In Business For Yourself, But Not By Yourself

If you ask any CEO, any top athlete, any famous singer, any world leader, or any other top performer about how they became a leader in their field, they'll tell you two main things: they worked hard, and they had an outstanding team of people helping them succeed. I've heard my manager say before that as a district manager, he's in business for himself, but not by himself. I think that phrase is true of being any member of the Vector Marketing Canada organization, management or not. With the flexible hours, you're able to be in control of your own schedule and income, but you have the resources a multi-national company has developed and perfected over 60+ years of business.

When I first started with Vector Canada, I was straight out of high school and I'd never done a job like this before (my previous job consisted of running kids' birthday parties). I was confident in my communication and presentation skills, being a theater student, but my lack of sales experience left me extremely nervous about presenting a product to customers. The company's training program taught me the most effective way to present the product to customers, how to close a sale, and how to build my network through referrals. It also gave me enough knowledge on the product itself that I could confidently show the customer the pieces of our basic set without mixing up what each one was for! My first presentation was in front of my aunt and uncle, the latter of whom was a business sales professor. They had owned three Cutco products: the Super Shears, the Cheese Knife, and the Veggie Peeler, and had intended to buy a set from me regardless of the quality of my presentation, but my uncle went out of his way to let me know he thought I'd received outstanding training and I'd done a great first presentation (safe to say my manager was very pleased). The cool thing is that the entire company uses the same renowned (and business sales professor approved) training program across Canada!

I had the opportunity to go to my first summer conference after working with Vector Canada for only 2 weeks. Summer Sales Conference 2 was not at all what anyone expected when they hear the word “conference”. The high-energy, high-fiving, enthusiastic push week countdown and promotions were a lot of fun, and I ended up getting my first 2 rep promotions, my key staff promotion, and a #10 trophy for the push. One of the coolest things was having the opportunity to get tips from the managers during lunch, and to hear some really cool advanced tips on closing, phone time, and leads from some of the district managers. There's a really cool culture in Vector Marketing Canada that I've noticed: manager’s love helping out reps, and giving them tips to succeed, regardless of if they're from their office or not. As much as every office is in competition with each other; and reps compete against each other in the scholarship, charity, and trophy races, there's still a really awesome Team culture. Some of my best friends in Vector are my biggest competition during push weeks, but also my biggest source of motivation, tips, and accountability.

When I came back to the office after the conference, both Landon, who's currently my fellow Hamilton office Assistant Manager, and myself worked hard to beat each other in sales each week, but at the same time, shared success stories and some cool tips and tricks we'd learned in our demos. My manager Ian Lypps was also a huge factor in my success. He refused to accept my lame excuses (which I used to make tons of), and instead pushed me to maximize my schedule and be the most successful sales rep I could. He was available every morning for me to check in for PDI(Personal Daily Interaction), he took me field training, he planned awesome workshops for keystaff, and for our entire team, and he sat down with me over the summer to have PCs (Personal Consultations) that helped me map out a schedule that I could stick to.

As our team continued to expand, I started to pass on some of my knowledge to the new reps, taking them field training and also picking up tips from them along the way, happy to be a part of their growth and success. I was so excited every week to go in to our team meetings because I was a part of a team that pushed each of its members to be the absolute best versions of themselves, and enjoyed seeing other team members succeed, rather than just worrying about their own personal gain. I started with Vector looking for a job, but had no idea I'd end up becoming a part of such a positive, enthusiastic, and hard-working team. I've now been a part of the Vector Canada team for almost a year (my Vector-versary is coming up in July!), and after having a taste of what it's like to work with Vector, I know I'd never be content working a “typical student job”. Thank you Vector, for giving me the opportunity to not only earn an income, but to earn a spot on your team!