Of
Alessio Di Sauro
The tour with a Folletto agent with two thousand contracts in his career: «It takes tenacity, patience and gab. The goal is to convince 40 families per month. If the customer is a Milan fan, you will be too, even if you support Inter. The key? The demonstration”
We are republishing this article by Alessio Di Sauro, one of the most appreciated by our readers in 2024.
The objective is to get past the intercom and get to the living room. Ask for one hundred to get one. Two, if that’s all right. Among the representatives of the Folletto, the golden rule is whispered to be that of the three ms: «Wife, husband and mattress». Everyone must be present to be able to sell and, if the third party is usually never absent, finding the first two at the same time is a more complicated matter. But essential, at least if you work as a door-to-door sales representative. “You have to convince both him and her, no one will ever take the trouble to decide alone, under penalty of drama in the family.” And the mattress? «That’s for demonstration!». Here is the demonstration: she is the key “to instill a need that isn’t there” and to cloak a vacuum cleaner with the charm of a forbidden dream. To ensure your salary you need to do at least three a day. «Because one in three definitely buys». And so be it.
The meeting at the bar
The meeting is at 9.30 am at the bar in Rho, where seven of the 250 Vorwerk representatives from the Milan area sit. The mission is to conclude at least 40 contracts per month, and the daily calculation is quickly done. Decked out in a moss-colored suit (“Image is key”), the area leader Piero Cottu, 32 years old, Sardinian from Ollolai, 1,100 souls in the Nuoro areaquestion colleagues about the goals of the day and the week. Ljuba Ignatov, who has been with the company for three months, aspires to schedule ten appointments in seven days. For Maria Screnci, a former seamstress, with six years of experience and thousands of devices sold, the bar is higher: at least 40. He, Cottu, has sold more than two thousand devices: «I dealt with horses, a friend suggested to try here – he says -. I was skeptical, I thought I’d limit myself to a test. THEThe first month I sold 42 devices. The second, 50. My wife threatened divorce if I didn’t continue.” Earnings? «Even 10 thousand euros a month. But if you don’t sell you don’t eat.” Appointments, of course, are not made over the telephone. Il Folletto – the German electric broom born in 1930 with the motor of a gramophone which became a «cleaning system» and to whose sales the Italian market contributes more than 50 percent – it is only sold door to door. And then, when the lines break down and the group is unleashed through the streets of the hinterland and province, the first enemy is the intercom.
«Berlusconi? He said he worked for us”
Departure from Casnate with Bernate, in the Como area. «Upper area», says the district chief Alex Sampirisi – in Vorwerk for 20 years and for a decade among the top ten sellers in Italy – . The altitude has nothing to do with it, here it is the spending capacity that increases. «But paradoxically we work better in more popular areas. High spenders usually have cleaners come to their homes and do not directly take care of the cleaning, and convincing them becomes a challenge.” The exception was Silvio Berlusconiwho, in addition to being a great connoisseur of the appliances of the lindo, said that he had also added the representation of vacuum cleaners to the countless professions of his youth: «He was our certified client and claimed to have worked for us in the 1950s. We sent him the pin celebrating the thousand devices sold in his career.” Salesman to honor.
The tour begins and Cottu, host of the day, carefully avoids buildings with concierge. «In those we show up in the early afternoon, when the caretaker is at lunch – he explains -. The goalkeeper is a double-edged sword, sometimes he can become an ally but often he is an insurmountable obstacle». So it’s better not to risk it. There are few people at home at this time, and those few are suspicious. While the intercom usually isn’t a problem, the doorbell barrier is much more difficult to get around. «Hello, good morning, I’m a Vorwerk representative», the usual introduction. “Whose?”. At this point the mask is thrown away: «Kobold“, a qualification that for more than one person behind the peephole brings to mind the insistence of Jehovah’s Witnesses. «I don’t need it!», the refrain. «Of course, if she needed it, she would have called us! – the return response – We are not here to sell». In fact we are here to – in no particular order and according to the sample of inventiveness – leave a questionnaire, offer a free cleaning service, take a survey on household products.
«Concave or convex depending on the circumstances»
Only one door in five opens, and the tenant is usually not interested. At that point we feign surrender, thank us anyway and wish them a good day, only to then return to the starting point like Lieutenant Colombo when he is about to leave the crime scene empty-handed before turning to ask one last question: “What do you use for floors?”.
With the answer “mop and bucket” the most is done. You bend over the door and, brandishing a microfibre cloth, the alleged inefficiency of traditional cleaning systems is demonstrated. At that point he asks to come by in the afternoon for a bit of information, but not before asking to be able to help him write the name of the street in his diary. «It is essential to be able to enter the house, even just cross the threshold. The barrier of intimacy is overcome and it is possible to get a general idea of the environment and the client’s personality. Paintings, furniture, books: everything is a pretext for conversation — instructs the salesman, an improvised expert in legal thriller at the sight of a collection of John Grisham books —. If you see the Milan scudetto on the wall, well, for an hour you too will become a Milan ultra, and never mind if you support Inter”. Concave or convex depending on the circumstances.
One in a thousand makes it
At first glance, “no” is the rule. «But we plan it: we work on that no so that it becomes a no, and ultimately a yes». Essential requirements: tenacity, patience and speech. The first, because there can be more than one hundred bells to ring before obtaining an audience; the second because it is necessary to maintain aplomb even when you are sent to hell, and it doesn’t happen rarely. «They often look at us as criminals, but they don’t understand that we are simply working». At a certain point the tension seems to rise: “I’ll call the police”, threatens a condominium owner. «But this is nothing, One of our colleagues was once shown a gun – recalls Cottu -. To avoid being reported, the unfortunate man purchased two complete devices.” Extrajudicial of his kind.
Mid-morning we finally manage to schedule two appointments for the afternoon: Mrs. Grazia is already a customer, she would be tempted to give the new model to her son for Christmas given the insistence of her daughter-in-law, but in the end she gives up, not before having facilitated Rossana and Galatine sweets. Tal Sonia, on the other hand, recently got married and uses a competitor’s model. We try to propose the demonstration, but the landlady’s haste and, above all, the distrust of Attila, nomen omen, Maremma shepherd on guard (“Very good, but a little territorial”, admits the owner) reduce to milder advice. The names of those who are absent are noted down, so that a new attempt can be made the next day.
At lunchtime the group meets in the restaurant to take stock of the situation. Francesco Deodato, representative for 18 years, gives an account of the morning: he placed at the first try the machine for cleaning upholstery and the floor polisher. Applause from the audience. «Doing this job is like acting in the theater. I’m shy, but when I enter houses I go on stage. Of course, ringing bells every day is unnerving in the long run.”
The key? «The demonstration»
In the afternoon we move to Milan, Lorenteggio area. There are two scheduled appointments: we start with Mrs. Arianna, a true Molise native, where we finally manage to open the sample case and start the fateful demonstration. Cottu refuses the offer of coffee and biscuits, in return he politely asks for breadcrumbs and flour. The landlady is terrified but the representative doesn’t make a plea: “I have to throw them on the floor, I need them to show you the vacuum cleaner!”. And then again: «Every year we lose five kilos of skin, ma’am! And where does it end? On the mattress! The lady doesn’t seem to mind, but her husband isn’t at home and she has to run to pick up her granddaughter from nursery. However, she promises to consult her spouse and get back in touch. «Never force too much in these cases – the comment – otherwise you risk withdrawal within 14 days. On average one arrives every 10 sales».
We continue with the newlyweds Alessia and Daniele, bank employeeswho have just moved into the new house, still without furniture but invaded by little Niccolò’s toys. They both take care of the cleaning, they know the product and the purchase of the broom and the woodpecker for the mattresses is never in question: but she would also like the window cleaner, he would like the automated robot. 1,800 euros are at stake and marital crises threaten on the horizon. Cottu, Solomonic, puts an end to the dispute: «With these large windows perhaps the window washer is more functional». Exultation of the wife.
Once you cross the threshold you celebrate in silence, to abandon yourself to the jubilation you have to go beyond the field of vision from the window. «This is pure adrenaline, I would never be able to work behind a desk». Satisfaction? «Up to a certain point, they were basically already sure they were buying. The real ecstasy is taking a categorical no and dismantling it, piece by piece, until it becomes a yes.”
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December 20, 2024 (changed December 20, 2024 | 10:45)
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