This month’s article is the third in a serialization of the author’s life and career as an independent manufacturers’ representative.

Reprinted with permission from The Reputable Rep, Success in Sales and Life, by Sig Schmalhofer.

Sales Foundations

Cold Calls

Prospecting is typically a cold call, but a cold call with a purpose.

Possessing the fearless willingness to walk into a sales call where “you know no one” and “no one knows you” is critical. In the story below, a wholesaler sales rep investigates a potential new market. The result was a career changer.

“I came out of college at the age of 22 and followed my father’s path into the wholesale plumbing industry. After four months working in the warehouse and at the sales counter, I had wreaked enough havoc on a forklift and complained just enough that I was given an opportunity in outside sales. I was to call on 50 service and repair plumbers in West Los Angeles. My customer list contained a great group of plumbers who had been in business for decades. These businesses had operated generation to generation doing plumbing service work primarily for apartment complexes. Although I had built a great relationship with the customers and grew my business with them, the milk run became monotonous; three faucet stems here, a garbage disposer there, etc. I wanted more. One day on my milk run, I had an epiphany! As I drove past the Beverly Hilton Hotel, I challenged myself to make them a customer. Surely they required plumbing supplies for their repairs!“It was logical that a fancy hotel, charging top dollar for a night’s stay, would not let a faucet leak! So, I did some prospecting! I made a cold call at the Beverly Hilton. It was not a good one. It was horrible! I was young, naïve, and parked my car out front at the valet.“At the reception desk, I asked, ‘Who fixes your plumbing when it goes bad?’ Since it was obvious that I had no clue what I was doing, I was given a business card for the Director of Engineering, who saw salespeople by appointment only.“My first attempt to sell plumbing to a hotel was a failure! Plus, it cost me $20 for the privilege of parking my car for a few minutes. Nevertheless, I was determined to figure it out.“I sought advice from my dad, who was a pretty good salesman. Without hesitation, he told me I had gone to the wrong side of the hotel. I needed to return to the Beverly Hilton and park in the back, where I would find salesman cars like the Ford Taurus and Chevy Celebrity. He told me that salespeople that came through the front door needed appointments; not so for the clever salespeople that came through the back door.“Finally, he lectured me not to look lost, but to act like I knew what I was doing! I thanked him for the advice. Right before I hung up, he emphasized, ‘Don’t forget to bring donuts! You’ve got to bring donuts!’

“I had nothing to lose, so I followed every bit of his advice. I returned to the Beverly Hilton the next morning, making my way to the back of the property. As advertised, Taurus and Celebrity cars were parked with business cards in their windows. A memorable ‘Coors Brewing Company’ card caught my attention. I put my company business card in the window of my car just like the other sales guys. I then walked through the back door of the hotel with confidence, just as I had been instructed! I walked down the hall and entered a door that said ‘Hotel Engineer,’ acting ‘like I knew what I was doing’! Now I was face-to-face with a man that looked to be in his 90s.

“He asked, ‘Who the hell are you?’ I extended the open box of donuts towards him and with a smile I said, ‘I’m Dean. I’m here from the supply house to sell you plumbing parts.’ After rifling through the box with the dirtiest hands I’ve ever seen, he said, ‘I’m Billy. I’m the lead plumber! Follow me!’

“Billy got on his ‘walkie talkie’ and mumbled something I couldn’t understand. Five minutes later, 10 hotel engineers entered the stock room, cigarettes in mouths, coffee in hands, eagerly selecting donuts. That was the beginning of a beautiful success story.

“Like clockwork, every Tuesday I was in that stock room writing orders for plumbing parts, lots of plumbing parts. I was ecstatic! I thought nothing could be better than this! I had reached the pinnacle of my career!

“Eight months later, still armed with an order pad and a box of donuts, I was summoned to Merv Griffin Enterprises, the owner of the Beverly Hilton.

“I was introduced to the hotel GM, a designer, an architect, a project manager, and the general contractor for the hotel’s upcoming renovation. It was a short meeting. The general manager boldly introduced me to the group, ‘This is our guy! He takes care of our hotel plumbing supplies, and we want to use him for the renovation!’ After exchanging cards, my head started spinning. I really couldn’t believe it. Really? Was all of this possible?

“A few days later, the general contractor called me and forwarded the entire material list for the renovation. The plumbing supplies on the job represented more sales dollars than I would realize in an entire year for all my accounts!

“I had never been involved in anything like this. It was on the job training, but still, somehow I supplied the job without a single hiccup. The hotel was thrilled with my service.

“As the job was wrapping up, the general contractor handed me a set of blueprints for a job in New Orleans that they were awarded. He bluntly declared, ‘Here’s the next job I want you to supply us!’

“I was overwhelmed! I flashed back to how everything started; having a hunch that triggered a cold call; taking my dad’s advice to make the sales call through the back door; acting like I knew what I was doing, when in fact, I had no clue.; and of course, remembering to bring the icebreaker: a box of donuts.

“From there, things snowballed, and then snowballed some more. As they say, the rest is history.” — Dean Armstrong, Ferguson Enterprises

My friend Dean turned a cold call into a career at Ferguson that has taken him far beyond the job of an enterprising salesperson. Today, he is Ferguson’s national manager of renovation and hospitality!

Cold calls are definitely a tool that can move the ball forward. Fact-finding, like identifying decision-makers, can be helpful in developing strategies. Asking smart questions to discover information that will be useful for future planned appointments is valuable for achieving goals.

Cold calls can be a “Hail Mary” that actually connects for a touchdown!

Getting It!

The reputable rep must have curiosity. He needs to ask himself questions like, “I wonder if the local water district could benefit from my water-saving products?” He needs to be able to connect the dots that separate opportunity and success.

The reputable rep has a fire in his belly that fuels success and makes it contagious!

“It’s easy to become successful in this business. Just be there 24/7 and do what you say you are going to do!” — Steve Grosslight, Ferguson Enterprises

Reputable reps will go to extraordinary lengths to do what it takes to get the job done. That’s called “getting it.”

“My Kansas City rep sold a Highland Tank oil water separator system to a chemical manufacturing plant and had to do a follow-up meeting. In order to be allowed in the facility for the meeting, he had to wear the proper breathing equipment. To accomplish that, he had to shave his beard and mustache. Now that’s dedication!” — Tom Schoendorf, Highland Tank

Listen and Learn

The number one cause of “death by rep” is talking too much.

Chatterboxes are annoying in business. A relatively new phenomenon is ‘Death by PowerPoint.’ All of us have experienced the pain that a presenter can inflict when they read every word on every overwhelming slide shown. PowerPoints can be effective if the art of conversing is not neglected. They need to be short and lively.

If presentations using PowerPoints are the core of your sales strategy, do a self-evaluation of your skills as a speaker. It may be smart to attend a class on public speaking. These seminars are well worth the investment of time and money.

All too often, canned pitches and formal presentations can be the death of a sale. In the end, smart questions and intense listening win the day. A scripted presentation does not take into account the critical ingredient of a business proposition: the needs of the customer.

“A reputable rep must be a good listener. He must identify the needs of the customer before trying to sell anything!” — Bob Berumen, Hirsch Pipe and Supply

Story Time: Encyclopedia Bill

Several years ago we represented a line of commodity products with a catalog that was overwhelming.

The factory sales manager made a joint sales call with us that became the best example of worst practices I’ve ever witnessed. This was the first call with the national sales manager I’ll call Encyclopedia Bill.

Our meeting was with the purchasing manager of a large multi-branch distributor. After a few pleasantries, Encyclopedia Bill opened his intimidating catalog. Then, the race was on.

At a frantic pace, he reviewed every product on every page, leaving no opportunity for anyone in the meeting to squeeze in even a peep. Eye contact was nonexistent. Gauging buyer interest was no concern. Finally, we could endure no more. Encyclopedia Bill was interrupted. He looked up with a smile, eyes wide open. His response was even more astonishing.

“Thank you for allowing me to get all the way to page 29. That’s the furthest I’ve ever gotten in my presentation!”

Did we win over this customer? Of course not! That was an extreme example of “death by rep” or factory sales manager. In the business of selling, addressing the needs of the customer wins the day. Asking clever questions identifies the needs. Listening to the customer leads to intelligent conversation.

Once the reputable rep identifies a win-win proposition, by listening, good things have a chance to occur.

Story Time: Spa Plumbing

The year was 1979. I know many of my readers were not yet born in 1979, but like classical music, sales stories are timeless. I’m a Moen salesman who stumbles on a way to sell $12 bar sinks for $17.

Jim Birmingham, a grumpy Canadian who was far more comfortable in a tavern than an office, was my teacher. I’ll never forget the sign hanging prominently in his office:

“PLEASURE! EVERYONE GIVES IT! SOME BY ENTERING A ROOM, SOME BY LEAVING IT!”

Most visitors were intimidated. I thought of it as a win-win. Jim would be happy with me either way. I walked into Spa Plumbing, a dominant and respected union plumbing shop, at 6 a.m.

It was summer in the low desert. To accommodate large flocks of snowbirds, a country club building boom was in full swing. Plumbers started their days early to beat the heat. Jim was the purchasing agent. I showed him my sample: an Excalibur 15×15 bar sink that had a basket strainer drawn into the stainless steel sink body. The look was seamless and clean, but that’s not what got me the business.

Jim studied my prized contraption. He turned the sink upside down and spun the locknut onto the built-in shank. I stood quietly as the wheels in his head spun like a merry-go-round. He aggressively slammed buttons on his calculator. He looked up at me and slammed the buttons again. “What’s my price,” he barked. I handed him a quote from one of his suppliers, Hajoca. He mumbled words with his Canadian accent that I could barely hear or understand.

He sat quietly again, then responded, “I’ve been paying $12 for Polar sinks. Your sink will cost me $5 more.”

I fumbled for words to justify my price but he had completed his analysis and was ready to get me out of his office so he could move on to the next task on his list. Jim took a brief moment to explain his decision. “Including their benefit package, my union plumbers cost me $75. Most of my guys are old and methodical, but we can live with them being slow because we rarely have call backs. This sink will cut installation time in half!”

I interjected, “You’re also getting a better looking sink with clean lines. Plus, you save a connection and a potential leak!” Jim didn’t smile. He never smiled!

“Tell Sean at Hajoca I’ll need 200 sinks a month for the next six months. It’s your responsibility to make sure I don’t run out! If I do run out, I’ll hunt you down! It won’t be pretty!”

I’d like to take credit for the clever sales angle employed at Spa Plumbing but really, the best thing I did was to shut up and listen. There’s some wisdom there as well. The net result was that I sold more bar sinks than the rest of the territories in the United States combined.

After all, bar sinks around the country were rarities, but they were standard equipment in the desert. It felt great to be the Excalibur bar sink king!

Need-Satisfaction Selling

There are countless books written and seminars available on the topic of need-satisfaction selling.

I attended a seminar that referred to this skill as finding the customer’s pain and magically healing it.

Simply stated, it’s all about listening.

By listening to the customer, the reputable rep discovers the customer’s needs. By asking smart questions, the reputable rep discovers how he can help them. Utilizing the tools he has, he then provides the customer with potential solutions.

Training

A fundamental truth is that no man going into battle on his own can defeat an army. By training associates at the counter, in the showroom, and on sales desks, reputable reps can impact a market in a huge way. Training technicians in plumbing shops or in the rep’s in-house training facility is essential. It’s a huge difference maker!

Sadly, most distributor salespeople that reps rely on to sell their products have little to no sales training. Teaching salesmanship and ultimately how to sell your product can be both personally and economically satisfying.

“A reputable rep must model the sales behavior that they want the distributor’s sales staff to emulate.” — Bill Glockner, President/CEO Hirsch Pipe and Supply

Over the years, I’ve taught sales classes and rewarded participants with certificates to acknowledge graduation from a product knowledge class. Incredibly, I still see these certificates posted above desks in the market. Some of them are now 10-15 years old. I always made it a point to have prizes for smart answers and tests that encouraged a competitive spirit without embarrassment.

Allowing the students to check their own test against the correct answers insured a positive experience.

Trade organizations offer classes to apprentices.

It’s smart business to train the next generation of contractors on the installation and service of the products you represent.

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].