Cell Phones in my life

Seems like I always end up working with cell phones! I got my retail sales job right after finishing my business degree with Sprint (then Sprint PCS). In less than 2 months I was amongst the top 5 sales reps in the Philadelphia market achieving over 100% of my quota. I was given the responsibility of senior sales rep at 3 months and was responsible for training and managing the sales reps in my store, and when the manager got fired I managed that store, but without the title. When the store closed I was offered a few open positions as top candidate. I even had a couple of directors fighting over getting me! I chose the marketing position and was responsible for the corporate stores in the entire Philadelphia market. I did this for a little over a year until Sprint PCS laid off most all of the marketing staff across the country. I still miss this job as I attained some great achievements. One was training and coaching a sales rep to be the winner of a national contest in professional retail selling skills (their canned sales process). This stemmed from a refresher course I was asked to create and implement that was a huge success quoted as "better than the trainers classes" and got national headquarters attention. Another benchmark in this position was my creation of W.A.R. We Are Retail. War was a brainchild where I took corporate efforts and had a 1 day war themed interactive training for the entire staff of corporate retail. I could do an entire post on this one! In a nutshell it was the most effective way to train the sales, customer service and management what that quarters corporate efforts were such as new promotional plans, phones, contests marketing and advertising. It too was launched nationwide with slightly different names and themes which was obviously to say it was their own and not mine!? I loved having weekly meetings with managers to convey sales strategies and marketing efforts for current promotions. I know my work in this position increased sales. I also know that my motivation and reward programs including quarterly sales kick off parties were a huge part in the success and sales in that market. Their loss!
I went through a few different jobs including a couple attempts at my own business which failed due to a few different factors I'd rather not get into right now. The last attempt was moving to Orlando, FL and running a company for a couple of investor friends. Well it never was exactly what they said it would be but I tried my best and to make a long story short I was let go suddenly on a tuesday afternoon because they thought they had all the answers and I wasn't it.. Shortly thereafter these quote unqoute friends asked me to help them get the business back on track from home and part time admitting they were wrong for letting me go. So I did as little as I had to to show some effort because I knew it was a lost cause. They didn't want to make the changes, and put forth the effort, necessary to make it a success let alone pay me what I'm worth and give me the power I had and have to make it successful. It went belly up! It ran fine for the 6-7 months I was there and strangely went belly up within a month after I was let go... imagine that!
Well that brings me to the present where I currently run a cell phone store in College Park just outside of downtown Orlando. I do not own the company nor do I have much, if any, input into how the business is run or anything. Seems to me that whatever I say falls on deaf ears or is somehow twisted a little bit to "make it someone else's idea" funny how that happens! Don't get me wrong the owner is one of the best guys I've met in my 4 years in Orlando, FL and I am proud to call him my friend. It just hurts me to see him struggle when there is a possibility for so much more and I know it. Not saying the business is run improperly, just that there is obvious things that could and should be changed to make is more profitable, smoother operation all around more successful. I still consider this my main source of income and I wake up every day praying and wishing that things will get better and this wireless business can be what it is capable of being. For now it offers customers one of the best experiences to deal with their wireless needs. Competetive pricing on phones and accessories. Service plans for T-Mobile, Sprint, Helio, at&t ever Disney mobile and Sirius satellite radio! All of the experience sets it apart from every corporate store and other independent dealers in the areas. We also provide cell phone repair which is rare and an amazing way for customers to save money. If I didn't work there I would still shop here and use the services here.. well.. assuming there was someone as good as me behind the counter everyday!!