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Kevin Oprandi from RDP Foodservice in Columbus, Ohio has been named the DSR of the Month for January 2015 and has been inducted to the AFDR DSR Hall of Fame.
Kevin started his career in sales by selling in the temporary staffing services business for 15 years. After that he was selling in the linen supplies business and that’s when he met a DSR who was calling on a mutual account. That DSR talked Oprandi into interviewing for a DSR job at RDP Foodservice; the rest is history.
Oprandi explains in his AUDIO INTERVIEW that it took him about two years to really start understanding products and his role in the foodservice distribution business. This DSR of the Month explains that he believes that “if you can sell, you can sell” regardless of what you’re selling because it’s really a people business.Kevin is not afraid to ask questions when he does not understand exactly what a customer is looking for, whether it’s about a product or a service. He says that asking questions is what really got him over the LEARNING CURVE, and he thinks it’s still the best way to learn what customers really want.
Kevin’s unique selling approach is aimed at working with his customers to achieve the food cost goal rather than focus on the price. He says when he and his customers agree on the food cost they want to attain, Kevin brings in those products which will help them reach those goals. Oprandi says that even though RDP Foodservice is not one of the giant distributors out there, his price is just as good if not better than the prices the giants are offering on Main Street. This hard working DSR says he could tell you what 37 out of 39 of his customers’ food costs were last week!!! He’s working on those other two J!
When and if one of Kevin’s customers ask him about a price (because a competitor came in and low-balled an item), he responds by asking that customer if his food cost was hitting the target, and if the customer says yes, then he asks the customer “does it really matter if that quote is $.20 per lb. less?” Most of the time, that’s where that conversation ends.
On Kevin’s DSR Live Audio Interview, he gives some great insights on how he does his research for menu ideas from around the country for when his customers are looking for new menu ideas. Kevin explains how he gets samples of the product so he can demonstrate the ideas he has for them.
Oprandi also talks about these subjects on this Audio Interview:
- How he uses Yelp for menu ideas around the country
- How he uses the internet to search for products
- How to be prepared; the more prepared, the more success you’ll have
- How he uses his time while in front of his customers
- A/R, if you’re involved with a customer’s business the way a good DSR should be, you’ll have a real good idea (good or bad) of what their financial situation is.
DSRs, Be a Resource… and Sell Something!
