On the "Cutting Edge" In Sales

Abstract

Over the course of the summer and fall of2001 I have held an internship position in sales and marketing. The internship is with Vector Marketing Corporation, a company that solely sells Cutco cutlery. Cutco cutlery leads all cutlery companies in North America in sales every year. What makes this achievement remarkable however, is that Cutco knives cannot be found in stores. In fact, Cutco knives are not even advertised. Instead, Cutcos success in sales relies on individual sales representatives like myself. These sales are not achieved by traditional door-to-door and/or telemarketing methods. Instead, the sales are gained by networking. Sales representatives start out selling to friends and family and are then referred to others, and then from those individuals to yet even more potential consumers of the product. This job experience has helped to develop my interpersonal communication skills and my confidence in interacting with people of all kinds.