Wilmington, DE (PRWEB) January 07, 2014
Motivational speaker, author and philanthropist Jon Vroman was voted 2013 Campus Speaker of the Year by the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities. This is the second year that Vroman has received the prestigious designation. Vroman is the former National Sales Promotion Manager for Vector Marketing Corporation, the single-level direct sales division for Cutco Cutlery, the largest high-end manufacturer of kitchen cutlery in North America.
Vroman, who is author of Living College Life in the Front Row and co-author of Cutting-Edge Sales, credits much of his current success to the foundation he built during his years with Vector Marketing, from 1994-2008. “Ninety percent of the skills and strategies I use today to run my speaking business and charity I learned at Vector,” says Vroman, who in 1995 founded The Front Row Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals and families who are braving critical health challenges “experience life in the front row.”
“The Front Row Foundation provides recipients a front row experience at their favorite concert, sporting event, theatrical performance or other form of live entertainment, creating life-changing moments that positively affect the mind, body, and spirit of each person involved,” Vroman says.
Vroman notes that The Front Row Foundation and his other successes have been built as a result of his time spent selling Cutco. “The opportunity to speak, to coach and to run an organization has been the foundation of everything I do, and without a doubt I learned all of these skills at Vector,” he says. Skills learned at Vector include:
- Calling on prospects
- Customer service
- Entrepreneurship
- Making presentations
- Public speaking
- Running one’s own business
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Working for a commission
Vroman began selling Cutco in Virginia Beach, Virginia 1994 and quickly rose through the Vector Marketing ranks. He was promoted to District Manager in 1996 and ran offices in three different locations within Virginia for four years. In 2000, Vroman was again promoted to Regional Sales Promotion Manager for Vector Marketing’s Northeast Region and in 2003 he became the company’s National Sales Promotion Manager.
Vroman says that the relationships formed during his years with Vector Marketing have been the most positive and influential of his life, noting that a large majority of the Front Row Foundation's fundraising has come from within the Cutco and Vector teams. “Cutco management as well as Vector alumni and current managers are involved at high levels,” Vroman says. “Vector sales representatives and managers have raised more than $ 60,000 this year alone for the organization.”
While Vroman notes that a career in sales is not for everyone, he says that those who are looking to forge their own entrepreneurial path will find the perfect training ground selling Cutco. “Vector is a safe environment where you are able to develop the skills to become an entrepreneur within the safety of this extremely supportive and successful company,” he says. “The mentors that went out of their way to develop my potential have helped make me who I am, and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”
About Cutco Cutlery Corporation and Vector Marketing
Cutco Cutlery is a 65-year-old company with headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Olean, New York. Vector Marketing is the company’s sales division, coordinating all sales for Cutco Cutlery through a national network of college students who sell products through in-home personal demonstrations. More than 15 million US households have a Cutco product.