't you be working today?", the interviewer said.

" No way bro. How could I work today, with all this going on!", he yelled out loud so the crowd could hear and then you heard a loud "Woo woo" from the crowd.

" I hope your boss isn't listening", the interviewer said.

" No way bro, he doesn't listen to KROQ. He's kind of an uber nerd, probably listening to NPR right now.", he blurted out and the interviewer laughed.

" Well Shawn, I hope for your sake he didn't hear that."

Unfortunately for Shawn I did. What kind of idiot says his name on the radio when he's supposed to be at work? The kind of idiot who has all the potential in the world to be the best sales rep ever, and pisses it away because he's lazy. There are two bits of advice you can take from this story.

Number One - Get your ass out of bed every morning because there's money out there to be made.

Number Two - If your going to call in sick, make sure you don't broadcast it on the radio!

-M