Cutco...Oh No! Homeless Bum − 10 June, 1996
Many teenagers are lured in by this company called Vector. They get college kids on summer break to come to an interview promising things like "Make a minimum of $15.00 an hour, no maximum" on small signs at intersections. Many kids want that American dream and call the number. They don't listen to their parents when they say, "It sounds too good to be true." The reason is that teenagers feel that their parents are suckers slaving away for the man and not getting rich. I was one of them.
I lived in a small apartment in Bartonsville, Pa. I saw the sign, and lucky me, I was looking for work. I called the number, I went to the interview. When I walked in, there were tons of good looking people. (I found out later that hot girls got the job to lure warm blooded boys into saying yes, it's one of the managerial tactics they employ.) The manager proceeded to have an open interview and basically gave us a presentation. At the end he asked if we'd be interested. Of course he needed to know right then and there and employed so much peer pressure to say yes, I was later fascinated by his talent. Many said, "yes" including me. I was then hooked in. $200.00 later I walked out with my very own set of demonstration quality Cutco knives.
I went home and told my parents and they told me the scheme had been around for years and they proceeded to tell me how anything worth having is worth working for and that there is no get rich quick plan. I thought they were full of shit. My parents were just mad that I'd be making more money than them. I was using arguments on them that the manager earlier in the day told me to. (Damn, he was good) My parents gave up and decided that I needed to learn this lesson the hard way.
I started calling my friend's mothers and scheduling demonstrations. Here's the way it works:
1. You demonstrate the product and sell to a female (You must do this, no men.)
2. You then get them to write down 10 friends (this is were you get leads and continue selling)
3. You perform at least 10 demonstrations a week to maintain the $10.00/ hour paycheck.
4. You get commision from your sales until the product is paid off.
In theory, it sounds great. Here's where you run into problems:
1. The knives are pricey, granted they are worth the money, but no woman is going to spend that amount of money without talking to her husband.
2. Women know it's a referral process and don't want to be known as a woman that sends door to door salesmen to their friends houses. These types of women end up having no friends.
3. The $10.00 an hour pay is a trap. First, an employee's base pay is calculated by multiplying the number of presentations they performed during that pay period by $18.50 (standard presentation fee). Then, the commission from that week's sales is calculated; the employee is paid whichever amount is greater. A representative's commission increases as their career sales increase. You can't demonstrate to groups either, it must be one on one in their homes.
4. The commission checks are what you live on, they amount to about $100 a week.
Now, I was getting notices of eviction after 2 months of working at Vector. My manager was telling me that the checks were going to come and that I should try a little harder. We had conventions all over the state and groups of salesmen were pumping us up with, "You can do it", "You're just a sale away from starting the huge income" and introducing speakers that had gotten rich in their 20s selling Cutco. I found out later from a close friend that these people were actors. After hearing this, I was wondering how this company wasn't getting investigated.
I got evicted from my apartment, I moved my stuff into storage and lived out of my car. Luckily, the office I worked out of had a shower, so I would take a shower in the morning before our daily pep meeting. People I demonstrated would have had no clue I was homeless, I had suits galore and was freshly showered and shaved everyday.
After two months of living out of my car and sleeping in various parking lots, I quit. I had lost just about everything I worked so hard to get by that point. Even as I quit, my manager tried telling me I was a quitter and that the office was about to turn things around. Believe it or not he almost got me, But I decided to bail.
It was the best decision I ever made.
The people at Vector are so good at manipulation that I gaurantee that there will be comments from people on this story that supposedly did very well selling Cutco for Vector. There will even be kids telling me how I must not be a good salesman then because they are selling left and right.
I guess they just need to learn their own lessons. Hey Kids, Check this site out.
I lived in a small apartment in Bartonsville, Pa. I saw the sign, and lucky me, I was looking for work. I called the number, I went to the interview. When I walked in, there were tons of good looking people. (I found out later that hot girls got the job to lure warm blooded boys into saying yes, it's one of the managerial tactics they employ.) The manager proceeded to have an open interview and basically gave us a presentation. At the end he asked if we'd be interested. Of course he needed to know right then and there and employed so much peer pressure to say yes, I was later fascinated by his talent. Many said, "yes" including me. I was then hooked in. $200.00 later I walked out with my very own set of demonstration quality Cutco knives.
I went home and told my parents and they told me the scheme had been around for years and they proceeded to tell me how anything worth having is worth working for and that there is no get rich quick plan. I thought they were full of shit. My parents were just mad that I'd be making more money than them. I was using arguments on them that the manager earlier in the day told me to. (Damn, he was good) My parents gave up and decided that I needed to learn this lesson the hard way.
I started calling my friend's mothers and scheduling demonstrations. Here's the way it works:
1. You demonstrate the product and sell to a female (You must do this, no men.)
2. You then get them to write down 10 friends (this is were you get leads and continue selling)
3. You perform at least 10 demonstrations a week to maintain the $10.00/ hour paycheck.
4. You get commision from your sales until the product is paid off.
In theory, it sounds great. Here's where you run into problems:
1. The knives are pricey, granted they are worth the money, but no woman is going to spend that amount of money without talking to her husband.
2. Women know it's a referral process and don't want to be known as a woman that sends door to door salesmen to their friends houses. These types of women end up having no friends.
3. The $10.00 an hour pay is a trap. First, an employee's base pay is calculated by multiplying the number of presentations they performed during that pay period by $18.50 (standard presentation fee). Then, the commission from that week's sales is calculated; the employee is paid whichever amount is greater. A representative's commission increases as their career sales increase. You can't demonstrate to groups either, it must be one on one in their homes.
4. The commission checks are what you live on, they amount to about $100 a week.
Now, I was getting notices of eviction after 2 months of working at Vector. My manager was telling me that the checks were going to come and that I should try a little harder. We had conventions all over the state and groups of salesmen were pumping us up with, "You can do it", "You're just a sale away from starting the huge income" and introducing speakers that had gotten rich in their 20s selling Cutco. I found out later from a close friend that these people were actors. After hearing this, I was wondering how this company wasn't getting investigated.
I got evicted from my apartment, I moved my stuff into storage and lived out of my car. Luckily, the office I worked out of had a shower, so I would take a shower in the morning before our daily pep meeting. People I demonstrated would have had no clue I was homeless, I had suits galore and was freshly showered and shaved everyday.
After two months of living out of my car and sleeping in various parking lots, I quit. I had lost just about everything I worked so hard to get by that point. Even as I quit, my manager tried telling me I was a quitter and that the office was about to turn things around. Believe it or not he almost got me, But I decided to bail.
It was the best decision I ever made.
The people at Vector are so good at manipulation that I gaurantee that there will be comments from people on this story that supposedly did very well selling Cutco for Vector. There will even be kids telling me how I must not be a good salesman then because they are selling left and right.
I guess they just need to learn their own lessons. Hey Kids, Check this site out.
