Education
When I graduated from West Geauga High School in 1980, I took what would be a called a gap year, the only difference is I had no intention of going on to college. So I went to a drafting school in downtown Cleveland that trained draftsmen to work in the many auto and tooling plants spread across the great city. Timing was everything so by the time I spent a year there learning to draw, the auto companies were laying off all their workers and there was no new jobs. Fortunately I had a job as phone sales representative at Preview TV, a brand new subscription channel broadcast at night over a UHF station, and showing r Rated movies after midnight. It was pre- cable and was the first times people could watch R-Rated movies in the comfort of their homes.
My job was to sit in a room with another two dozen people and answer the phones whenever a commercial ran and try to sign up the caller. On my first night I was supposed to learn the pitch and listen to the others as they did it. Most of the people in the room were answering the caller’s questions, and yelling them out to the supervisor who would then explain it to the representative and they would explain it to the caller. The back and forth seemed to go on and on. But in this cacophony there sat an old guy, who was grinning ear-to-ear as he typed in order after order. I asked him what his secret was and he said if a person cares enough to pick up the phone and call you then they have already made up there mind, so just take their order, give an install date, and thank them. Don’t get bogged down with questions, they are only excuses because a person starts to doubt themselves and try to figure a way to get out. He said, don’t give them a chance, just tell them about the r rated movies and take their orders. It worked for me so well that they promoted me to be a shift supervisor for the new outcall sales operation. I got to walk up and down the aisle, in 4-hour shifts, granting encouragement, while the poor sales people had to call people out of the blue using a street guide. I was doing well when my father suggested that if I liked business that much I should go to Ohio State and get a degree. That way I could go in to any kind of business I wanted to. So I did.