Mission Possible
We each received our "mission" for the year. As recruiters we are required to put in a certain amount of people each year. It is called your mission. My mission for the 2006/2007 school year is 26 people. I think that is very doable. In fact I will be very surprised if I don't double it.
OK, that may come across as very arrogant or at the worst; very optimistic. Well , I have several reasons for believing this is possible.
1. I believe that there has to be at the very least 50 qualified people in my county who want to join the National Guard.
a. There are a lot of good people who would love an opportunity to help or be apart of an organization devoted to helping others.
b. There are a lot of people who believe in the higher calling of Service to Country.
c. There are ton of kids who lack direction who would be willing to let the Guard be that guiding force.
2. I believe the National Guard has something to offer everyone. They just don't know it yet.
3. I believe my area has been GREATLY neglected as far as a source for recruiting. No one has worked these high schools in YEARS.
a. one recruiter assigned to the area did not even know these schools are on a year round or "modified" calendar!!!
b. recruiters from the neighboring state have been recruiting out of the highschools!!
c. no one has culivated the JROTC in the biggest high school in the county.
4. There is a large prior service group that has been essentially untapped.
5. And lastly, being who I am I know I can do it. Let me explain....
My husband opened his chiropractic practice. A year later he closed his doors and moved his practice into our home out of necessity. A year later he was seeing only 10 patients a week and breaking even (read not making a dime). I quit work and went to work for him. Within 5 months he was seeing 120 patients a week.
For me it was easy. I used to go out into the front yard and say "There has to be 100 people in this area that need chiropractic!" I kept saying it and thinking about it, and one day it became real to me. I can't explain it. It was like one day the light bulb came on and I KNEW with every fiber of my being that there WERE 100 people who needed chiropractic.
Then we went and shook hands, we set up booths, talked to people and talked to more people. I published a single ad and put little real estate signs pointing the direction to our office. We live out in the middle of NO WHERE. We live across from a 500 acre ranch on about 150 acres of woods. In one month we got 30 new patients. My husband was astonished. I just kept going out, meeting and talking to people, handing out his cards. I would talk to our patients and ask them to bring in a friend. They would.
I don't believe in luck. I believe in hard work. I do believe in being a positive thinker. "As a man thinketh...so is he..."
The girls in my office don't understand it. I can talk to a patient and get them to commit to a six-month treatment plan. The two girls have a tough time of selling. Why? They expect the patient to say no. I don't take no for an answer. Am I pushy? No, not at all. However I realize that if most people understood what is in it for them, they would be sold. And so I find a way to make sure they know what is in it for them. Then I back off and let them choose. Very few say no.
I really honestly and truly believe that EVERYONE ought to serve their country in some way, shape or form. So if they are not qualified, they can serve with the volunteer force and help me find recruits. When I talk to these people I don't expect for them to be unconvinced. I know they want to serve, they just are not educated on how the Guard can help them. That's my job, to show them how the Guard can help them and how they can help their country.
I met a long haired waiter. He looked like a hippie, acted like a hippie and when he spoke he sounded like a very educated liberal. None of the other recruiters thought he would bite. They said "Don't even try, he won't cut his hair." I said "He would for the right reasons." By the time the meal was over I had his name and number and made an appointment. Hair was not even his issue. Missing time at work was!
I know I am a female, middle aged and not one of those cool high speed MOS's like Ranger or Air Assault. But I can sell it. I don't know of a concern that cannot be overcome with logic. People actually WANT to serve. They just need to know the facts so they can get over the jitters. If someone is talking to you the recruiter...THEY ARE ALREADY SOLD!
Well, my mission for August is to have 20 appontments and 10 people on the floor at MEPS. My NCOIC says that will give me 3 recruits. MY GOAL?? My goal is to have at least half of them get through MEPS and raise that right hand. That is where the challenge lies. We shall see.
Maybe in September I will be eating Humble Pie. I hope not. I just can't see how I can't find 5 qualified people to enlist in one whole month.
OK, that may come across as very arrogant or at the worst; very optimistic. Well , I have several reasons for believing this is possible.
1. I believe that there has to be at the very least 50 qualified people in my county who want to join the National Guard.
a. There are a lot of good people who would love an opportunity to help or be apart of an organization devoted to helping others.
b. There are a lot of people who believe in the higher calling of Service to Country.
c. There are ton of kids who lack direction who would be willing to let the Guard be that guiding force.
2. I believe the National Guard has something to offer everyone. They just don't know it yet.
3. I believe my area has been GREATLY neglected as far as a source for recruiting. No one has worked these high schools in YEARS.
a. one recruiter assigned to the area did not even know these schools are on a year round or "modified" calendar!!!
b. recruiters from the neighboring state have been recruiting out of the highschools!!
c. no one has culivated the JROTC in the biggest high school in the county.
4. There is a large prior service group that has been essentially untapped.
5. And lastly, being who I am I know I can do it. Let me explain....
My husband opened his chiropractic practice. A year later he closed his doors and moved his practice into our home out of necessity. A year later he was seeing only 10 patients a week and breaking even (read not making a dime). I quit work and went to work for him. Within 5 months he was seeing 120 patients a week.
For me it was easy. I used to go out into the front yard and say "There has to be 100 people in this area that need chiropractic!" I kept saying it and thinking about it, and one day it became real to me. I can't explain it. It was like one day the light bulb came on and I KNEW with every fiber of my being that there WERE 100 people who needed chiropractic.
Then we went and shook hands, we set up booths, talked to people and talked to more people. I published a single ad and put little real estate signs pointing the direction to our office. We live out in the middle of NO WHERE. We live across from a 500 acre ranch on about 150 acres of woods. In one month we got 30 new patients. My husband was astonished. I just kept going out, meeting and talking to people, handing out his cards. I would talk to our patients and ask them to bring in a friend. They would.
I don't believe in luck. I believe in hard work. I do believe in being a positive thinker. "As a man thinketh...so is he..."
The girls in my office don't understand it. I can talk to a patient and get them to commit to a six-month treatment plan. The two girls have a tough time of selling. Why? They expect the patient to say no. I don't take no for an answer. Am I pushy? No, not at all. However I realize that if most people understood what is in it for them, they would be sold. And so I find a way to make sure they know what is in it for them. Then I back off and let them choose. Very few say no.
I really honestly and truly believe that EVERYONE ought to serve their country in some way, shape or form. So if they are not qualified, they can serve with the volunteer force and help me find recruits. When I talk to these people I don't expect for them to be unconvinced. I know they want to serve, they just are not educated on how the Guard can help them. That's my job, to show them how the Guard can help them and how they can help their country.
I met a long haired waiter. He looked like a hippie, acted like a hippie and when he spoke he sounded like a very educated liberal. None of the other recruiters thought he would bite. They said "Don't even try, he won't cut his hair." I said "He would for the right reasons." By the time the meal was over I had his name and number and made an appointment. Hair was not even his issue. Missing time at work was!
I know I am a female, middle aged and not one of those cool high speed MOS's like Ranger or Air Assault. But I can sell it. I don't know of a concern that cannot be overcome with logic. People actually WANT to serve. They just need to know the facts so they can get over the jitters. If someone is talking to you the recruiter...THEY ARE ALREADY SOLD!
Well, my mission for August is to have 20 appontments and 10 people on the floor at MEPS. My NCOIC says that will give me 3 recruits. MY GOAL?? My goal is to have at least half of them get through MEPS and raise that right hand. That is where the challenge lies. We shall see.
Maybe in September I will be eating Humble Pie. I hope not. I just can't see how I can't find 5 qualified people to enlist in one whole month.
posted by SGT Lori at 19:19
8 Comments:
Whoa. I think I need to get Trueman to try and get back into the Guard and recruit for them. I know our local Guard recruiters here make their missions continually which is kind of funny considering when Trueman was in the Guard he deployed about 10 times as much than in any other unit he has ever been with, active or Reserve.
I definitely think 26 for a school year should be do-able. Build up your COIs and make sure to hit those schools and events where a lot of people within your demographic will be (the Guard here hits a lot of the gun shows and does great at them).
In comparison, Trueman's average monthly mission has been between 3 and 5 a month since coming here.
Mauser Girl, Guard Deployments depend on the State and the unit. Georgia is pretty fair. Our Governor lets Georgia take its' turn. But I hear Arizona sends the Guard ALL THE TIME. Some guys from other states have deployed 3 times to Iraq!!! Also in Georgia if you are a recruiter you are non-deployable since recruiters are not in a deployable unit. HOWEVER comma if you have a MOS they really need, they *can* assign you to a unit that is deploying. I have seen it happen once with 140 recruiters in the state.
oh and I have not read "think and grow rich" or any of those other types of books. I imagine they are good books, just never felt the need. This is just the way I think. My mother always encouraged us to look on the positive side of things.
Yeah, the AZ Guard has been used pretty often. Some of their units have gone three times, plus the necessry state actions; being activated to dig fire breaks and the like.
Crypto, Guard doesn't fall under USAREC. They're a different entity and do things very differently.
Good luck with your plan young SGT.
SFC B, Yeah I know I am new to the trade and hopefully I will do well. I am TRYING to be realistic. I have a REALLY good area. No one has worked it in a while.
Sgt Lori, You may be "famale, middle aged and not one of those cool high speed MOS's", but you're one hell of an example. I don't think you'll have any problem...
As far as deployments go, I don't think that's a negative to recruiting even though every one thinks it would be. I'm Arizona Guard and we've had at least one or two Company size units deployed at any given time since 9/11/01. That's just Army Guard. Even in Field Artillery I don't see too much problem geting people.
LOL
I know Guard recruiters (or recrioters in general don't deploy). What I meant was, that when Trueman was in the Guard, he was deployed a lot.
Most of the kids he sees at the office are all about NOT deploying, so I'm surprised they keep going in the Guard. I guess they think being in the Guard means they won't deploy overseas, they'll just do stuff back home like helping when there's flooding and such.
MG, geez I forgot who I was talking to! LOL.
Well everyone I talk to is "scared of deploying to Iraq". I just ask them why. They say they don't want to die generally. So I give them the statistics. They have better odds of dieing driving through downtown Atlanta than of dieing driving through Baghdad.
I heard another recruiter talk about what he says to parents. In the past year in Michigan 7 kids died of drowning while attending college. In the last four years only one Michigan Guardsman died period. Really puts it in perspective.
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