Vector Marketing

by Helen Brown, National Campus Recruiting Manager

I consider myself VERY blessed (too many reasons to list)! Some people find their passions early in life, some find them in the “middle”, and some never do (that is the saddest one for me). I love hearing the stories of the 70 year olds living their dreams. I would say I have found my passion in 2nd grade! I wanted to be a teacher (history to be exact!). I may not be the “typical” teacher, but I have become a teacher of life and finding your passion to college age students. I love teaching them skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. In college I started working for Vector Marketing. Yes, I work for the knife company…..and just celebrated 20 years with Vector Marketing! During the past 10 years, I have been in the recruiting area and am currently the National Campus Relations manager.

During my time as campus recruiting manager I have discovered a few new passions…..travel and photography! That is how this blog started. As I have stated in my ABOUT ME page, I travel differently and with a sense of adventure. As you look over my blogs, you can tell that they are not filled with words. They are mainly filled with pictures. For me, pictures move my soul and I can stare at them for HOURS! I am surrounded by pics at home and the office. When I travel now, my eye’s view things as if they were a camera. It can take me longer to get to places because I keep stopping to snap pictures.

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. -Oprah

The above quote is how I live my life. I surround myself with people who LIVE life and look on the positive side of things. Yes, I know that we are all thrown curve balls and sometimes we ask ourselves why this is happening! A few years ago, I had a life coach come into my life…..Fi Mazenke. She helped me see my potential and live life. Thank you Fi!

Here are Helen’s tips for living life: Breathe Enjoy the Moment- you will never have it back! (easy to say, but hard to do sometimes) Listen to your intuition Do what makes you smile Do things because YOU want to do them! Enjoy the people around you! What would one of posts be without pictures…..here [is] of my all time favorites! Every picture I take brings memories of the people who I shared these moments with and I smile!

Visit Helen’s blog travelwithlaughter.com!

My plane was taking off from a tiny Airport in Pocatello, Idaho and as we started to lift off, the sight of the mountains below took my breath away. What a beautiful and amazing experience; being able to float on the air and take in such impressive beauty from this vantage point. What a convenient way to do business as well; I couldn’t imagine driving all the way from Wisconsin to Idaho for a one day conference. As I sat there, taking in the beauty, and appreciating the fact that I would be home in a few hours instead of a day’s travel, I couldn’t help but think of how we take for granted this gift.

In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made history by inventing the first controllable airplane. Today, we rarely even think of them as we go through our busy lives boarding our flights. But what an amazing discovery, and what a gift to mankind they gave us.

As I started thinking about the Wright brothers, my thoughts went out to others who have helped me to soar. There are so many people in my life who have helped to mold me into the person that I am today; how often do I take them for granted, and forget to thank them?

Vector is a company that thrives on recognition. We recognize our representatives for their successful sales adventures; our managers for how their offices perform; and our receptionists for hitting their goals. This is a great lesson that we can take into our everyday life.

Take some time today to recognize someone who has helped you to grow, someone who has helped you to fly above the mountaintops. Do it today; don’t take them for granted.

With everyone going back to school – or already there – we posted a request on Vector’s Facebook page for the best tips on managing your time at school. Whether you’re planning to keep selling at school or not – there is some good advice here for anyone who wants to get better at time management:

Do your schoolwork during normal school hours- like 8-4, then do all your fun stuff later on, when you prioritize school first, you feel much better about doing fun things after and you can focus solely on the activity that you’re doing and you’ll be present with your friends while hanging out with them instead of dreading to study for that stupid test you’re supposed to take tomorrow-you’ll actually be able to hang out, work out, sell Cutco, all those things. Or as Jon Vroman like to put it-“eat the frog”. So don’t wait until the last minute to do things-make a plan that works best for you and stick to it. – Josh Thayer

Always plan ahead and make sure you know where to go and how you will get there. That’s one thing I’ve struggled but through that struggle I overcame it. – Ysidro Rivera III

Plan your 168 hours every Sunday…Fail to plan, Plan to Fail. Do homework in between appointments – Kevin Elbert

Buy a planner, and plan the whole semester once you have your syllabus – John Roach

Plan your phone time before anything else! – Jordan Davenport

Interrupt interruptions – Joseph Davis

Do demos on the weekends and school during the week, your grades will sky rocket and your pockets will bulge with cash. Also do demos for all your teachers – Matthew Anders

Keep in contact with your original manager(s)-if you’re changing offices. Keeping in touch with the people who originally helped you be successful and already built a connection with is a powerful tool to keep motivated and productive – Andrew Wray

Sell the first week back – whatever habits you create in the first week you will do the rest of the semester – Gilbert Gonzales

Put your classes in your schedule and remember you can always wake up early or stay up late for appointments – Kris Uy

Do demos during the weekend, do all your school commitments during the week – Andrew Bauer, Holly Bellard

Got this from Jon Berghoff: “Tetris” your schedule. Put something in EVERY spot on your calendar, even if it’s sleep, or hanging out, or studying, or eating. It’s so much harder to procrastinate when you know that putting something off even for an hour encroaches on other time to spend with friends or eat or relax – Liz DiMascio

I put all my projects and deadlines in my schedule as well as class time. I phone every morning if I don’t have class. I’ll aim for 10 appointments a week, doing a few through the week, but most on the weekends. Homework at night or phone jam instead if I want to go big that week. I also bring my calendar with me to class, and log my homework there too. Try and make friends with your classmates and host study sessions. Become close to them and do demos for their parents! – TC Smith

Just make a schedule and keep it. It eliminates surprises and allows you to plan ahead for everything so you don’t get overwhelmed – Ronald Rivas

Don’t wear yourself out, less motivation and enthusiasm means boring demos. Remember to smile and give them a hug! – Tyler Hruby

Plan everything in windows. Makes life so much easier and productive – Lara Larsson

Actually do your homework when you know you’re supposed to do it – Isaac Cervantes

Use a planner, pay attention to it and use a pencil when you write in it – Rob Frederick

Do demos on Fridays! College students rarely have class after 10 a.m. and LOTS of HM3s are off on Fridays – Laura Pozzi.

As I hobbled into my office a few months ago, I couldn’t help but wonder why I was doing this to myself.  I had made it a goal of the summer to get into shape, and even started working with a personal trainer.  For once, I followed through with my fitness goal, and for the third day in a row, this is what I get; being so sore that I can barely walk.  Is the pain worth the sacrifice?

This is a question that we wager nearly every day; whether it is at the gym, in the office, or at home with our families.  We all know that we can improve, but in order to do so, we need to change something.  Change is hard.  Change hurts.  But we cannot really improve without that pain.

Isn’t it so much easier to turn on the TV instead of picking up those weights, especially when your entire body already aches?  It’s so much easier to hit the snooze button on the real changes that we need to make in our lives in order to improve.

When I started as a sales representative in Vector, it was one of the first times that I was challenged in the workplace.  In fact, I was challenged so many times that first summer that I wanted to quit quite a few times.  For once, it wasn’t just a clock in clock out job; I actually had to change, to improve myself in order to get good at this job.  Looking back now, I am so glad that I stuck to it; that I chose the pain of change vs. the ease of staying the same.  This company asks its representatives to become the best versions of themselves so that they can excel in all things. A few months after I started working out, I am in much better shape than I was.  A few years after I started working for Vector, I am a much better person for it.  Challenge yourself, when it comes to the choice of a painful change that is good for you in the long run or hitting the snooze button, choose the harder path.  It is worth the sacrifice.  

Can you remember a time when you felt afraid even though nothing bad or fearful was happening in that moment? How often do you imagine, “Well, if I do X, then I know Y (a bad thing) will happen…” Have you ever looked back on these moments and realized there was nothing to be afraid of? The fact is that in most cases your mind is playing a trick on you. Sometimes, just thinking about a thing we dread can cause anxiety, heart palpitations and tension and make us feel as though we were faced with an actual threat or negative outcome. The result can be missed opportunities and lots of disappointment because we are making fear-based decisions. 

One way to conquer this pattern is to look at fear differently. If you take the word “fear” and make an acronym with its letters you can find a working definition of most of our fears: False Expectations Appearing Real.  We expect a false outcome, and we imagine it so vividly that it appears real in our mind – so real that even our body reacts as though it is happening right now. Then, we usually take a course of action that makes us feel more comfortable, perhaps without even realizing we’re moving in the wrong direction.

This is a common scenario when a new sales representative faces the phone. Ironically, here is a harmless object: The phone.  We love the phone!  It never leaves our pocket or purse and it provides hours of comfort and entertainment.  The phone is a friend, it’s a source of news, and frequently gives us messages of love and affection.

In sales you’ll frequently hear the phrase “fear of the phone” when a representative is struggling.  So what are we afraid of?  How does this nice, fun and friendly technology become evil and frightening overnight?  It doesn’t, of course.  It’s still the wonderful tool it has always been.  For new sales reps, however, what changes is that the phone becomes a mirror reflecting their fears.  Perhaps he’s afraid of stumbling over his words.  Maybe she’s worried she’ll forget which questions to ask.  Or, maybe she’s afraid the prospect will actually agree to see CUTCO, and then what?

In these moments, it’s helpful to remember that courage isn’t the absence of fear, but rather the ability to move through it and forward despite our fear.  If you or your people are experiencing a False Expectation that Appears Real, there are several useful strategies that can help.  Using the example of the phone, here are 4 steps you can take to overcome your F.E.A.R.:

1. Assess the threat: What is truly the worst thing that could happen? If that happened what would you do? In the example of the phone, perhaps someone will hang up on you.  So what?  It’s unpleasant, sure, but you can handle that.

2. Ask yourself: Is the expectation that’s scaring you the only possible outcome? Be honest with yourself; sometimes we create self-fulfilling “prophecies” where our actions influence the outcome in the expected way.  What would happen if you expected a good outcome?

3. Brainstorm all of the possible positive outcomes. Make a list and keep it handy.  “Mrs. Jones will remember me and be happy to hear from me.” “Lisa’s mom would love to see me and help me out.” “Aunt Carol loves to cook and will definitely buy something.”  Refer to this list when you start feeling F.E.A.R.

4. Imagine the results of a positive outcome. You will feel great about yourself because you moved through your fear and took action.  Do this a few times, and you’ll begin to feel new confidence in yourself and your abilities.

It may take some practice, but by using this strategy as soon as you feel those false expectations creeping in, you’ll be able to move through your fears and achieve things you never expected!

by Rhancha Connell, National Sales Promotion Manager, Canada

On February 21^st, we celebrated Family Day in Canada, a holiday meant to give families a day to spend together and appreciate all that they have in their lives.  Today, families come in all different shapes and sizes.  Some families are biological – and some are not.  I am lucky enough to have two families – my personal family (husband and two children) and my Vector Marketing family.

When I found Vector in my 3^rd year of university I didn’t realize what an incredible impact it would have on my life! That first summer I met great people and watched them produce incredible results. I knew that Vector was a special place to work and grow, and they quickly became my Vector family.

As I write this, I am coming up on my 21^st anniversary in this business!!!  People can’t believe it when I tell them that I LOVE what I do and after more than 20 years, I still feel challenged in my work. They just don’t get it!  Every day, I look forward to working with the most dynamic, passionate, and caring people in the world.  Most of my best friends are in Vector.  Why wouldn’t they be?  They are my family.

This year, in Vector Canada, we have seen some amazing things happen.  One of our district managers donated her kidney to her cousin.  What an incredible selfless act! We saw reps and managers join together to raise money for one of our top CSP’s husband who is suffering from a life threatening illness and made his wish come true to go to Las Vegas and sit in the FRONT ROW of Jersey Boys!  Sales reps joined together to raise money for Esther, a 5 year old who is suffering from cancer, and made her wish to go to Disney come true.  My Vector family is amazing and inspires me to grow and be the best version of myself! We are there for each other in the good times and bad. 

I am so blessed to have my immediate family and my Vector family. My children love the company, the people and the atmosphere.  My daughter loves getting to come to work with me sometimes and my son recently said to me, “Every Vector person I meet is so nice and makes me feel so good!”  He can’t wait until he’s 18 so he can sell CUTCO!

Our offices are full of talented and compassionate people who want to see their reps succeed.  They are there to help you grow as a person and a business professional.  We have a saying in Vector, “You are in business for yourself, but not by yourself.”  The Vector family is a very special group of people and on Family Day I was reminded just how lucky I am to have them.

  Our thoughts are focused on our desire for ourselves rather than on taking care of others. We finally give ourselves permission to look inward. One such question we ponder is, “what is my purpose?”  To answer that question, you can look to cues from within.  What energizes you? What drains you?  The clues to your purpose exist in the things that energize you.  It’s those things that come to you naturally and feel effortless.  Look to those energizing areas in your life for your purpose.  Your purpose is unique to you.  It’s the gift that you have to offer to the world, wrapped in your own beautiful package with your signature on it. You can bring this energy to a variety of activities by looking for the purpose within.  Just choose an activity and practice asking yourself the question, “What is my purpose here?” You will find that a specific purpose will lead you to a general one.  For example, before calling a customer, you may ask, “What is my purpose?”  Initially, you may think it is to get an appointment, but besides getting an appointment, what else do you want in your experience?  Perhaps you want the customer to feel your enthusiasm about Cutco.  Perhaps you want to get to know the customer so that you can understand her needs prior to showing her the product.  These specific desires lead you to a general purpose.  In this case, your general purpose may be to bring joy to people. Do you get energized by sitting in front of people and sharing your joy?  If your purpose is to bring joy to people, start with yourself first and ask how you can bring joy to your own world.  In being more joyful in your own life, you will naturally bring more joy to others.  That may be your life’s purpose. My experience with Vector allowed me to explore my life’s purpose.  Vector provided me with the opportunity to start my leadership coaching career.  I found that if I ask my clients the right questions, they uncover their unique purpose within themselves.  It’s a very empowering way to live. I believe that within each person exists greatness and my purpose is to allow each person to discover and uncover that greatness.  I absolutely love living on purpose.

Oh boy, it’s that time of year when everyone talks about New Year’s resolutions.  Ugh. There’s of course the dreaded “I’m going to lose 10 pounds” (which by the way, I’ve been promising myself to do for more than 2 years since my daughter was born).  Or the additionally popular “I’m going to gossip less”, which lasts for about 5 days until some big “scandal” erupts on Facebook and you realize that old high school (or college, or post-college, depending on your age) friend ran off with someone 2x his/her age and is now traveling with the circus.  But seriously – this year, I would like to resolve to do something that actually has more significance than losing weight and talking less about others.  I want to stop wishing I had “this” or “that.”  Because the truth is – I’ve got it pretty darn well – I have a wonderful husband, a delightful child (when she isn’t screaming because she doesn’t want to put on her coat in the freezing cold), a good job with a great company and as much job security as anyone can expect these days.  And, most importantly – my husband, daughter and I are healthy. The phrase “If you have your health, you have everything” is no joke.  It’s true. (Hmm, maybe that “lose 10 pounds” resolution isn’t quite so frivolous after all).  In 2011, we should all strive to not overlook all that we DO have and spend a little less time looking at others. Wishing everyone a safe, happy and healthy 2011.

Motivation is a very useful short-term tool.  But, we also need long-term success tools. Two of these are habits and willingness. Motivation gets us started; habits keep us going. Motivation offers a good kick-start, but the habits in our lives will keep us going. If we develop the right habits, we will live the lives of our dreams. We simply need to take the daily steps towards our goals. We cannot procrastinate and hope for our dreams to come true. We must act. We must develop our own long-term habits. We cannot wait for opportunities to knock on our door. We must go out and create the life we want. We create the lives of our dreams by developing the correct habits today. When we have the right habits in place and the willingness to act, difficult situations that arise aren’t as ominous.  The willingness to act and the correct habits are a powerful combination, and often end up with success. Too often people get discouraged and quit. Too often we think barriers are bigger than they seem. Too often we forget that all we need is willingness and the right habits. Develop a willingness to overcome any obstacle in your life. Develop habits that will help you achieve the life you have always wanted. I hope you develop a willingness to succeed and bring the right habits along with. The right habits are different from person to person, but you must find out what they are for you. If we have the right habits, all we have to do is endure. If we have the willingness to do what it takes, endurance is not a problem. Develop a willingness to overcome any difficulty that presents itself. It is powerful when a person combines the willingness to do what is necessary with the habits that create success. The habits create the action. The willingness creates long-term internal inspiration to overcome obstacles. Develop both willingness and habits in your life and watch your dreams blossom and bloom.