Salesgirl of the Month

When I was nineteen, I worked for a well-known company selling eyeglasses. I didn't wear glasses and knew nothing about them. When I answered the help wanted ad for "frame stylist," I showed up expecting to be hanging up picture frames. Surprisingly, I was hired.

My job was to help customers pick out glasses and sell them expensive lenses. I am a horrible sales person. Horrible. Most often I'd end up talking people out of buying the more expensive glasses, and get them into something cheaper, telling them the cheaper ones were just as good.


We got paid a regular hourly salary plus commissions. Our commissions were based on certain lens "extras" that we sold. Specifically, there was a special Lens Package that sold for $40 (on top of the $100+ cost of the lenses), and we made a $10 commission on that package. I almost never sold those. I found it impossible.

The package consisted of a tint (which was easy to sell because you can see it), scratch protection (another easy sell--everybody wanted that), and UV coating. I could not sell or explain the UV coating to save my life. It gave an ugly yellowish tint to clear lenses, and I'd end up talking people out of it.

It didn't take long to realize I wasn't making commissions, and I got pulled into the managers office for a talking to. I was basically told if I didn't start selling the special Lens Package, I'd be out of a job.

Knowing that just because my job was being threatened, I wouldn't become any better of a salesman, I came up with an idea. A great idea, if you ask me.

I started giving out lens prices including the special Lens Package $40 price. I didn't give the customer the choice. I told them their lenses would be $170 which included tint, scratch resistant coating and UV.

Not one person ever questioned the price or all the added extras. My commissions went through the roof and my job was saved. For a while anyway.