HARD KNOCKS - PART 2 Just to summarize "Hard Knocks - Part 1", my career as a wholesale carpet rep was in the toilet. It was causing problems at home as well. Thankfully, somewhere along the line I picked up this maxim: "Fifty one percent of smart is knowing what you're dumb at." I needed expert help. My sales manager, after cancelling several times with "something came up" bad excuses, eventually made good on his threat to makejoint sales calls with me in my territory, the "Kite" (Pomona and east into the high desert of S. California). He was a carpet encyclopedia (ad infinitum), the epitome of arrogance, and a stuffed shirt. He for sure would alienate my red neck clients - absolutely not a good fit. How could I put this guy on ice? A BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious) came to me - turn up the heat! "Jim, you can't avoid this gig. But, maybe a few calls in the "garden spots" of the high desert - Victorville, 29 Palms, Barstow, and China Lake - can put the kibosh on any repeats." Oh, did I mention it was August?August in Los Angeles is "toasty"; in the high desert try blast furnace! And, the A/C was out on my Chevy wagon! The strategy worked - oh, yeah, did it ever - only one sales call that day (the boss couldn't take it). A few weeks later the store owner politely confirmed my assessment of the boss, "Actually, Jim, you don't need his help."
