CONGRATULATIONS to Sam Douglas of Kohl Wholesale, based in Quincy, IL, who has been awarded the highly acclaimed National AFDR DSR of the Month for August 2026 — earning him a permanent place in the AFDR DSR Hall of Fame. Sam sells and lives in the Quincy, Illinois market area, approximately 15 minutes from Kohl’s warehouse.
Sam didn’t come up through a restaurant kitchen or a foodservice family — he calls himself a bit of an “outlier.” He was working at Dick’s Sporting Goods when he applied for a purchasing job at Kohl Wholesale; Kohl saw something else in him and moved him into sales instead, starting as a “substitute rep” covering territories while other DSRs were out. That role taught him the business fast. He later spent three years building the Iowa City market before returning home to Quincy. Eight years in, Sam now manages 95 active accounts and roughly $10 million in annual sales.
In This Episode, DSRs Will Hear:
• How Sam went from no foodservice background to ~$10M in annual sales
• Why “it takes two weeks to take a week”
• How a clean, custom-built order guide makes vacation coverage possible
• Why order guides should be sequenced the way customers take inventory
• How order guides uncover account-penetration opportunities
• Why technology should free DSRs to sell, not replace them
• How Sam uses live menu-costing tools and AI-driven prospecting
• Why AI needs a double-check, every time
“It Takes Two Weeks to Take a Week”
Sam’s line on vacation says it all: a week of preparation before you leave, a week of catch-up when you return. DSRs need that time away — this job lives in your head if you let it — and what’s made it possible for Sam is a clean, accurate, customer-specific order guide.
The Order Guide Is a Selling Tool, Not Just an Ordering Tool
Sam builds order guides around each customer specifically — no old subs, no clutter. He goes further than most: he asks customers how they physically walk their inventory, then sequences the guide the same way. That process does double duty — it makes the guide easier for the customer, and it shows Sam exactly what else they’re buying, including from competitors, so he can slot in the right item and go after it. As DSR Dave puts it, the order guide becomes your “hunting license” — what you have, what you don’t, and what you’re going after next.
Don’t Let Technology Replace the DSR
As ordering moves to apps, customers sometimes ask what that means for the sales rep. Sam’s answer: technology doesn’t replace the DSR, it frees the DSR from order-taking so there’s more time for menu ideas, costing, prospecting, and solving problems. But you still have to stay involved — hand a customer the technology and walk away, and you lose the relationship along with the order.
A Guide Is Never Finished
Sam reviews order guides with customers about twice a year, but treats upkeep as constant — swap items, remove discontinued products, add new ones. One customer recently told him their guide had gotten so cluttered it was hard to use, which Sam took as a wake-up call: a messy guide makes it that much easier for a customer to buy from someone else. His rule of thumb: if you think the guide is finished, you’re probably not showing enough new products.
Embrace the Tools, But Don’t Trust Them Blindly
Kohl’s live menu-costing tool updates automatically as prices change, freeing up time Sam redirects toward prospecting and selling. His take: DSRs who don’t adopt tools like this will fall behind. But AI comes with a caveat — “AI is a great resource, but it is not a DSR, and it does not know our customers the way that we know our customers.” Always double-check its output; it can get you most of the way up the hill, but the DSR finishes the climb.
Where Sam sees the biggest upside is prospecting — AI can pull together in seconds what used to take a half hour of digging through a website and social pages, giving him time to plan his sample, pricing, and approach before he ever walks in. He also uses it to fill a gap he’s honest about: creative menu ideas aren’t his strength, so he’ll ask AI for a few unique ways to use an item he’s already selling, and walks in with ideas instead of “need anything today?”
DSR Dave’s Takeaway
The tools keep changing — ordering apps, costing systems, AI. But Sam’s reminder stands: Technology may be changing how DSRs do the job, but it doesn’t change why the customer needs a good DSR. The DSR spots the opportunity, and turns information into an idea worth using. Use the technology to save time. Use the time to become more valuable.
“Be a Resource and SELL SOMETHING!”
