Training Day

Here's the problem with training.

Ready?

They have food everywhere. Seriously.

E V E R Y W H E R E

And candy on the tables.
And soda in a convenient cooler next to my chairs.

Here's where self control comes into play [and let me just get it out there right now that I discovered I have NO self control in this type of situation].

Find me a person who is put inside a room with a plate full of cookies - with their delicious scent wafting your way - that doesn't touch a cookie on the plate [or the candy in the bowl in front of you] and I will pay you one billion dollars.

And, remember, this is ALL DAY LONG. All day that they have these goodies sitting out, staring at you.

It can't be done.
Okay, maybe if you hate sweets. But even then, you would still have the fabulous lunches they provide us to deal with.

This is literally all I have to complain about regarding training.
They feed us too well.

I've got it rough, eh?

Training is going stupendously. I'm getting more and more excited to go out into the field after this week of training.

Silvia - who is the marketing guru [a.k.a. "The Boss"] - is such a powerful person. I've got this giddy school-girl thing going on when I talk about her, because she's such an inspiration.

The woman tells it like it is - and includes no emotional details [unless she intends to]
She educates us without making us feel like complete idiots [even me - the marketing dummy]
And best of all - she has made us into marketers.

Going into this, I honestly thought it would be a load of crap.
That they would just feed us every line that is told to every other salesman and we would walk out sounding like robots.

By now, I have figured out that my job ISN'T about the marketing. [Well, okay, it kinda is]
It's about the PATIENTS.
Everything we do is SO important for them.
Seniors are used and abused in the health care system, and every day of this training has opened up my eyes more and more to what's going on out there.
That's what I'm going to be thinking of when I'm marketing our services......

Think of the seniors that can live longer at home
Or
Think how many families our services will lift the burden from.

It's unbelievable how our company does so much for so many people; and the "customers" don't even have to pay for it!

The most important thing I have learned at this training:

I'm proud to work for this company.

I feel like what I do is going to make a difference in this world, and if it doesn't; at least I've gone down doing what I think is best for our community, for our seniors, and for their families.

Silvia has said told us about 10 times during this training when she finds people who our services don't apply to:

"You may not need our services now, but one day, when your mom falls down a flight of stairs or your dad's heart starts to fail, you're going to grab our brochure from the junk drawer, and you're going to call Angels. Because you know that we'll give the best care to them that they can get in this community."

Corny as it may seem, this has been a really inspirational training week. And I'm so happy that it has taught me so much and that I feel this passionately about what I do.

Because what good does it do going to work everyday, hating your job? It does no one any favors, and it especially doesn't make your company any money in the long run. The bottom line: Unhappy employees = unhappy customers = less and less sales.

So, judge me if you will, but I now consider myself a marketer. And I'm proud of it, because I'm proud of my company and proud of what we can do for people.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

-mal