Introducing the "unsocialable" Mr Mike Jackson

Kerris worries about me and she struggles to understand certain aspects of my personality and recently, we have been talking about my apparent unsociable side that comes out every now and then when we are out socialising. I told her that I would put an entry on my blog to explain so here goes....

Now I don't know how many people read the blog who would consider me unsociable but if you do then perhaps this may help. Hopefully, most people who read this will think "what the hell is on about this time".

Well my unsociability comes about from the fact that the career I chose forces me to have to be social to people. I am a sales rep by trade (if you can call it that) and for the last 10 or so years, I have met every man and his dog as I have traipsed up and down the UK peddling my wares to all and sundry.

Now being a sales rep means that you have to learn to kick up a conversation with someone. The amount of people who you meet who are rude, arrogant, abrupt, offensive, defensive and every other word that describes how a person may treat you without being polite is astounding.

Every new person I meet in my sales role could ultimately benefit from what I have to offer and its a waste of my time and theirs if all they want to do is move me on as quickly as they possibly can.

So as you can see, you meet a lot of people. You also meet a lot of nice people but I am not concentrating on them right now. You can generally judge within about 30 seconds whether you are there for some business or you are there wasting your time and that is something that comes with experience.

So when faced with negativity, you try your damnedest to find common ground and you small talk with people about anything or everything trying to find that hook that they will bite at to bring them onto your side. This small talking has created a stigma in me over the years.

So when in a room full of people I don't know, you would imagine that I would be the best in the world at getting people talking? No, quite the opposite, I view it in the same way as I would view a sales situation except in this situation, I don't have to meet a sales target or call quota so therefore I basically have been known, on occasion, to switch off!!!

Hence the unsociable Mr Mike Jackson.

You see working in sales is not natural to me. I never asked to do it, it wasn't what I dreamt of as a youth (I actually wanted to work in the Forestry Commission) and really, I just ended up here!! I make the best of it and I enjoy it. However, sales is not where I excel, I excel in supporting people who need my help and that is where I stand head and shoulders above anyone else in this god forsaken industry!!! I help people!!!

Problem for me is that you have to do the whole sales thing to get to the support thing!!!

So forgive me if I see certain situations and relate them to a small talk sales call, I see a room full of people and sometimes I just sigh and give up without even starting.

I have done this far too many times for my wife's liking and its good that Kerris has pointed it out to me when it happens because those people surely don't deserve to be treated in that way by me, they have not done a single thing to make me look like a miserable sod, its just all inside me.

I am trying to be more sociable and this weekend, Kerris and I are off for a few days staying in a stately home in the lakes with several other couples. There will be drink, fun, a treasure hunt and a black tie dinner. I will bypass the unsociable circuit and smile a happy face.