DSR Live!

And you’ll make money too.  DSRs, if you help your customers with anything and everything in their day-to-day operations, even if they don’t buy those things from you, you and your customer will be much more successful than most other DSR/Operator combos out there.  Survey their systems for efficiency, such as their POS system, dumpster rates, demand meters/electric bills, accounting, insurance, heating & cooling, equipment repair, help with waitress/waiter training, and heck, even help them find the best grease trap cleaner.

DSR Dave and Hall of Famer, Corey Young from Jordano’s (CA) have a great conversation about all the different things a DSR can do for their customers to make money.  You need them to stay in business so you have a customer to sell to. 

Corey and DSR Dave observe that the DSRs and customers who are working together through this tough economy are having some of their best sales ever, and the DSRs who are not working with their customers as a business partner are falling by the wayside.

“DSRLive” is now mobile!  You can now listen to the show on most smart phones while you drive around! 

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DSR Dave and Todd Hauser, AFDR President, talk about prospecting new accounts; going on cold calls;  knowing what kind of account (Todd) goes after and the kind he stays away from; and how long he keeps after a prospect before giving up.

Todd also goes into managing his own $16 million route, and reminds himself to listen twice as much as he talks since he has two ears and just one mouth.  He says he doesn’t take things personally when a customer says they are happy with who they are currently buying from. Hauser explains how he uses his brokers as his own sales force.

DSRs, AFDR has been listening…we’re building afdrTV www.afdrTV.com and the AFDR Brand Library so you finally have one place to go to find product information on multiple brands.  We are working with manufacturers to source all product information like Product Training Videos (PTVs), Product Info Pictures (PIPs), POS, Nutritional, and other all product information.  It is a work in progress.  All the research is paying off! 

Listen in for this and more!

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Part II, Mark Pellman, January DSR of the Month

Pellman and DSR Dave discuss how Mark takes care of his A/R, and that “feeling” you have when you are trying to get the customer to sign the personal guarantee on the credit application even though 90% of them don’t even read the fine print.

DSR Dave Miesse talks with Pellman about selling on the “Inside” and not blaming folks for mistakes that happen every day.  Pellman says that when he first started, he too “threw buyers under the bus” when something went wrong, but has since learned that it didn’t help the situation, his customer or himself.  Taking the responsibility for things that happen every day, being more patient, and building great relationships with folks who work on your team can definitely help you.  Treat teammates like your customers.  For example, Miesse talks about asking the buyer for products off the 90 day and older list to see if he can help move those products and/or asking your credit manager if you might help out a fellow DSR with their collections.

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Mark Pellman, a 10 year veteran at Ginsberg’s Foods in Hudson, NY, is the January 2012 inductee to the AFDR Hall of Fame!  Topics discussed in this show:  Prospecting, Vacation Planning and Produce.

Pellman started with no accounts and has built his 4.5 million in annual sales with his 86 accounts using some basic Foodservice sales principles.  Become a customer and a trusted friend first, and then help prospects with money-making ideas before they’re buying from you.  Mark chooses to be persistent, not pushy!

DSR Dave and guest host Todd Hauser, AFDR president, discuss with this DSR of the Month when a good time to take a vacation is, and why you better have your order guides up-to-date and in good order BEFORE you leave for vacation.  Have you heard that before?

Produce is Mark’s favorite category to sell which is no surprise after hearing that Pellman’s father and grandfather both were produce “Hucksters”… Google that!  We did:  A good huckster is a consummate salesman who can sell products and services to practically anyone. 

Listen to the show … and Sell Something!

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With Guest Host Tom Shea of Upper Crust Enterprises, Inc.

Tom and DSR Dave discuss how DSRs need to have their own twist that separates them from the rest. What special value do you bring to your customers? Shea will explain how building your own “brand” will separate you from the DSR crowd. DSR Dave agrees with Tom, that the good DSRs who he has worked with over the years, who have built their own brand identity, beat their competition every time!

Tom explains how to figure out what you and your “brand/value” stand for, then surround yourself with accounts that will benefit from your expertise in that area, and build a network of people that help you be your brand. As some of us heard from a parent or mentor when we were young, “If you don’t stand for something, you don’t stand for anything.”

This month’s DSR of the Month, Chester Gatliff was a great example of what Tom and Dave talk about in this show. You might want to listen to that show again after Tom details for you this great sales strategy.

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We are honoring a man, Chester Gatliff of Martin Bros. Distributing, who was inducted into the AFDR Hall of Fame for December 2011. Through a personal interview, we normally build the show around how the honoree did his job, but we did not have that opportunity with Chester.

You see, Chester passed on before he knew he had won the award. So, today we’re talking to Chester’s customers and co-workers who give you their honest take on why Chester Gatliff was known by all for his “Legendary Customer Service.”

Chester was one-of-a-kind, and can still be a mentor to all DSRs. We learn why he was successful by listening to these folks tell how he impacted their businesses and lives. While listening, you might really want to think about your life and how you treat people every day, whether they are customers, peers or family. Listen to what folks said about Chester.

This show will challenge you, inspire you, and make you glad you weren’t selling against Chester Gatliff!

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Don’t wait until January to get started on your sales plan, get started this week! 

I know you DSRs are saying, “Are you crazy?  Do you know how crazy it is for me for the next six weeks?”  But DSR Dave knows if you don’t get started now while you are in and out of your accounts, it will suddenly be January!  The knowledge gained from picking up these nuggets of info. along the way, becomes your outline for your plan in January. 

During the Holiday Season, your accounts are busy and full of opportunities for you to figure out some of the problems they are having, and present them with time, labor, or money-saving solutions or creative ideas, and possibly product alternatives. 

Good DSRs see things that could be changed or improved on in their accounts, in many cases, well before the owner or management sees them, but you have to make it a top priority, or your competition might beat you to the punch.  DSR Dave urges you to get your company Experts, Specialists, Marketing Dept., and Brokers/Manufacturer Reps to help you out with this effort, and he gives you some creative ideas on how to get them involved.

Take this opportunity to get ahead of your competition.  Your customers will thank you by buying more from you because of the homework you did during the Holiday Season.

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Greenhorns, listen up!

AFDR Hall of Famer explains how he dealt with A/R when he first started, and how he does it now. 

Snyder and DSR Dave hooked up late one Sunday night to talk about collecting money and managing A/R.  This subject is not easy to talk about even late at night. 

When Don was a “greenhorn,” he used to apologize for asking for money.  It’s a scary tight rope you walk as a DSR when you don’t have the experience to know the right way to manage the collections and keep the account.  Snyder says it’s all about your attitude when collecting.  You have to go into the account with confidence; it’s business, even though the customer may be your friend.

Don explains why you have to trust your credit department as they know more than you, most of the time, when it comes to this.

Are you asking yourself if being a DSR really is the job you want to make a career out of?  Listen to Snyder tell how you might answer that question, while he also leaves you with a tip on what to do when you’re having a bad day.

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AFDR’s latest inductee into the Hall of Fame is the November DSR of the Month, Don Snyder of US Foods. Don started in the business many years ago by working in his father’s steak house in Pittsburgh, PA. He learned the business the old fashion way—by working in both the back and front of the house, and by always paying attention to the sales reps that came in to help or sell to their operation. DSR Dave and Don talk about the trust that has to be there with customers if price is an issue. DSR Dave knows this firsthand because Don actually snatched away the chemical business from DSR Dave at a high profile account that Dave thought he had in the palm of his hand. Yep, the first time any DSR of the Month has crossed sales paths with Miesse (DSR Dave).

Don also talks about how he makes a cold call, and how he figures out what an operator sells the most of while making his first visit.

Don is a real “Pro,” so listen to the first of two shows with Don “writing the book” on being a successful DSR/TM/MA/Sales Dude.

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GREENHORNS & VETS, LISTEN UP…

You know that feeling you get when you go somewhere and a salesperson comes walking up to you with that, “I’m gonna try to sell you something” look on their face? Then, you turn and go down a different isle, or look the other way acting like you really are not interested in anything, just hoping that person does not try to sell you anything.

Do the folks you cold call on feel that way about YOU?! We try to put this issue in perspective.

Can making a new account call really be FUN? DSR Dave explains how to turn the anxiety of a NEW ACCOUNT COLD CALL into something much more fun, listen in.

Customers always tell you what to do next, IF YOU LISTEN . DSRs have two ears and one mouth, maybe you should try listening twice as much as talking. Did they really tell you not to come back, or did they just say they were happy with who they were currently buying from?

DSR Dave and Bill Hornung, the Marketing dude, discuss how DSRs are as much marketing people as they are sales reps doing market research every day while doing discovery work in each account . . . or they should be.

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