My Take on a Teleprospecting Culture
At AG, we feel like our corporate culture is something that sets us apart; it attracts the employees we want and keeps them here long term. We feel like that benefits our clients because they're getting seasoned teleprospectors calling on their behalf. Today, Steve Giordano, one of our teleprospectors, blogs about the differences he noticed when coming on board.
I've worked in a fair amount of jobs in my life. This isn't to say that I'm flakey, but I just don't believe in staying at a job that doesn't give me as much as I give it. No growth to me means no future, and I move on. I believe that's the focus for most career oriented people in our field. Some of these people may proceed in different ways. In the various jobs I've had, I've worked with several fine people. More often than not, however I've worked with people who were more concerned with their own careers than the betterment of the whole. It was this that drove me out of my former job and towards my current career at AG Salesworks. It's unfortunate, as well as enlightening, to have to work at a job that you dread going into.
My best example of this comes from my previous job working for a well known financial institution. When I first started, I was teller in a bank branch. My initial management team was very encouraging. But as I grew into a sales role, I came under a new regime which didn't seem very concerned with anything other than themselves. Now, this isn't a gripe piece or me voicing out against "the man." I know the difference between a hard boss and a brute. This woman was the latter. That being said, I understand that bosses need to sometimes feel that they need to keep a separation between themselves and the people that work for them. I fully respect that. But there are ways to go about it, and in this job she made it very clear on several occasions that she was virtually unapproachable. More than that, however, I feel that she and the people who were my superiors (and that worked directly under her) were not on my side. The benefit of this was that it drove me to want to seek out other positions within the bank, and expand my horizons and try to see what else I was capable of. The drawback to this, however, was that if I wanted to switch to these positions I would need the approval of my superiors who were not very interested in the betterment of my own career.
It's my opinion that in a sales environment, for someone to do the best they can they need the best people around them in order to reach their potential. Previously, I didn't have this luxury. Presently, I consider myself spoiled. When I first came on to work for AG Salesworks, I was greeted by our training team so warmly that the best way to explain it would be is to say that it was like meeting a significant others family for the first time. Everyone was welcoming, accepting, and attentive. When I have an issue with an account I'm working on, they're always readily available to help me out and help me figure out what I can do better to succeed.
My managers are also always willing to assist me as needed. They've also been very helpful with taking me through what I would need to do if I wanted to grow into the next role of my career here. In short, they've pretty much the antithesis of what I've come from and have made myself used to.
A good team isn't difficult to assemble. You just need to know people's strengths, their weaknesses and how to work with them, and to encourage them likewise. I'm fortunate to work with the people who I know I can trust and rely on. It's also a comfort to know that I don't need to worry about a co-worker trying to do me in for their own gain. It's cheesy to say, but I really work with a great group of people. And right now, I'm waking up each day looking forward to going there. Pretty cool, huh?