Vector Marketing/Cutco thread

aww, you mean one of the most successful pyramid schemes in history?

Here's why it's not a pyramid scheme, not even a multi-level marketing scheme:

I receive absolutely nothing if I get a friend to work with us. The business model does rely on hiring a fuckton of college kids, so they do ask if we have college-age friends who might want to work there.

It's still straight sales. If I stop selling, I stop making money. I can't recruit people instead of selling

>It's still straight sales. If I stop selling, I stop making money. I can't recruit people instead of selling

Why not just get a legit sales job then where you're paid a base salary of like $30k/yr then paid 10% of every high-end sale or whatever? You'd make more money if you were actually good, by a lot

The base pay is 18.50 per appt. If I schedule 5 appointments in a day which I do all the time, I make a bare minimum of 92.50 if I sell nothing. But actually selling yields me way more money at a 35% commission.

Based on my average order, a 5-appointment day would make me over 900.

>Based on my average order, a 5-appointment day would make me over 900.

That's fucking nothing.

Get a legit sales job, the higher-end the better. You'll make insane money on commission, if you actually manage to perform that is

For a college kid with no experience or previous skills, $900 a day is the tits. I couldn't just "get a legit sales job" at a high-end company that I could do temporarily during the summer because I had no experience.

now try hardmode: answer the question again, but this time don't lie.

go

If you know high-end companies hiring high school graduates and first-year college students for top sales and management positions, let me know.

>For a college kid with no experience or previous skills, $900 a day is the tits

It is good, yes. But that means you're a good salesman, and a good salesman selling knives can make a lot more selling other shit for a more reputable company, is my point.

>I couldn't just "get a legit sales job" at a high-end company that I could do temporarily during the summer because I had no experience.

now you have experience and a proven trackrecord. Time to go and work there.

>now you have experience and a proven trackrecord. Time to go and work there.

which would have been impossible without Vector.

>which would have been impossible without Vector.
Yes I understand, so now you have it and there's no excuse, right? Stop getting underpaid for your skills

I'm honestly surprised; even bringing up the name Vector when I was job hunting got that long groan of "the fucking knife gig" when I was job hunting. Where do you live where people actually want to buy Cutco products, user?

>Where do you live where people actually want to buy Cutco products, user?

No where, I think it's a scam and I never would and I wouldn't respect someone who works for that company but I think you could still leverage it as some evidence of your selling ability to get a job in sales. People get jobs in sales with no experience so I'm sure you could do it if you interview well especially with your exp.

Pretty much any middle class and above family want and can afford to buy cutco products. I've even met people who were successful from the hood.

The vast majority of people who stick with it for more than two weeks make out pretty well. They also hire anyone who doesn't want to be a NEET and can read.

I have an opportunity to get more skills and more money next year as a manager. I'll stick with it at least through next summer.

Really? That's odd to me. It has to be a regional thing; none of the middle class and above people I know even remotely want to purchase knives from a salesman when they can to buy from a quality dealer online.

Either way, best of luck to finding your sweet spot, but I can't imagine that gig working well in most places.

Don't underestimate how many dumb people there are.

You're not selling a product, you're selling emotions. If you make some old people feel good about a product and really transfer good emotions they will buy whatever overpriced shit you have.

Also the knives by Vector aren't bad quality, which is important to note. They're not bad products but they are very overpriced for what they are.

We have a shitton of offices all across America. Tons of people do well in areas where you wouldn't expect, like the hood, the midwest, etc.

I do not have telepathic powers to make people buy shit they cannot afford or don't see the value in. My job is to show why the Value >= Price. If I succeed in doing that anyone who can afford it buys.

>I do not have telepathic powers to make people buy shit they cannot afford or don't see the value in

In order to be a good salesman like you claim to be you need to sell emotion. People buy things when they're happy

I'll believe you once you show proof of what you make. Post some pay stubs.

How does it feel to have the same job as chris chan?

Back in high school (2010) people in my class were doing this, I could tell it's sketchy right off the bat.

Here's how the scheme works as far as I could tell

>in order to start selling Cutco knives, you have to buy a "display set" that you bring to the homes of prospective customers
>this display set costs like $200, so cutco got the sale right off the bat
>sales necessarily occur because middle/upper-middle class teens go to houses of family friends
>recruitments necessarily occur because cutco salespeople are given a cut of those who recruit
>the scheme runs like a machine

One I saw in college (2012) was Verve energy drink. This one seemed particularly fucked as college kids were encouraged to start LLCs for the friends they got involved and write shit off as business expense.

Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this

*are given a cut of the sales from recruits

youre right. All MLMs are scams. Every single one, no exception.

Sat in a "group interview" with them.

Such bs.

The manager was this manlet who I discovered had a felony for evading the police. I swear there was someone planted in the group when a phone went off he took it from him and slammed it against the wall. He also showed us his paychecks up on a projector and he's all like "Oh this is the week I went to Las Vegas!"

When I felt it was shady I googled it and of course saw all of the scam links and lawsuits and told the guy I quit.

He was saying how McDonalds had a lawsuit for someone spilling coffee! And how the people who don't make it are pussies.

I just said "Okay I guess I'm gonna be a pussy" and he was all like No not you!

But yeah I eventually left before buying $250 set to try and sell.

Fuck them.

>you have to buy a "display set" that you bring to the homes of prospective customers

the cost of the "display set" was a security deposit on a sample kit that could be redeemed whenever you turned it back in. This policy is designed primarily to keep dindu nuffins from stealing kits, or at least reduce the financial impact.

They've completely eliminated the security deposit policy, offering them as free loaners to everyone. The downside is that dindus who quit or never even start working never turn their kit back in. They steal from the company and make a scene at the office when you ask for it back (true story)

>are given a cut of the sales from recruits

I was recruited by a friend of mine, and he made exactly zero off of my sales. Some people decide to recruit because they want their friends to work with them. The company's business model relies on college kids, so they ask people to recommend their friends, but their is no financial incentive for it. I'm not sure if this was always the case but it isn't the case now.

when was this? and what office?

2010 in Texas.

>I'm not sure if this was always the case but it isn't the case now.

It was the case back then for sure.

I work in sales and all of these are scams.
1. If you are working for commission only then there is no way you should make as little as 35%

2. People are indoctrinated to brag about success and act like winners rather than say things as they really are. This is why people talk about what they can make IF they have X number of appointments etc. The only way to measure success is to look at an annual or 3 month statement of someone doing this work.

3. It's almost brain washing the way you see every social contact as a mark, it will leave your friendless.

I have dealt with so many people who tell me they have found this great business idea which is totally not pyramid selling like Amway... They then call it something like Network or Multi-Level marketing and it is all exactly the same thing..

Herbalife, Mary K, Amway, All those nutritional drinks and cactus juices... All crap!

If you really want to sell without a retainer, buy some products from Alibaba, brand them your own brand and follow the same business model.. Except you know, keep the money!

>there is no way you should make as little as 35%

I will make 50% after this summer. Also, that's why we have the base pay.
> IF they have X number of appointments

This language is mainly used to encourage people to set up more appointments.

> see every social contact as a mark

basically every business starts with people that you know. this is no different.

Lol you got cucked by them. I recommend giving it up ASAP whole you can unless you're legitly getting paid to shill for them.

There you go again.. 50% after this summer, why not now?
It shouldn't start at 35% when it's commission only.
You don't get a base pay, you get $18.50 per appointment which is nothing like a base salary.

Tell me you keep talking about this average 5 appointments per day thing. How many appointments do you have per week?
No way in hell you are doing 25, I bet my left testicle on it.

All of these businesses fail to take so much normal sales cycle information into account.
When you're shilling this sort of product, you are not going to get an appointment with everyone you call, if you're amazing you might get half to see you for an appointment, that means at absolute best you need 50 solid contacts per week, ain't going to happen son.

Can confirm, specially chicks with sass, if you're a shitty salesman (like i was...) you'll feel scammed.....but good salesmen can rock it.....unfortunately my set was stolen at work (i worked at a kitchen at the time)

I'll hit between 10 and 20 demos in a week, including weekends when I feel like it. I would do more but I'm pretty busy and get referred to people who live far away.

I always get at least 10 new referrals for every customer, so I'll end the week with at least 100 new people to call every time.

This why the business model sucks, trust me I know sales.

You are getting 100 unqualified leads that are no more than a name on a piece of paper.
How many meetings will you get, I reckon no more than your current 10-20.
Plus, you will get double ups in the numbers and your well of contacts will run dry pretty quick.

It's s shitty numbers game and you don't have the margin to make it work.

You said if you made 5 calls a day and closed them you could pull $900 a day, that's if you close everyone.

What's your closing rate at the moment? If it's over 20% I think you're wearing knee pads.

yeah, most of the referral lists only turn into about 20 demos. Its a fairly week by week basis, but if I get in touch with somebody I most likely schedule something with them.

I have started to get double-ups, but I try to minimize it by showing people the lists of people before me. Even with double ups I rarely run out of new people to call.

My closing rate is 92% with an average order of over $500. Average for my office is about 60% with about $300 average order. I definitely doing better than most but it's not because my knee pads are better.

> $900 a day is nothing

Veeky Forums everyone. Someone could post about making $10k per day and someone would post, "that's nothing!".

OP good for you. I hate MLM, but whatev I hear Cutco knives are good.

And yes Vector is MLM. It's always MLM if: (1) The salesman has to pay for the product they sell, and (2) The product is not sold via the general market. A salesman should never have to pay for product, and a truly great product would always do better on the open market than having a limited sales force.

So you're doing 20 demos a week with a 92% close rate and average order value of $300.
That's great... but it's only $1,932 per week gross, which isn't enormous money and certainly not sustainable.

Seriously, copy the model and find your own products with better margins and create a brand.

...But by your 35% commission that's

>Cutco knives are good
They are not. They're serrated knives for people who don't cook.

I went to training with vector marketing but didn't do the job. It was a 3 day training course and I quit the second day. They really manipulate you into buying their sample knife kit by making you call to make appointments, as many fucking appointments as you possibly can on the second day, then coming back the third day and feeling obligated to buy their kit since you already made all those appointments. The course was really manipulative in trying to show the inexperienced highschool and college kids how awesome the job was by showing how much money these college kids made during the summer and all these success stories. Also being tricked in the job description from 17.50 an hour to being told its 17.50 an appointment during the second day was pretty fucking deceiving.

Not him but

>be 16
>get job at McDonald's because I went to the same store a lot as a young teen
>work until 18. Go off to college
>come back work again at 19.
>never switched jobs because I already had one that sorta worked well
>got tired and got a new job at 20. That one sucked so looked for another one
>got a bitch tits job
>instantly regret going the easy route with my McJob those years.

Don't underestimate how awesome switching jobs can be. I implore you to look into it. It would behoove you.

what the fuck is a bitch tits job

>a good salesman selling knives can make a lot more selling other shit for a more reputable company, is my point.
he's just starting out faggot. this is gonna be a great story to tell in all of his future interviews for top level sales

hey OP. I'm 21 too. Just finished junior year in ME

>worked a 8-5 internship all summer since beginning of may. Mon-fri. Get some paid holidays and paid time off
>13 weeks in now
>will make about 11.5k gross by the time summer ends in a few weeks from this internship

sounds like that's pretty comparable to me. Only difference is I'm close to graduating and this experience in invaluable for my early success.

How many hours a week do you work? I'm 45 if you count my unpaid lunch breaks.

The quality isn't bad, theyre not shit knives despite how expensive or shady it all is

Apple Store Specialist.

Started 13/hr with amazing benefits. I went from being depressed working for 8/hr with druggie Mexicans and weird hoes to hipsters and QTs. Eventually got asked out by a hot girl. Other job a girl that had an abortion asked me out (nig was the father). Then the year after that I got a surveying job (no skills just hard work and literally had to pay almost 2k in advance for housing to work 60+ hours a week for 5k/mo).

I was content with the McJob. I hate myself for it. Sounds like you like it at your job. If you're about to start school, sounds like this job can be pretty flexible. Just know there are other, better opportunities out there. If you want to stay for whatever reason then go for it.

What are the benefits?

This is pretty stupid shit. You're better off selling knives online instead of door to door.

Of getting a new job? More money for increased quality of life?

How do I know you're not shilling for them?

>on the phone with a customer today
>co founder of the company hears me talking
>tells me I sound like an SMB salesman, thinks I should transfer to that division

Should I? I am an analyst. All I do is work on spreadsheets.