My successes and failures as an Aidmatrix intern. It started with my first few meetings and call in interviews with Brad. Which I will list under my successes. A few weeks after school had ended I traveled up to Dallas for my training. Which on the whole I thought was very informative. I would however have preferred a little bit more sales training. Cold calling and things of that nature. But it could just have been that I didn’t have the same schooling as the other interns.
Well any ways next I was trying to make calls and meetings. And here is where things started to go rather pear shaped on me. You see this is how it seemed to work. I would call up a clinic give my speech and the person would be excited about it. Then I would try to find out if they qualified or how interested they were. For the most part they would rather me explain it over the phone then go for a visit. So I would start talking to them. And seeing if they qualified. Most of them did not. And those they might have felt that there wasn’t enough of a benefit for them to implement our program. This was rather disheartening. So I tried the food banks and other non-profits in the area. But they were either too small or just not interested in what we had to offer.
So I called up Brad and told him about how things were going. And expressed my feelings that I wasn’t feeling very useful and if he had any work for me to do over by him. So he told me to do some web marketing and “spread the word of Aidmatrix” and that started to take up most of my day. I still made calls to clinks and tried to contact west Texas ones. But that was only and hour maybe 2 hours a day and the rest of my time were spent web marketing.
Also on several occasions I translated a few power points and wrote up some one pagers for Brad, which I thought was fun and helped break up the days. But if I am perfectly honest I don’t think I was as helpful or useful as you guys had originally hoped that I would be. Or as I thought I would be for that matter.
That being said I did have a lot of fun at this job. I got to meet a lot of interesting people both at Aidmatrix and in the health community of El Paso. So I would say that it was a very positive experience. The only thing I would have changed is probably have picked a community with a few more health clinics in it.
One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fithteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty twenty-one twenty-two twenty-three twenty-four twenty-five twenty-six twenty-seven twenty-eight twenty- nine thirty thirty-one thirty-two thirty-three thirty-four thirty-five thirty-six
Thursday, August 2, 2007
It's been great!!
My internship this summer has been truly amazing and one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve had so far. Just knowing that we are really making a difference in peoples lives makes me feel good inside and proud of what we were all able to accomplish. The experience I got from this internship is invaluable and will not only benefit me in my future career but in life as well. I loved the sales and technological aspects of this job and to be able to improve and use those skills gave me a lot of confidence. After looking back over the past couple of months, I can see how much I’ve grown as a person and that makes me really excited for what’s in store for me in the future.
I remember the first day I was so nervous/excited about cold calling and setting up meetings that I woke up 2 hours early just to get down my sales pitch. I must have stuttered a hundred times my first call but I was able to set up a meeting (probably out of pity) which gave me the confidence I needed for the duration of my internship. I think Michael said it best when he told us, “No matter what happens, you’re not going to die!” After that first call I was comfortable with what I was saying and cold calling no longer became an issue. It makes it a lot easier to cold call and set up meetings when you truly believe in the program you are representing. My absolute favorite part of this internship was going to the meetings and getting a chance to sit down and talk to these people. I have met so many great people with big hearts that just want to help and give back to the community. Some of them would get so excited when I presented the Freeclinic Link and that got me excited! It’s a great feeling to see the look on their faces and something I will never forget. I was also able to work with Daniel a lot this summer with the FedEx Kinko’s donations. Many clinics were interested in computer donations and that was a great incentive for them to sign up.
After about 5 weeks I hit kind of a wall and meetings started slowing a down quite a bit. I had to do a lot more research to try and find new contacts and get things rolling again. It especially got more difficult when ¾ of the people I contacted didn’t meet the membership criteria or weren’t interested in Donate Now. One of the biggest challenges was getting in contact with the people you needed to talk to and/or trying to have them call or e-mail you back. That part got really annoying but I knew that would be part of the job when I signed on. It took a lot of self-motivation and persistence to keep calling and e-mailing back but it paid off with a few clinics.
Overall, I feel very blessed to be a part of this internship program with Aidmatrix and know this was the right decision. To work with so many great people that genuinely care about what they do really inspires me. From this opportunity, I can take the skills and confidence I have gained to fulfill my goals and take on many more challenges in the future.
I remember the first day I was so nervous/excited about cold calling and setting up meetings that I woke up 2 hours early just to get down my sales pitch. I must have stuttered a hundred times my first call but I was able to set up a meeting (probably out of pity) which gave me the confidence I needed for the duration of my internship. I think Michael said it best when he told us, “No matter what happens, you’re not going to die!” After that first call I was comfortable with what I was saying and cold calling no longer became an issue. It makes it a lot easier to cold call and set up meetings when you truly believe in the program you are representing. My absolute favorite part of this internship was going to the meetings and getting a chance to sit down and talk to these people. I have met so many great people with big hearts that just want to help and give back to the community. Some of them would get so excited when I presented the Freeclinic Link and that got me excited! It’s a great feeling to see the look on their faces and something I will never forget. I was also able to work with Daniel a lot this summer with the FedEx Kinko’s donations. Many clinics were interested in computer donations and that was a great incentive for them to sign up.
After about 5 weeks I hit kind of a wall and meetings started slowing a down quite a bit. I had to do a lot more research to try and find new contacts and get things rolling again. It especially got more difficult when ¾ of the people I contacted didn’t meet the membership criteria or weren’t interested in Donate Now. One of the biggest challenges was getting in contact with the people you needed to talk to and/or trying to have them call or e-mail you back. That part got really annoying but I knew that would be part of the job when I signed on. It took a lot of self-motivation and persistence to keep calling and e-mailing back but it paid off with a few clinics.
Overall, I feel very blessed to be a part of this internship program with Aidmatrix and know this was the right decision. To work with so many great people that genuinely care about what they do really inspires me. From this opportunity, I can take the skills and confidence I have gained to fulfill my goals and take on many more challenges in the future.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
My last hoorah.
The internship this summer has been such an awesome experience. It has been cool to see it bring together industrial distribution with a project that is really impacting people daily. It combined sales, people interaction, technological skills, and an end goal to make it a really neat project to be assigned to. I think we all learned very similar things, about cold calling, self-motivation and determination, and also just about representing a company and a product. I still don’t think I got used to being introduced as “Kristen, with Aidmatrix.”
I have learned a lot about the non-profit world in general. All the people I have talked with either work at free clinics, homeless shelters, churches, or other non-profits; I have loved talking to them and hearing how they became a part of it. It’s opened my eyes to things I either do or do not want to do in the future. Even if I do not always work in non-profit, it has definitely taught me skills that I will take with me in any field.
The sales aspect has been a great experience. I became very comfortable with cold-calling: calling on people I had never met, at places I had never been. At first that was the biggest challenge, but it became the biggest area of growth. I loved the meetings with people, and learned how to carry the conversation and listen sincerely, while also providing them with clear answers. I have probably learned the most from those interactions. I also learned from my mistakes; saying the wrong thing on the phone, not being as prepared as I should be, getting lost… It does get frustrating to have to find random places that you have never been and be on time; I think that is something we all had to overcome. :)
Being in Dallas has been a huge blessing because there are so many resources for clinics, as well as non-profits. Talking with Julie and getting more information at the beginning of the summer really helped to jump-start my contacts. They began as a whirlwind and I set up many meetings in the first few weeks. The last few weeks and clinics required more pursuit, because some people are just not as responsive. Near the end it picked up again; it was nice to hear people say that they appreciated my follow-up and persistence, because I times I just felt annoying. It was great to learn how to be patiently persistent.
I have also loved being able to come to the office and getting to see more of Aidmatrix. From the beginning I was just so impressed with the company and was excited to know that there are places like this; this office is full of intelligent, very outgoing people who are choosing to do something that is really impacting people around the world. It is definitely unique and we have all been blessed to be a part of it. Hopefully we have been able to forge the way ahead for these clinics and this program.
I have learned a lot about the non-profit world in general. All the people I have talked with either work at free clinics, homeless shelters, churches, or other non-profits; I have loved talking to them and hearing how they became a part of it. It’s opened my eyes to things I either do or do not want to do in the future. Even if I do not always work in non-profit, it has definitely taught me skills that I will take with me in any field.
The sales aspect has been a great experience. I became very comfortable with cold-calling: calling on people I had never met, at places I had never been. At first that was the biggest challenge, but it became the biggest area of growth. I loved the meetings with people, and learned how to carry the conversation and listen sincerely, while also providing them with clear answers. I have probably learned the most from those interactions. I also learned from my mistakes; saying the wrong thing on the phone, not being as prepared as I should be, getting lost… It does get frustrating to have to find random places that you have never been and be on time; I think that is something we all had to overcome. :)
Being in Dallas has been a huge blessing because there are so many resources for clinics, as well as non-profits. Talking with Julie and getting more information at the beginning of the summer really helped to jump-start my contacts. They began as a whirlwind and I set up many meetings in the first few weeks. The last few weeks and clinics required more pursuit, because some people are just not as responsive. Near the end it picked up again; it was nice to hear people say that they appreciated my follow-up and persistence, because I times I just felt annoying. It was great to learn how to be patiently persistent.
I have also loved being able to come to the office and getting to see more of Aidmatrix. From the beginning I was just so impressed with the company and was excited to know that there are places like this; this office is full of intelligent, very outgoing people who are choosing to do something that is really impacting people around the world. It is definitely unique and we have all been blessed to be a part of it. Hopefully we have been able to forge the way ahead for these clinics and this program.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
One For The Road...
This summer has been full of its pick-ups and hang-ups. For the last ten weeks I have spent my time contacting people that I had never heard of and had never heard of me. Most of which I will likely never speak with again. Some days were more productive than others but overall I can see results of my effort.
This summer began slowly, few people were quick to answer their phone and even less qualified. After two weeks when it was time to turn in my numbers I didn’t have anything to show. While numbers didn’t show the effort I had put in I still had a desire to make a difference. Week three resulted in the beginning of answered phone calls and more event filled days. During week four the clinic visits began with an impromptu trip on Sunday to a clinic for the homeless. I was beginning to burn out from the lack of success but energy from the people I was meeting gave me what I needed to keep going. Weeks five and six were much of the same with many meetings and more energized volunteers. As things began to slow at the end of week six and into week seven I was beginning to lose that desire I had as the summer began. The Thursday of week seven however I knew I was presenting to a group at a Donate Now Seminar and I devoted my time to getting ready for that day. I only had one person show up and while that didn’t lift my spirits the meeting that afternoon brought me back to that desire to help that I had when the summer began. The clinic I had the opportunity to visit was what I envisioned from week one, someone who truly desired the help I had to offer and was even interested in how she could help me. As my summer started coming to a close I had the opportunity to speak with this Executive Director many times all of which seemed to help me as much as she said it helped her. Needless to say when I had donated computers to deliver I knew who I was taking them to.
Failure is always a little easier for me to judge, I can always see how things don’t go the way I planned them. I feel my biggest failure this summer was not pushing the whole Donate Now program. From the beginning it seemed a little harder because I was pushing a program that I didn’t really know the people behind it. It didn’t help my progress in that area either when I only had one person show up to my Donate Now Seminar. The hardest thing for me to do was pursue people who acted like they didn’t have the time for me.
Success was small in numbers for me this summer but I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot in the way of self-discipline and getting up in the morning when I didn’t always feel like it. I also learned that cold calling isn’t that hard. The easiest thing for me to do as well as my favorite thing to do was just sitting down and meeting with people. Finding out why people did what they did and trying to help them the best I knew how.
Over all this summer was a great experience in learning what I want and don’t want to do. I also did what I wanted to this summer in that I helped people as I increased my skills for the future.
This summer began slowly, few people were quick to answer their phone and even less qualified. After two weeks when it was time to turn in my numbers I didn’t have anything to show. While numbers didn’t show the effort I had put in I still had a desire to make a difference. Week three resulted in the beginning of answered phone calls and more event filled days. During week four the clinic visits began with an impromptu trip on Sunday to a clinic for the homeless. I was beginning to burn out from the lack of success but energy from the people I was meeting gave me what I needed to keep going. Weeks five and six were much of the same with many meetings and more energized volunteers. As things began to slow at the end of week six and into week seven I was beginning to lose that desire I had as the summer began. The Thursday of week seven however I knew I was presenting to a group at a Donate Now Seminar and I devoted my time to getting ready for that day. I only had one person show up and while that didn’t lift my spirits the meeting that afternoon brought me back to that desire to help that I had when the summer began. The clinic I had the opportunity to visit was what I envisioned from week one, someone who truly desired the help I had to offer and was even interested in how she could help me. As my summer started coming to a close I had the opportunity to speak with this Executive Director many times all of which seemed to help me as much as she said it helped her. Needless to say when I had donated computers to deliver I knew who I was taking them to.
Failure is always a little easier for me to judge, I can always see how things don’t go the way I planned them. I feel my biggest failure this summer was not pushing the whole Donate Now program. From the beginning it seemed a little harder because I was pushing a program that I didn’t really know the people behind it. It didn’t help my progress in that area either when I only had one person show up to my Donate Now Seminar. The hardest thing for me to do was pursue people who acted like they didn’t have the time for me.
Success was small in numbers for me this summer but I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot in the way of self-discipline and getting up in the morning when I didn’t always feel like it. I also learned that cold calling isn’t that hard. The easiest thing for me to do as well as my favorite thing to do was just sitting down and meeting with people. Finding out why people did what they did and trying to help them the best I knew how.
Over all this summer was a great experience in learning what I want and don’t want to do. I also did what I wanted to this summer in that I helped people as I increased my skills for the future.
Final Thoughts
Well, now that the summer is coming to a close, it is interesting to look back and assess my time spent. This has been a fantastic summer of growth and opportunity which has provided me with enriching and valuable experiences. I will be heading into the ‘real world’ very soon (maybe too soon?) when I graduate in December, and I feel I have had a real taste of what it’s going to be like when I get there. I don’t believe that I can be one hundred percent prepared for the transition into life after college, but this summer has put me miles ahead of where I have been.
The success and failures of my summer sometimes feel like they are one in the same. A few of the things that I have struggled with have become my greatest accomplishments. In that case, I guess that means they aren’t failures at all. My successes include personal issues such as time management and self-motivation as well as social aspects of the job – cold-calling, meeting so many new people, and feeling the responsibility of being the face of the company. I really like meeting new people, but I get nervous when I have more responsibility than saying ‘hi’ and remembering their name. I question my knowledge of the company or our products, if I will be able to convince these people that what I’ve got to offer them is worth their time and extremely beneficial to them, and even if I am representing Aidmatrix in a way that would make the ‘clients’ feel positive about their experience with me/us. I think it was Keith who helped during training, and told us to think of it differently. He helped a good deal. He taught me not to think of it as a make-or-break experience, that if they don’t understand me for who I am and why I’m really there, then so what? He asked what was the worst thing that could happen? They don’t talk to me again! It’s no big deal, I’m not going to die, I’m not going to lose my job or have the incident permanently inscribed on my record that this person didn’t like me. It was comforting to hear that, and what helped even more was getting a couple meetings and calls over with. After I did that several times, I realized that Keith was right; it’s not so bad at all. I’m really not a newcomer to ‘sales’. I’ve waited tables in restaurants for nearly 4 years, and I feel the apprehension to some degree every time I go to work. It’s probably healthy for me to feel that way. But it’s really been great to finally take that salesmanship out of the restaurant and apply it to different areas. I feel much more confident that I’ll be able to know the right information and answer the right questions, and that I can be the face of the company.
To address the question of how my time was spent, I would have to say that the majority by a large margin seems to be pursuing people. Whether that includes trying to contact people for the first time, or getting back in touch to follow up or take the next step, it seems to me to be extremely difficult to get people to call or email me back. It has been one of the most frustrating things this summer for me. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned about that is that persistence pays off. If you continue to attempt to get a hold of people, you eventually will figure out an answer. It may be that the person is no longer (or never was) interested in our services, or that they have genuinely been very busy (this is the case a lot of the time with free clincs!) I’ve found that it is something that I just need to understand that this is the way it works sometimes. I can’t take it personally, I can only keep trying.
All in all, this has been a fantastic summer. I have learned a lot about myself and how I work, as well as a lot about the Big Wide World After College. I have especially enjoyed getting to learn about the fantastic things Aidmatrix is doing, and getting to know the interns and staff at Aidmatrix. I appreciate being given the opportunity to help make a difference in my community.
The success and failures of my summer sometimes feel like they are one in the same. A few of the things that I have struggled with have become my greatest accomplishments. In that case, I guess that means they aren’t failures at all. My successes include personal issues such as time management and self-motivation as well as social aspects of the job – cold-calling, meeting so many new people, and feeling the responsibility of being the face of the company. I really like meeting new people, but I get nervous when I have more responsibility than saying ‘hi’ and remembering their name. I question my knowledge of the company or our products, if I will be able to convince these people that what I’ve got to offer them is worth their time and extremely beneficial to them, and even if I am representing Aidmatrix in a way that would make the ‘clients’ feel positive about their experience with me/us. I think it was Keith who helped during training, and told us to think of it differently. He helped a good deal. He taught me not to think of it as a make-or-break experience, that if they don’t understand me for who I am and why I’m really there, then so what? He asked what was the worst thing that could happen? They don’t talk to me again! It’s no big deal, I’m not going to die, I’m not going to lose my job or have the incident permanently inscribed on my record that this person didn’t like me. It was comforting to hear that, and what helped even more was getting a couple meetings and calls over with. After I did that several times, I realized that Keith was right; it’s not so bad at all. I’m really not a newcomer to ‘sales’. I’ve waited tables in restaurants for nearly 4 years, and I feel the apprehension to some degree every time I go to work. It’s probably healthy for me to feel that way. But it’s really been great to finally take that salesmanship out of the restaurant and apply it to different areas. I feel much more confident that I’ll be able to know the right information and answer the right questions, and that I can be the face of the company.
To address the question of how my time was spent, I would have to say that the majority by a large margin seems to be pursuing people. Whether that includes trying to contact people for the first time, or getting back in touch to follow up or take the next step, it seems to me to be extremely difficult to get people to call or email me back. It has been one of the most frustrating things this summer for me. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned about that is that persistence pays off. If you continue to attempt to get a hold of people, you eventually will figure out an answer. It may be that the person is no longer (or never was) interested in our services, or that they have genuinely been very busy (this is the case a lot of the time with free clincs!) I’ve found that it is something that I just need to understand that this is the way it works sometimes. I can’t take it personally, I can only keep trying.
All in all, this has been a fantastic summer. I have learned a lot about myself and how I work, as well as a lot about the Big Wide World After College. I have especially enjoyed getting to learn about the fantastic things Aidmatrix is doing, and getting to know the interns and staff at Aidmatrix. I appreciate being given the opportunity to help make a difference in my community.
Life of the Party...
Well last night I was invited to attend a social gala with a clinic that I was trying to help. As you can tell I wasn't the life of the party... they kicked me out... no, don't worry I left because I didn't know anybody. It was an opportunity for me to meet the clinic administrator and I thought that Brad would enjoy more work so I went. They were showing off their new renovations to their granters and celebrating with sandwich and cake... how could I turn it down.Monday, July 23, 2007
This Is for Diego
Well I got the opportunity on Friday to meet with a very special doctor. He was not an Aggie fan believe it or not. The first thing I saw when I walked in his office was this jersey, and his next question was where do you go to school? Then he proceeded to show me a picture of a National Championship ring and a poster of the National Champion Texas Longhorns. Turns out that his son was one of the kickers on the team and his game jersey lives in his dads office. It was also neat to find out that his other son was in the band for the National Championship team from Michigan. The Meeting went great, and it turns out even though he is a member of the NAFC the clinic isn't even open yet. But they already have 11 doctors lined up to volunteer. I also got to meet with 2 of his clinic volunteers and explain the Free Clinic Link system as well as Donate Now. So even though My Flat Tex has his Saw'em off belt buckle on he was willing to take a picture with the jersey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)