Blaine E. Grimes Summer Grant Recipient

Jake Meiser
Branch Manager
Vector Marketing/Cutco, Columbus, Ohio, USA

This summer I had the opportunity to run a branch office for Vector Marketing/Cutco in Columbus, Ohio. Vector Marketing is a distributor of Cutco Cutlery and works primarily with high school grads and college students. I was responsible for building a team of representatives to demonstrate the product to perspective customers through in-home presentations. I started with the company as a sales rep two years ago, and I had the opportunity to run an office last summer in Lancaster, Ohio. As a branch manager, I was establishing and running a business for a four-month time frame. I started off by locating an office space and advertising the sales positions. I then recruited representatives and had them scheduled for interviews, which I ran 6-7 times a week. I ran training seminars once a week; hired representatives were required to attend a training seminar before they could begin working.

The area in which I improved most from my first summer in management was motivation and effective management of a sales team. Aside from daily phone conversations, the team gathered for weekly meetings to introduce new techniques and build a friendly, but competitive, working environment. To plan and run these meetings effectively, I had to assess what the team needed to improve on and what techniques I had to offer that would benefit them the most.

Vector Marketing held state- and region-wide meetings for representatives and managers to learn from others and recognize achievements. Due to my office’s successes, I was asked to speak at two region-wide and three state-wide meetings, with the largest audience being 600 people. I was able to improve my public speaking skills and receive feedback from those in attendance.

Through my work this summer I was able to meet many people and learned that management differs between personalities. I created a working relationship with my representatives to establish goals for personal and team success. Because of my hard work and the work of my representatives, my office finished in the Top 10 in the nation out of more than 200 branch offices. I also qualified for trips to Mexico and Costa Rica with other successful managers. My experience this summer proved the extent of my education thus far. This summer I learned a lot about myself as an individual and how to perform in a professional environment that will be useful for future opportunities.