By Jim Hunt for the News and Journal
Several years ago, I met an amazing guy who I have come to respect and admire. He is
a salesman and one of the best salesmen, I have ever seen. Like many people, I have
not always appreciated the crucial job that salespeople play in our economy. The
industries that are the backbone of our country are helpless without an army of
salespeople that work from coast to coast, explaining, demonstrating, and connecting
customers with the products they offer. Sure, most of us have met salespeople that
don’t meet the standard, but a great salesperson is something to behold.
I asked my friend how he got started in sales and he explained that his first sales job
was selling hair care products to beauty shops when he was nineteen. His products
were new to the market and a competitor had sewed up most of the beauty shops in his
area. He said that he started calling on each beauty shop and every shop owner said
that they were happy with the products they currently used. Instead of turning around
and leaving the shop, he picked up a broom and started sweeping up the hair that had
accumulated on the floor of the shop. Each time they told him no, during his monthly
rounds, he would sweep up the shop floor. Slowly, he got to know the beauticians and
one by one, they would try some of his products. Eventually, his hard work and
persistence paid off and he was the top salesman in his company.
He explained that the sales profession is about helping the customer meet their needs.
A good salesperson focuses on the customer instead of his commission. On many of
our long car rides together, I have seen first-hand, how a skilled salesperson plies his
trade. I have also heard him coach his son, a former Marine, how to serve his
customers, as a rookie salesman for an HVAC company in Charlotte, North Carolina.
My friend’s name is Bobby Monroe, and he works for HdL Companies from Berea,
California. I serve as an advisor to HdL Companies and Bobby, and I have driven
hundreds of miles throughout West Virginia, calling on cities, towns, and counties.
Bobby is relentless, after a grueling day, we will be heading back to the hotel and he will
get on the phone, checking with a city hall or courthouse to see if they will be open so
we can make one more stop. And just like his first sales job, Bobby has grown the HdL
program in West Virginia and several other states, bringing millions of dollars back to
those communities.
Few people have what it takes to be successful in the sales field. It can challenge the
self-esteem of the strongest person. You hear far more no’s than yeses and an
occasional door slammed in your face. Sales is a lonely job, best epitomized by the
forlorn figure of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s play, “Death of a Salesman”. The days are
long and each week, the meter resets back to zero.
Having a ringside seat watching Bobby has been a highlight of my life. I was in
Washington State with Bobby, and we called on the finance director of a city who
immediately told Bobby that she wasn’t interested in the program. I was turning to leave
when Bobby pressed on, and she said, “Absolutely not!”, and I was worried that we
would be thrown out on our tails. As I was reaching for the sleeve on Bobby’s shirt to
pull him out of the office, the finance director said, “Let’s go back to my office” and we
stayed for another 30 minutes, and they became our first success in the state. Driving
back to the hotel, Bobby looked at a sign overhead on the interstate, “Tacoma 15 miles”
and Bobby asked me, “Do you think we can make it before they close?” Sell Bobby
Sell.