“I feel like I am more of an educator and counselor than I am a sales rep now, trying to educate our customers on how to utilize our systems to the best of their knowledge.” ~ Bob Storbeck
DSR Dave and Joe Miesse discuss with Bob Storbeck the following topics (LISTEN for Bob’s explanations on how he does it):
- How to make calls on accounts – Research first by getting info about the buyer at the prospect through beer or wine reps, a friend of a friend, or through servers by eating there and checking out the menu.
- Be persistent in a smart and thoughtful way. Keep first encounter brief with introductions of you and who your company is, ask for an appointment to meet again.
- How and when to continue to pursue an account when they tell you they are happy with current distributer and rep.
- You want to get an okay to continue popping in so you are not a nuisance, proving you can save them time and money with your service.
- Continue to eat there off and on and always make sure they know you are there.
- Calling on Long-term care/nursing homes/retirement homes – Bob starts with the administrator first.
- Healthcare foodservice operations are a very important segment to pay attention to with the aging population.
- The benefits of Bob’s coffee training early on has made him very comfortable selling coffee, although the strength of how coffee is consumed now is very different from when he started due to Starbuck’s and other chains.
- Bob shares coffee selling tips.
- Learning more about new products, Bob searches through his company website, then the manufacturer’s website, then Google and finally, will call broker/manufacturer reps.
- Online ordering by his customers is at about 70%, but he now spends more time on his computer at the end of the day to ensure customers have ordered the correct items in the correct quantities. Common mistakes are 10 cases instead of the 100 cases they meant to order, or 100 cs versus the 10 intended.
- Bob looks for unusual quantities to avoid problems with the warehouse, purchasing department, and for the customer.
- About 80-90% pay their A/R online.
- Managing mistakes and problems – “Personally, I view that part of my job is taking the blame. I’m an extension of my company, and if there’s a problem with one of my teammates, it’s my responsibility to step up and try to take care of the problem.”
Be a Resource and SELL SOMETHING!!
