gross misrpresentations

OMG, these guys are just awful.
How horrible it is of them to take advantage of people trying to make an honest living in what good sales people love to do, sell a service or product to the consumer to help them with their daily, personal and business lives, because their services cross over into all facets of a consumer's life.
They are caught up in a time warp from the 80's with their telemarketing schemes offering business counseling services, tax strategy counseling, retirement, corporate restructuring, etc to small and medium sized business that truly need help staying alive or want to improve what they have and do not have the funds to hire a big accounting firm to provide the analysis and implementation.
If someone called you at your office and said, "Ms. Jones, if I can show you how to make an additional $20,000/year and save on your taxes would you give me 5 minutes of your time to speak with my rep who will be in the area the next day...."
Then , it is your job to close the prospect in 1 hour.
But something this personal, private and very confidential can never be made on a "one call close" to a total stranger and usually involves a spouse, partner, accountant or lawyer. But, alas, this is what they preach, teach, reinforce and expect you to do.
If you are slightly successful, in hunting and gathering, corporate takes over and books an analyst to come out the next day, which is where and when the next level of sales and big money begins. This is where corporate makes it's money/. We, the field agents, are nothing more than ground troops pushing through a crack in the door with absolutely no credibility. The monies you can earn is directly dependant upon making it to these next tiers....does this sound slightly familiar....
If they "deal" goes to the next level, that's when the big boys come in to initiate the analysis and collect the fees.
Overall, the chances of closing one of these "deals" is less than 5%.
The lies, strong handed attitude and arrogance that these telemarketers in Chicago present are from the "old days". I literally had a prospect tell me that " I told my receptionist that if anyone from SMS calls, (but they lie about the company names too....) to hang up on them...".
These telemarketers have unrealistic production goals put upon them by Management to book 4-6 appointments every day, in your territory, which is NOT guaranteed. But, these folks are trying to make a living too. I blame Management for why they act the way they do, as they, like us, are just the messenger.
Be aware that your territory can have you driving 100+ miles each way or across the state, to see a prospect that is not there, was not expecting you, told the telemarketer "NO" or has a conflict. You are not allowed to re-schedule or provide a cell phone number. The phone number on your card rings to corporate, and that is where the problems begin. Everyone up there has an "attitude".
It is all a numbers "game", the keyword here is "game". I spent my money ($1000+) and time to go there, train, listen to their sales people preach the mantra of a business that is completely out of touch with today's technology, consumer needs, sales representatives needs on how to get a bona fide appointment to present their services. I then spent another $300+ on gas in one week driving all over areas that were not even in my "protected territory", because they had no one to cover it.
I did not close a deal, nor got close enough to watch the ink dry.
You must "COLD CALL" if you are to survive. Alas, by doing so you are strong armed to provide 50 new cold calls a week or you are chided by the many Managers you must speak to on a daily and weekly basis. Effectively, you are filling their pipeline with new prospects for the next poor soul to follow.You must call into various conference calls every night, after hours, on your nickel and send paper faxes at your expense.
If you are "successful" in closing a deal, there are usually reasons to cut your fee down and their pay time turnaround is almost 30 days...thereby "hooking" you to stay a little longer or walk away leaving them with the money.
Their sales turn over is huge, to the point where they are churning 25-30 people in one week training classes and "betting" on a 10% retention. It is like a giant card game....but they're playing with other people's lives.
They would be so much better off hiring Hoover's to create a software specifically designed for their business product and let the sale representatives have access to it to make their own cold calls on businesses based upon annual revenue, industry, # of employees, etc. Then allow a reasonable amount of time to close the first deal while building trust and accountability which will set the stage for the next level and the next level to come in.
Get rid of the reams of paper and go wireless and pay the field agents a salary to do what they do best, sell.