Along the main street with a string bag

I never thought that I would have to do this: this work is not prestigious and low-paid. Well, what kind of activity is it for a decent girl to wander the streets, smiling invitingly and looking into the face of everyone she meets? But fate decreed that I had to master all the intricacies of this profession. And I don't regret it at all.

It all started with failures. Over the summer of last year, I changed three jobs: first the bosses didn’t like me, then they didn’t like me, and then I completely lost the desire to work. So, finding myself on the street for the third time, I decided that it was time to do something real - something that I really like, and never work as a secretary, assistant or saleswoman again. And I bought a newspaper of private advertisements.
And then I got lucky. At least that's what I thought. The ad didn’t say a word about what the job would be, but the requirements for applicants were simply fabulous: “Company *** is hiring young men and women with artistic and musical abilities. Earnings from 200 to 500 rubles a day.” . I have dreamed of being an actress or dancer since childhood, and now my dream is close to coming true! I called and went to the meeting.
The company was located on the outskirts of Moscow, on the territory of a motor depot. Choral singing could be heard from the building. It’s strange, I thought, maybe I’m being invited to an amateur performance?
I was greeted by a girl secretary, radiant with energy and charm. She asked to wait. As I later realized, this was done intentionally. The singing and applause stopped, and people began to emerge from the next room. It was written on their faces: life is good, we are on the way to new achievements. I really wanted to become as cheerful and cheerful as possible. And then I was introduced to my instructor, who was as radiant and cheerful as everyone else.
“I’m Igor,” the instructor smiled broadly. “What if I now offer you to put on a stupid cap and go shoot money at the subway?” Will you go?
“I’ll go,” I answered, taken aback.
- Great! And now I will show you our work.
The first acquaintance with the upcoming business took place in a stuffy utility room, filled to the brim with packages of audio cassettes. When I saw this back room, I lost heart.
“Here,” said Igor, smiling radiantly, “your task will be to sell 25 packs of these cassettes in a day.” The package costs 60 rubles, 10 of which are yours. If you can sell 25 packs for a whole week, you will become an instructor like me, and you will receive not 10, but 12 rubles per tape. If you become an instructor, you will bring seven more people to the company - you will be the leader of the group, and you will receive 5% from each team member. Then you can become a manager. Went?
We took a couple of heavy bags with cassettes and went “to the field” - this is the professional jargon for the territory in which you work. For the first time we worked “on Igor’s field”. At first I decided that I wouldn’t do this: it all looked too much like Herbalife, and I also had to carry heavy bags. In addition, the tapes were Chinese in the worst sense of the word. They recorded hits by The Cure, A-Ha or Pet Shop Boys from at least ten years ago. It seemed impossible to sell it.
Igor, however, managed to instill in me the confidence that such a job was just for me. Selling tapes, Igor demonstrated miracles of ingenuity. He smiled and joked with customers. Everyone he turned to seemed to be charged with his energy and immediately willingly parted with their money. I was amazed. It turns out that money can be made from scratch, simply by convincing people to buy some completely unnecessary thing. This is the job for me, I decided and started it the next day.
At 9 am there was a meeting of Igor’s team, and I understood what the singing and applause meant. First, group members told each other what successes they had achieved over the past day. Each storyteller was greeted with applause. After that, everyone sang in chorus, “There is nothing better in the world...” - this was called moral support. As a newcomer, I was also welcomed.
However, at the meeting that took place in the evening, I had nothing to brag about: I was not able to sell not only 25 - 10 sets. A simple smile was not enough. Buyers shied away from me like hell, and I was afraid of them too. By the evening I was simply falling off my feet, my mood was in worse shape. Nevertheless, the group greeted my story with applause. They consoled me by saying that for a beginner my result was simply remarkable. This went on for a week. In the mornings and evenings the team pumped up self-confidence in their own abilities, after each meeting I felt that I could move mountains. My sales were growing, but I still couldn’t make it to the norm.
A week later we were gathered for a seminar. The chief manager of the company spoke first. According to him, the secret of the “peddler’s” work is ridiculously simple: do not be afraid of the client - he is more afraid of you than you are of him. They are not buying a product, they are buying you. Improvise! Make people smile and they will gladly give you money. Smile! You have to inspire confidence in your customers, so you have to trust them too. Feel your client, don't think about him. During the second half of the workshop, our group became a theater troupe. The manager said: “Put on 'Cinderella' - everyone knows the plot. Go ahead!” The role of Cinderella went to Alexey, the leader of our team. Dressed up in someone’s dress, Alexey ran around the room in his heavy soldier’s boots and shouted in a singsong voice: “The clock is striking, mother fucker, I need to run away from the ball!” Then performances began to be staged every week. They staged anything - from Krylov’s fables to scenes from Hamlet.
After the presentations, it was not difficult to persuade, or “push,” as my colleagues put it, buyers. My life turned into a theater, every sale became a performance. I played on the simplest feelings of buyers. For example, I walk into the office of a large company, stumble and fall onto the floor with all my bags. The men, of course, immediately pick me up, seat me at the table and offer me tea. They took pity on me - great! This means they are no longer afraid. Calmly, over tea, I tell them about my wonderful cassettes and 20 minutes later I leave the office with six hundred in my pocket - 10 sets are gone. After some time, my earnings jumped from 150 to 500-600 rubles a day. The fear of clients has disappeared. I didn’t sell my tapes to anyone, even prostitutes and pimps from Tverskaya! I became the best in the team.
When I got tired of wandering around my “field”, I went to Luzhniki. Although the entire city is divided into zones, Luzhniki was considered a no-man's territory, because that's where you can earn the most money. Almost every day, busloads of traders come there from almost all over the country. They bought these cassettes from me in bags. On such days, my earnings reached 1000 rubles.
But I still didn’t manage to become an instructor, because I didn’t want it. After all, even as a leader, I would have to drag along the streets with heavy bags in the same way. In addition, our team began to slowly fall apart. So I left the company and got a job as a sales manager in an English company that sold electrical equipment. I signed my first contract within a week, because after three months of trading Chinese audio cassettes, I can sell anything to anyone.
VERONICA NIKITINA

Magazine "Kommersant Money" No. 19 dated May 17, 2000, p. 42