Three young professionals with their degrees in Communication/Journalism from St. John Fisher College who work at Xerox, Clear Channel, and The Berry Company are aware of the importance of using natural gifts when it comes to sales.
Kathleen Tipper, account manager at Xerox, knew she was always a people person. “When it comes to natural passion it’s people!” she said with enthusiasm. While Emily Engle, account executive of Clear Channel, stated with confidence “I knew comm was always a passion of mine.” But after her internship at Clear Channel she found sales to be a huge interest. Lastly Melissa Gonzales, account manager of The Berry Company, said “Being a people person is so beneficial to me.”
But knowing what you are good at make does not make you automatically know what career you want. Tipper said “When I was younger I was a waitress at a restaurant. This is when I started selling myself and my product.” She also mentioned “From this point I knew I had to rely on myself for my own commission.” If she was not a good waitress she would not get tips. This self-reliance helped her be prepared in her professional career at Xerox. “I learned everyone is out for themselves,” she said. “This is an extreme environment.” While Tipper was more prepared for the “Real world” based on past experiences Gonzales was not. “When I started working it was a slap in my face,” she said, because she was so used to just being a student. Internships and previous jobs had helped her learn what she did not want to do rather than what she wanted. But what did prepare her was losing the job she had before before becoming the Frontier account manager at The Berry Company. “Before I got this job I was unemployed which taught me that I had to fight for my money,” she said. But her job loss never made her insecure. “I knew that being in sales were 75 percent natural and 25 percent taught.” This made her succeed knowing that she had a both natural gift and a degree in communications.
Engle was also prepared. “Growing up I was a waitress and a cashier at Tops. Working with people. This also taught me the importance of networking.” Engle also agreed with what Gonzales said about needing both street smarts and book smarts. With this said she was prepared going into Clear Channel where she also had to be self-reliant. “Not everyone has ethics, when you realize that you grow from it, and unfortunately everyone is out for themselves.”
Through all of this the women all recognized the same struggle -- that although they have a natural gift of selling they always have to work harder each day. Engle stated “It is a fierce industry and it is all driven, absolutely nothing is handed to you,” while Tipper said “I have to learn something new every day. When a sale does not go through it feels like a break up, but you have to never give up.”
Gonzales stated “I have to take control and have to cover my ass every day.” But even though they have to be strong representatives of the company, they also have to be likable. “People buy from people they like, I approach every situation with trust,” Tipper explained. Gonzales said her secret is “To sit back and observe then take action; trust me sometimes you want to ring the person’s neck on the other side of the phone but you can’t let them see you sweat.” Engle’s key is “becoming a chameleon to which ever situation you’re in.”
These women have a natural gift but it does not down play their work ethic nor does it make them want to learn any less. Engle said it best, “When you want to give up say, no, no, no, and keep moving forward.”
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