During my "career transition" journey, I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience the blessing of performing the job of a telemarketer. I realize telemarketers aren't received well. Yet, a person can gain vital skills IF they approach their telemarketing position with the right mind frame. It's immensely important to emphasize here that regardless of where you may find yourself during your career, you must accentuate the positive.
As a telemarketer, I was given a script to read to my prospective donor. There were times that I was met with aggressive rejection. I had to keep it together. I couldn't respond in a harsh tone or give that irate person, who just cursed me out, a piece of my mind. It's truly a strong person that can be yelled at for doing their job and still maintain a pleasant disposition. This is true in multiple areas of life. Many people struggle with properly handling rejection. As a telemarketer, I was forced to deal with rejection because it happened quite often.
Given that as a telemarketer, I was going to be rejected, I had to have the mindset to persevere. I couldn't dwell on the prior phone call that didn't end in a donation. If I was rejected by 100 people, I always had the thought that my next call would end in a donation. In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napolean Hill talks about the legendary inventor Thomas Edison. Edison has been noted to have "failed" 1,000 times before inventing the light bulb. When asked to share his feelings about failing so many times, Edison replied, "I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." Perseverance is a highly beneficial quality that transcends industries and age groups.
Once I dealt with the rejection and made up my mind to persevere, I had to make sure I relayed the information clearly over the phone. A prospective donor wasn't going to give if they weren't confident in what I was saying. As I spoke, I heard how I said certain words. They didn't sound clear to me. Thus, I began to focus on my speaking mechanics (tongue placement, breathing, and mouth configuration) in order to improve the sound of those words. By focusing on my pronunciation, and reading speed, I was able to enhance my public speaking ability. Being an effective communicator is vital in business, academics and life in general.
If you are a telemarketer (or were one in the past), take this article to heart. You have (or had) a golden opportunity to enhance valuable skills. My experience as a telemarketer helped enhance 3 career skills: handling rejection properly; persevering through adversity; and effective public speaking.
It's imperative to see the good in every situation. It may take some work. If practiced on a continual basis, it becomes an easy exercise.
By Sam.P.Lark.Jr .
Sam is passionate about helping others achieve their goals. As he networks, his question is, "how can I help your vision come to fruition?" Employing the philosophy of networking to help others first, Sam has earned a place of high esteem among his colleagues. He enjoys building mutually beneficial relationships with new and interesting people from all over the world.
Contact Sam at Sam.P.Lark.Jr@gmail.com
Image: Freepik
