A Story About Sales

It was 1994. I was relatively recently out of college and looking to land that first so-called “real” job… you know, the kind that provided benefits like health insurance. The kind that supposedly were the reason why we spent all those years in school. The kind of job that was maybe a little different than the type of jobs we did after school and on weekends when we were in high school.

I had degrees in writings and music, and ultimately there would later be some places where those—well, the former, anyway—would come in handy. You know… the whole “use your degree to get a job in a related field” concept.

But at that point, the country was still coming out of the early 1990s recession and I didn’t have a real clear picture of what I wanted to do… so I was just looking for work. Any work that, maybe, would count as one of those supposed “real jobs.”

Back then, we used to look in the newspaper classifieds for ads. I would review the jobs that maybe I was qualified for, and I would also clip anything that might have said something about looking for a “recent college grad.” One such ad led me to sending my résumé in for a sales position.

Frankly, I didn’t want to do sales. But I was still young enough and ambitious enough and confident enough that I would be willing to do it anyway for a while, if they would hire me.

I got called for an interview and met with a very nice lady. We had a great interview. Of course, the fact that I had no sales background whatsoever was a subject she brought up. 

“That may be true,” I conceded, and then went on to explain something about how I still thought I could do it, maybe throwing in hackneyed platitudes about accomplishing anything I put my mind to and stuff like that. Basically, I told her there was nothing to worry about. I could do the job if she gave me the chance. Whether that was true or not, I can’t say. But that’s what I told her and it’s what I sort of believed.

We continued to talk. The interview really did go really well. I was impressed with her, and she was impressed with me. But before we were even finished, she told me I didn’t get the job.

“I look at your stuff,” she said, “And it’s good. It’s really good. I’m impressed with your accomplishments, with your grades, your motivation… You seem like you’ll make a great employee.  But when I look at all this, I don’t see someone who lives and breathes ‘sales.’ ”

That was an understatement. In truth, if she could read my mind—and I guess in a way she did—she would have heard me saying, “I don’t want to fucking do sales. Sales suck! I just want a job!” That was the truth in terms of how I felt.

She went on to explain how she’s one of those people who just loves sales. She loves her job and she loves the challenge of it and pretty much everything about selling.

Maybe the stereotype is that sales people are seedy and opportunistic, and maybe some are. But I was so impressed by my interviewer. She was kind, and she was sharp. I was so impressed that I willingly tipped my hand completely at that point where she challenged me about not really being interested in the sales thing. I said, “You know, I think you’re 100% right.” It was, perhaps, bad enough that I was seeking to fool her… I think the more egregious sin was that I was trying to fool myself, and I credited her for helping me see that. From that day on, I never pursued a sales job again. It was something I already knew to a point, but she hammered it home for me.

There’s no disrespect intended to people who are “sales people”… I just needed to learn for myself that I was not among them. I am not particularly mercenary, and while I prefer more money to less, how much money I make has never been the most important thing for me over the course of my work history. And that’s not just me “talking the talk”… Over the course of the last 25 years, there have been numerous times where I turned down promotions and job offers that included deals for more money than I was making (sometimes significant amounts) because I just didn’t want to compromise my happiness for cash. The most comical episode of this was when I was offered a promotion I didn’t want, and I told them I’d think about it overnight, only to come in the next day and not only turn down the offer, but put in my two weeks notice with no work lined up. Because that job and that company sucked and was evil. Money is not worth misery.

Hey, isn’t this a music-related blog? That’s enough back story… just know… I’m not born for sales.

Music Promotion

I recognize that music promotion or “promotion” in any field is not exactly the same as “sales.” But there is some overlap. Promoting, I guess, is more like increasing exposure. It’s more like the advertising field. You just want to get your stuff in front of eyes. Make people aware. Most importantly, for local musicians, you have to get people—friends and optimistically strangers, too—out to your shows. You have to make sure you have people to watch you play.

These days, on the local level, everyone does that kind of promotion through social media.

But beyond just creating a level of exposure, there is a degree of salesmanship in it, too, isn’t there? Come see my band. My band is worth your time. We’re really good. You’re going to like this.

I think, compared to many other people in music groups, I suck at promoting my bands and my music. I apologize to my bandmates for that.

I think I bring a lot to any band—but I am first to admit that promotion is not one of my strong suits. Not everyone accepts that as an excuse not to do it. I’ve been lectured a time or two before by people in my bands that it doesn’t matter what I like to do or what I am comfortable doing… I have to suck it up and do it anyway. It’s part of the gig. 

I get it.

In fact, the recognition of that idea is the only reason I do it at all. It’s the only reason I have a Facebook page called, “Steve – Drummer, Singer, Songwriter.” I finally came to the conclusion that I had to do at least some promotion to keep people apprised of what’s going on and what I’m up to if I want anyone to take an interest or show up once in a while.

And if you don’t believe that, I direct you to my regular “civilian” Facebook page. How often do I post there? I’ll save you the wasted trip and tell you: it’s literally never. I have never posted or shared anything on Facebook, even though it’s been over a decade. (Unless you count one or two things I shared by mistake when I pushed the wrong button, or when other people have commandeered my phone and shared their own posts through my account… yes, that happened last week, as a matter of fact.) I haven’t actually even ever added the banner image to the top of my page, because I really am not all that comfortable with the notion that we should all be running a news feed reporting on our daily lives.

But… music is a form of art and entertainment that I do believe needs to be shared and engaged in by people, so I did finally decide to go ahead and have my music page where at the very least people who are interested—as opposed to some girl I sat next to in English class in 7th grade and haven’t spoken to since—can sign up to keep in the loop.

But still…

“Dude, Come See My Band!”

Sometimes I go long periods of time without posting stuff on my music page. But when I do post, I’m way more comfortable doing the “recap” of stuff that already happened, as opposed to promoting what is going to happen.

I admit I do kind of like to let people know, “Hey, here’s what I did musically this weekend, and here are some pictures and videos.”  Yeah, it may be a bit of a “me” trip and it could be viewed as being braggadocios.  (After all, isn’t social media for most people all about presenting the life you want to present? The nature of the beast, in general, is about showing a highlight reel of your life while keeping the shitty parts out of the public eye.) But the fact of the matter is, I am proud and honored and humbled to be able to play music. The musical things I do are very important to me. (And, yes, of course, family and other things are even more important, but I don’t have any reason, personally, to want to run a news feed on my happy family life.)

But if I have become at least somewhat comfortable reporting on my own “current events,” I am still completely uncomfortable promoting upcoming shows.

Why?

Well, I think there is a conflict of interest, to be sure. Meaning, if I had a publicist or a hired promoter, then that would be a different story…. because there’s far less of a potential for “perceived arrogance”  when someone else is saying, “Come see this guy play,” as opposed to me saying, “Come see me play.”

Does anyone want the job? The pay is not good…

In the absence of having such a person, I have to go out and post things like, “Come see me play.” And I just don’t feel good doing that.

Now’s a good time to mention that I’m fully aware that the hang-ups here are mine and mine alone. I mean, everybody (figuratively speaking) on the local music scene promotes their shit and I have no problems when other people do it. In fact, I like to be kept apprised of what my friends and associates are up to. I’m a musician, but I’m a fan, too. It’s all good.

And yet… I have an inner turmoil about doing it myself. I don’t want to be that middle-aged guy who is like, “Dude, come see my band! We rock!” Because, again, I get it… the people I know are also middle-aged. They’ve got their own lives and don’t necessarily want to be staying up late hours in loud places to watch me. And if I am asking them to take an interest in what I do, then shouldn’t I be following them to their bake sales or town softball games? Because they have their own things, too. And though I am proud of what I do, I don’t delude myself that I am a star who people are jonesing to follow like a crazed fan.

So… again, the problems are all mine. I never said I was normal or that I didn’t overthink things.

But know that anytime I am promoting, I’m doing it as a “necessarily evil” of what I do and that I don’t really want to be doing it. I just want to be doing the music part. I want to play and create.

I apologize to my bandmates and musical compadres who think I could do more. Know that I’m trying.

I also apologize to any readers of my social media promotional posts that think I’m on a “me” trip. 

That job as promoter is still available and waiting to be filled…