I Have A Telemarketing Job Interview Tommorow, Warrior Advice Needed!

Always read the fine print. If the job is advertised as 80ks + commish, make sure it is all stated on paper and if you sign it and he/she hires you....then that is what you should be paid.

I use to do telemarketing when i was 18-22 years of age and 80ks base + commish is an awesome deal. If you get hired, do your best and stick it out and see how it goes.

Good luck!

A fluency in English is the must and should thing in Telemarketing and it also depends on how service member attracts the customer with his adorability.

Maybe it is a supervisory role? Double check the salary and comms before agreeing to anything. As a former telemarketing manager myself, I can tell you that 10 years ago that would be a manager's salary, not a telemarketer's salary.
Make sure you're early and can meet all the criteria.

Good luck!

Be looking for fit. Be willing to walk away.

Ask every question you want to. If they become evasive, you know there's a problem.

Hiring is a two-way street. You have the right to be satisfied, too.

Just like with offline clients, don't forget the most important thing, how you position yourself. Assume 10 other people are going to walk in there begging for the job, so go in with positioning, like you would as a marketer, like Jason mentioned above..be willing to walk if it isn't good enough for you.

There are a couple things I noticed.

To start the $80k base is extremely high. This is bad for two reasons. The first being that it makes the job sound fake. Second is once you get past you goal there is little incentive for you to sell more as you won't make much more. Give me zero salary and a high commission any day.

Of course it could be a manager role thus the $80k makes sense or the "salary" could in fact be similar to a draw. Where you have to sell over blank before you start making a commission in which case it is cool as that is a commission with a guarantee which is always better than a draw. I had one job like that years ago and loved it.

Personally I am inclined to think the $80k was a typo. $20k or $10/hr seems more in line with the bases I have seen here in the states and I can't imagine it is that much higher in Australia. After all any sales job should focus on commission pay so the base should be very low.

Another thing I noticed is the fact you are doing this since your business hit a cash flow issue. You freely admit said cash flow issue was due to not handling costs correctly. Many businesses face this because they don't know how to price services based on costs. Hell the biggest thing you see restaurant rescue shows is teaching owners how to price food based on food cost being 1/3rd.

You now are aware of the issue so it is easily fixed. You just raise prices. So as long as you can get customers, and we have to assume you can since you are looking for a sales job, you can easily fix this business.

Why push it to the side? Instead why not take it to the next level? All you need to do is the following.

• Raise Prices - Personally I would consider tripling them if cash flow is that bad
• Make more calls - you know how many calls it took to make a deal so double that to pull yourself back up
• Work More - You were willing to work a job plus your business so work that many hours on your business. And I mean truly work not just ride the desk.

That said if you decide you want a job that is cool too. I make very good money as an employee as do others. But a business on the side is what you do to get started. You don't return to a job unless the business is done or you hated running it so hired someone to run it for you.

So be honest with yourself. If this business is what you want to do focus on it. You know the problem now so it is easy to fix. You clearly know you can sell or you would not be looking for work in sales. So there is nothing holding you back from turning this business around besides something inside you.

But if you choose the job I honestly think you need to focus 100% on that. There is nothing wrong with choosing a job vs. a business. A job is easier and if you are good at sales & only so-so at business management you can often make more and work less as an employee. I won't think less of you if you pick the job and I don't think anyone else here would either.

But IMO there is no point to do both. You already know the business works minus the pricing. And at some point you replaced your income enough to not have a job.

Doing both is a step backwards. You need to move forward whichever path you choose.

My first reaction is that it's a scam, or a fake. There is no telemarketing position (with those "duties") that pays 80K base. None.

Client relations/management (even as a supervisor) also does not pay that high.

These ads are everywhere, linked in, CL, Career builder, Monster.

Here are the red flags:

- pay is out of line
- information about how many workers they have (that is irrelevant to YOUR job)
- your "duties" are standard TM duties, and there are no "higher" requirements that warrant a higher pay

Without knowing what the ad looks like (were there pictures, links to their website, other catch phrases that stand out as fake?), and without knowing HOW you applied (online, emailed resume, called in), and how they responded (did you get an email that said "please call to schedule your interview" or "please come in Friday at 2 pm" - or did you get a call where someone went over your qualifications and reviewed some additional information?) - I could keep going on the flags, but I'm confident to say, this job isn't what it's made out to be in the ad. Get on other classified/job and read every TM job out there - you'll find plenty that sound just like it and no real ones with that pay schedule.

Enthusiasm and handshake is key

Best of luck to you!

Something sounds wrong. Google the man and the company.

Whatever the situation with this company turns out to be (scam or real) remember this.

Don't ever allow anyone to interview YOU.

The secret is that you interview THEM.

Going to an interview is just you SELLING you!

As with all selling you need to qualify them to find out exactly what is needed to be a perfect 'fit'

Then you pre-close them by asking a long question (a bit like this)...

'So am I right in thinking that you are looking for someone who is....
going to bring a high level of skill combined with a great attitude and work ethic.
A self starter who can work well alone but also gels with the existing team....someone who can follow procedures but doesn't need to be hand held the whole time

(you get the idea?)

So if you found that perfect person for this position...... (now the close)

WHEN WOULD YOU WANT ME TO START?

.

He He He...happy days.

Appreciate the replies, let me clarify some points I have investigated further.

Here was the chain of events :

- The job was posted on one of the largest job sites in Australia with a salary figure (no mention of OTE) of $80-90k

- In the specifications I have already outlined, I did take notice of the point 'Provide other marketing and promotional support as required', this makes me think the boss wanted his telemarketers to perhaps do more than dial all day.

- I actually Googled the business name, since it was in the ad, and found his website. It looked very legit and this is where I found the extra information like he has 60 employees, two locations and this is why he's hiring (his new location has office space for sales and marketing staff).

- This is when I actually called the business and asked for the owner in regard to the ad (none of this information was in the actual ad itself). We spoke on the phone and I mentioned that I ran a business using telemarketing and was experienced in selling B2B. He mentioned that he was paying $200 a lead for what he was selling B2B, but he wanted his own in house staff.

- I ended up asking him both over the phone, and in email, if the pay was indeed $80k base + commission and he said yes both over the phone and in writing.

All in all, it seems like he made a mistake in setting the salary, but the interview is this afternoon and perhaps he really does want a 'sales/marketing manager' or something instead of someone to simply dial all day. Not too sure, will report back.

I am also in Australia so if you need extra help, let me know. Good luck.

Just advice how to negotiate salary.

Play RANGE:

1.Give interviewer a chance to tell you about salary. If it's OK for you e.g. 80K+ say "Yes, I expected something between 80K and 85K", So put their maximum as lowest expected.
2. If you are asked about your salary expectation. Immediately ask back "What is the salary range for position like this within your company?" And as soon as you are told between 80K to 82K again play range and say "Yes, I expected something between 82K and 85K".. So again place their maximum to the lower you expected.
Good luck and let me know about your success.

Update :

Had the interview. Went extremely well, used alot of advice from this thread (missed the laster posters advice about salary negotiation unfortunately).

I got along really well with the owner because we both came from a 'started the business by cold calling by ourselves' background and he immediately related well with me.

Now, in regards to all the 'scam' worries, I arrived at his business and he had about 15 staff on hand, in a multilevel building, so that reduced my suspicion somewhat.

I also asked him directly why the pay was 80k per year, his reasoning was that he could afford to pay it, the business was doing really well, and he wanted to attract talent with a high paying figure. By looking around (everything was super organised and people going about their work), it looked legit.

So anyway, we chatted for about an hour and joking around, having a laugh, and in my eyes it went brilliantly. He told me he needed to complete the rest of the interviews of the week (I was the very first applicant and interview) so he would get back to me Friday.

I persisted and showed that I don't give up the first time, so I asked him twice more throuhgout the interview and joked about his stubborness, which I think he liked.

Eventually we parted ways, but I recalled he asked me about something and I should have relayed a story of mine, so I just emailed it to him about an hour ago.

He replied back to that email with the following :

"Hi Luke,

Yes we are happy to offer you a full time position at our company. As per our discussion from today I will send you a formal offer on Friday. Cheers, Joe"

Obviously I wasn't expecting him to offer me the job, so I was pretty thrilled. So I plan on accepting based on the terms we discussed, its looking good. Thanks for all the help guys!

Congrats on the job. Tell us what the formal offer is once it comes.

So how did the commission work?

I wouldn't worry about that so much.

The reason is that someone who wants to hire sellers will always be waiting for someone to prove themselves.

Example from a story Grant Cardone told a group I was in. He put an ad out saying he was hiring. To every single person that replied he sent them an email that said they were a finalist and to create a short video on why he should hire them. Only around a dozen out of the hundreds who applied did the video. It was a great way to find the best and not risk missing a great candidate because their resume might not be as good.

That said the pay structure is weird for a sales job. But it could be he has had luck with that pay structure in the past so no reason to change it. In my youth I actually believed people should be paid on salary instead of commission. I have since learned the error of my ways.

I love your enthusiasm payo, I have also enjoyed your reality show on WF for the past 1.5 years.

Everything is a learning experience so dont be TOO disappointed when you find out that this 80k + bonus salary job is NOT what you think it is.

You will surely have minimum sales/appt quotas to hit to earn that "salary".
IF this is not the case then I can tell you that you better get up and running pretty fast because NOBODY is paying some novice salesman $1500+ per week for very long if they are not making the company money.

Come on man, don't take a job at a call center. You're better than that.

Congratulations. If the company has been around as long as it sounds and there are not red flags, then you've likely found a very good position.

If you do well and think you could do better on commission, that is something you could discuss down the road.

Dan

Hey Luke,

Congrats. Are you able to tell us the name of the company?? Maybe I have heard of it and can enlighten you.
Anyway, I can tell you that it's not strange to offer someone a job like that. I have been known to do it occasionally in the past because of something that happens out of the ordinary. Your email may have been a trigger but there may also have been something else out of your control that also helped.

Definitely let us know how you do.

Well, it didn't turn out as well as I expected.

He actually rescinded his offer. So yes, he had the gall to offer me the position, then I received this email two days later :

"Hi luke,

Just letting you know that i presented your resume to our management team today. While they think that you are strong candidate, they at the same time requested that i keep interviewing people all day today / tomorrow, and then make the final decision next tuesday. Cheers, joe"

So, as you might expect, I was pretty pissed. This guy offers me the job, then tells me his "management team" (come on...) says he should finish the interviews before he makes his final decision.

I actually called him out on it, something along the lines of..."Joe, I was under the impression that as CEO, you aren't required to run your decision by your subordinates and take the dramatic step of rescinding an offer for the position because of their opinion" but he wouldn't budge. Excuses like "they are as much a part of the company as I am" etc. Just crap.

Doesn't matter, I got called for another interview with a different company for tommorow, so I will go to that and see how that goes (they are under the impression I soft-accepted this telemarketing job, but insisted I come in for an interview anyway, so I have leverage here). I guess there were alot of red flags with this guy, so it should have been expected.

So to make this a more constructive thread, here were the red flags that should have made me aware of what was going on :

- Job ad was very vague and salary was strange.
- Job interview seemed very slap-dash, he wasn't very specific in what he wanted at all, asked non-specific questions like 'what do you think about accountability?' and 'are you a big believer in commitment?'
- Mentioned that he had made one his staff a millionaire and he was like a partner in the business now (just seemed like he was trying to "sell" his staff to me).
- Sent me an offer without much detail, just 'yeah happy to offer you a job', then when I called him to confirm, he almost tried to rush me off the phone (I think he realised his mistake but couldn't own up to it).

I think I just stumbled upon a bad egg. Even though he said he will get back to me, now I don't think I really want to work for this guy anyway.

Worst comes to worst I will probably go back to working on the business, I just messed up big time with contractor fees and will have to sort of 'start from scratch' so to speak.

just be confident and always speak your mind. if you have questions, do not hesitate to ask them. good luck! all the best for you!

Luke,

Here is another opportunity you could consider if you think you can sell yourself and sell his products. Grant said to another person that you didn't have to be us based for this. Have to say I considered applying for this. But it doesn't fit where I want to go even though the pay does.

"Hiring 4 experienced professional B2B sales people.
Must be well connected in your sector with clients you can call on.
Automotive - Health/Fitness - Furniture - Chiropractors - Dentist - Real Estate

Earn 250k +++ a year. Not necessary to relocate.

Send 60 second video and resume to careers@grantcardone.com
Video will be held in confidence"

From Grant Cardone's personal Facebook Page

Sorry it didn't work out, and not to sound "I told you so" - but if it sounds too good to be true...it probably is.

Better luck next time, now you know what to look for - or what not to look for.