Summer 2005. I am a student at Manchester University. Due to general student expenses and a few other things I have no money and am near the limit of my overdraft. I am staying in Manchester and applying for a few diferent jobs. After numerous interviews and being rejected for not having enough sales experience, I find an advert for Tuscan Marketing in the Metro newspaper. I ring up and get invited for an interview the next day.
I turn up promptly for the interview and have to wait around for over an hour. Ali Mir appears and, after a little talk about "human commercials" etc, basically tells me to come tomorrow for the "obsevation day". I still have no idea what I am supposed to be doing.
I turn up for the observation day and, after getting given a huge spiel about the Cobra Group and how great it is, get sent to Huddersfield with my leader, one Somtee Benokeke (i think that is how you spell it). Here I find out what the company is all about - door to door charity sign ups. My leader keeps talking about how he earns up to 500 per week, is the assistant owner and is going to be opening his own office and trebling his earnings by the end of the summer. All very impresive.
He only drops two pieces. That is, he signs two people up. He then goes around to a friends house and signs two more up there. I was assured i would be back by 8:30 but that was just a lie. I get back to the office at around 9:30 and don't leave until after 10:30. I am told I have the job and I jump at it as I have had nothing but rejections for about a month and am pretty desperate.
On my first day, I am taken to Blackburn with Julian. He was a funny, very charismatic guy who you couldn't help but like. He drops a few pieces. I get three. I am told this is good for a first day and we both "ring the bell" when we get back. This is the last time i do this.
After that, I went out with a few different leaders, all trying to show me their own way of doing things. Some were doing well, others fantastically. Most were doing OKish. One, Dave Masey, took us out for a Saturday sell out. During this time, I am guessing he had an altercation with Ali and left the company. We were left stranded and had to make our own way back. Enquiring about him seemed forbidden, and, whereas his name had been mentioned almost daily before, he was never mentioned again.
I quickly found out that the working day wasn't 11:30 - 8 like i had been told. More like 10:30 - 10:30.
Over the couse of the summer, I never got more than three pieces in a day. One week, I only got two in the entire week. The next week, I was sent to Norfolk on a road trip by Somtee, who had been ignoring me most of the time. I got about 13 pieces that week but I only got paid for around 7 since we had to pay for accomodation which, I was told, would be around 50 but it was nearer 80.
Ali Mir took me into his office and basically told me how how much i was earning, and that i should be earning more. I agreed and would come in early the next week. I came in at 9:30, but was basically ignored or passed around until 10:30, where we were given the same drivel every day: KISS - keep it short an simple, SEE - Smile, enthusiasm, eye contact. It was like a cult. The pyramid scheme to the top always seemed ludicrus abut somehow attainable.
I went on anther road trip to Telford and this is when things got really bad. I had only ben averaging between 60 and 100 per week. One week i only got 22. This doesn't really add up when travel is over 5 per day and bill are mounting up. I went over my overdaft limit. Getting fines from the bank and not being able to buy food (i was living off the "reduced to clear" section of tesco, if i got home before it closed), i ended up in Telford, again paying 80 for accomodation. I managed a new personal best but was stil told to do better.
Then there was conference. A stupid awards show with obviously fake motivationla speaches and hundreds of little glass awards being given out. The night, in London was basically an excuse for people to show off how much money they had. Having none, I sat in my room.
Then crunch time came. I was away for a weekend so took a while off. I could just not bear to go back afterwards so I lived for three weeks off 40, which was far easier than working 12 hour days. Working for Tuscan was the worst experince of my life. Just avoid it, and other Cobra Group companies.
Ryan
Manchester
United Kingdom
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