“There are always arrows coming at you in every direction. Some people struggle with that, but others thrive in that environment. Problems in this industry are common, and if you’re comfortable with trying to solve problems, you will be successful in this industry.” ~ Bob Storbeck
LISTEN to DSR of the Month Bob Storbeck and host DSR Dave discuss how Bob handles the following topics:
- Bob explains in detail how he uses samples as one of the best tools to help him reach his goals. He prefers to have a case of the sample in order to sample multiple customers. Storbeck also likes to cook (if needed) the sample with the customer and taste it together versus seeing it in their freezer months later.
- It is very important to supply feedback to brokers and manufacturers so they know what happened.
- Penetrating his accounts requires an inventory list of everything they purchase and using sales history to work on the GAP.
Self-education is a big part of how Storbeck keeps up with trends and general business practices by listening to a variety of podcasts.
Below is a short list of Bob’s favorite Podcasts that help him help his customers (and himself):
- Focus on the Family-Become a champion for your family and customers
- Dave Ramsey – because he deals with budgeting and finance just like his customers.
- We Study Billionaires – which are interviews with famous billionaires and how they invest.
- Independent operators don’t have time to do research on many things, so I feel more like a counselor to my customers, as far as the whole business goes, not just the foodservice side of it.
- Listening to his church’s sermons generates ideas about sales for DSR Dave.
- Motivation for Bob to want to get up each day and do it again stems from helping his customers succeed.
- It is important to treat your teammates as well as you do your customers, because your teammates are like your customers. If everybody works together and you treat people with respect, I believe you’ll in turn receive respect, which will help your sales grow.
- Being flexible and being able to adapt to change is more important than ever. And how you’re able to adapt to that change and your attitude towards it will determine your continued success and the future of foodservice.
- I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and I’ve seen more change in the last year than I probably did in the first 34 years.
- COVID changed the industry to such a degree that technology now plays a much larger role than it ever has, and we basically were forced to do that.
Be a Resource and SELL SOMETHING!!
