Sock Hair, Don't Care

I prepared for my second day at Esente by fueling up on caffeine and Dunkin’ turbo shots as an attempt to keep up with Ron’s enthusiastic energy today, and good thing I did! Ron called me into his office about an hour after I arrived and said he would like to take me on a sales meeting with him. He had an appointment scheduled for 11am at Toscana’s Ristorante & Cafe in Peabody. He explained I would join him and act as his “marketing assistant” as I sat in on his meeting with a potential client.

I wasn’t sure why Ron chose to bring me along but I was thrilled to be invited anyway! So then Ron announces his reasoning for my tagging along... which was based on the account that I was dressed nice and “not slob-looking”...thats a compliment I suppose haha. 

Could be the collared shirt I’m wearing, or maybe it has to do with this “schmancy” sock bun I have in today--so professional looking right? ;). And for those of you who don’t know (probably the boys) there is actually a sock in my hair. Which is a funny concept if you think about it. Putting a sock --obviously intended for a foot--in your hair is oftentimes looked at as a more professional hair style for women? haha. 

It is a clean sock by the way.

So then Ron humored that he couldn’t bring Adam today because we weren’t meeting with a hiking client...but I don’t know Adam, your rocking a nice bun today too ;)

Anyway...to my relief Ron’s driving is normal speed contrary to his speaking pattern and during the drive he gave me some great advice about how to get where I want to be professionally. He also expressed interest in helping me get there  by giving me some relevant projects to work on which was encouraging.

We arrived at the newly renovated Toscana’s and sat down with the owner Angelo. Angelo was interested in purchasing a website and other marketing tools and tactics to promote his restaurant. Seeing Ron work with a client first hand was a great learning opportunity and in fact proved to be an eye opening experience for me. It helped me realize that sales might be something I want to get more involved in. I really enjoyed being able to sit in on the meeting and had fun simply observing Ron work. 

I left the meeting with appreciable insight into the sales/marketing world. Ron wasn’t just selling the idea of a website or other media and marketing tactics in that meeting. He was selling himself. I watched as Ron made this client (Angelo) like him, believe him, and potentially want to hire him. That kind of sales is something I think I would be good at and might want to do one day. 

One thing I like that Ron said is that he has great confidence because he doesn't care. He doesn't care if he gets the client or not. He doesn't care if someone likes him or not. I think it's a logical way to act/feel because you know what...some people aren't going to like you. Some people aren't going to want to hire you. It's all part of the business and the game. So in many ways, yah we need to know when it's the right time to have and utilize that "don't care" attitude. 

So, I guess a collared shirt can go a long way. In this case, it got me a front row seat to the educational experience of watching and learning how to professionally work with and sell to a client. 

But seriously, Toscana’s was beautiful inside and their food looks delicious...oh and I believe I recall Angelo mentioning something about $10 off their newly revamped wine list! Intern outing perhaps? ;)

So just to wrap up, the assignment Ron gave us in our intern meeting today is figure out what we want to get out of this internship in the next three months, and even more so what we want in the long run. So I’m off to figure out what I want in life...and right now it’s Italian food.

Till’ next time! 

Kim Wilson