For almost a year, I was aimlessly drifting. A severe trauma from dealing with a girl and the OP-team didn't allow me to engage in work. Only by autumn did I feel my strength returning to me. I was starting a relationship with a new girl who lived abroad, which encouraged me. Also, the desire to see her led me to decide to earn some money.
Wholesale and Retail Calls
I started moving towards call centers. For some reason, this seemed to me an easy and relaxed profession: you sit in an office and just make or receive calls.
However, when I tried my hand at the Kirbi company's phone center, I realized that people were not inclined to talk to me on the phone. And the employees around me behaved tensely and sometimes even aggressively. The cramped space, desks nearly to the ceiling, and constant rejections on the phone led to people getting a lion's share of depression.
It took me a couple of hours to understand that I needed to leave. Fortunately, nobody held me back.
Unclear Brokers
Somehow, I stumbled upon a company that claimed to be an insurance broker. They dealt exclusively with cars. I arranged for an interview and came to Preobrazhenskaya Square station, where I searched for the lost office for a long time. During the interview, two southern-type girls had a conversation with me.
They probably held the main positions. During the interview, I noticed that one of them had a small child in the room. She brought him with her to work. This didn’t prevent me from finishing the interview; I made a good impression, and soon I was accepted for this job.
I don’t remember signing any contract. Precisely, they promised me one, but later. Right away, I never saw any contract.
Under the terms of this job, I was to receive a minimum sum provided by law once a month. The rest of the earnings would depend on how successfully I could attract clients. I had to call from databases, which were obtained in a way unclear to me. I discovered the world of cold calls and all the stress that accompanied them.
Very Cold Calls
I don't know what made me travel to the other end of the city to pick up the phone and listen to the dissatisfied screams and swearing of people who were simply attacked by such calls. Probably, it was my goal - to save up money for a trip to the girl.
The job was based on calling an unknown number of a person whose data somehow ended up in this brokerage agency. I don't recall any special training. I had to somehow independently formulate sentences and persuade people to agree to our "more favorable conditions."
The office was a large room with equipment: computers, headsets, etc. Around me sat other employees. Mostly, they were young girls and some man of pension age.
The legend was such. We collaborate with leading insurance companies. For attracting clients, we receive a certain bonus, which allows us to make the client's insurance conditions more favorable than those companies themselves. Sounds strange. I don't remember anyone willingly agreeing to accept this service. Mostly, the conversation was accompanied by terrible negativity and provocations from the client.
Once I couldn't stand it either and started provoking in response. I offered to insure the client's life, although we officially didn't provide such services. Approval exclamations from the girls were heard around. They appreciated my ability to argue with the client.
To somehow streamline my work process, I even bought a book on cold calls. Some successful American told how to make people show interest in your services. His incredible stories about successful cold calls, letters of happiness, and other business ideas somewhat inspired me.
Schrodinger's Porsche
Once I called a man who too suspiciously easily and without resistance listened to me. He seemed interested in our services. When he named his car model, and I repeated it aloud, everyone in the room gasped a little. The boss even asked to transfer this call to her. Porsche works wonders. But I think the man just wanted to have some fun, so he named that particular model.
Credit goes to my team. Young students and the pensioner turned out to be quite good people. I didn't have to conflict with them. Both bosses even organized something like a team-building event before New Year's. We played Mafia, drank tea, and happily dispersed.
Outcome
However, over time, I realized that these calls somehow didn't motivate me much. It seemed to me that I was doing something wrong or didn't fully understand the meaning of this work. I disliked it, I started feeling worse. I planned to work out the month and leave them. At the same time, I knew that I was supposed to receive the minimum wage. Somehow, I sensed that I couldn’t just get away from these people.
When I voiced this information to the bosses, they threw a scandal. Their masks were dropped. Direct insults were thrown at me. The girls threatened that I wouldn't get any money. One of them even said she would call security. I didn't lose my composure and informed them that their voices had been recorded on tape (I had a small player with sound recording capability), and that this recording could end up in court.
This calmed their fervor, and despite being kicked out of the office, within an hour, I received a call from one of them. Apparently, the threat with the recording worked, and in a much nicer tone, the girl informed me that I could pick up the money in a week.
When I came to collect the salary, they gave me all my funds. However, the money was given in the most inconvenient way: in small bills. They said that this was all I had earned. After counting the money, I didn't see a large part of my funds. When I pointed this out, troubles started again. Even the pensioner jokingly turned against me, calling me a traitor.
I don’t remember how, but somehow, I got the rest of the money back. Because soon I was able to buy tickets and went to another country to the girl.
Conclusion
Having gone through a difficult personal experience and a period of inactivity, I managed to find the strength for a new beginning. The desire to see the girl living abroad pushed me to look for a job, which led to my entry into the world of cold calls in a brokerage agency. This job turned out to be far from as simple and untroubled as initially thought, but despite all the difficulties and conflicts, I was able to extract useful lessons and professional skills from this experience:
1. Resilience and stress resistance: I demonstrated the ability to work under high pressure and negative feedback from potential clients while maintaining composure and professionalism.
2. Communication skills: Working in a brokerage agency required me to develop skills in effective communication, persuasion, and maintaining dialogue even in difficult situations.
3. Adaptability: I showed the ability to quickly adapt to new and challenging working conditions, finding an approach to different types of people.
4. Conflict resolution: The conflicts and misunderstandings with management that arose at work forced me to seek unconventional problem-solving methods, including protecting my rights and interests.
5. Self-education and desire for development: I did not limit myself to what was offered at work and independently studied materials to improve cold calling skills, aiming to increase my effectiveness. This experience in the brokerage agency not only allowed me to develop valuable professional qualities but also marked an important step towards personal growth, giving me the opportunity to achieve the set goal and meet with the girl.