Nick Riordan: High impact
Nick Riordan (center) being presented the Excellence in Sales award by Repertoire’s Scott Adams (left) and HIDA’s Ian Fardy (right)
Working behind the bar at his parents’ restaurants wasn’t a bad place for Nick Riordan to learn about excellence in sales.
“Being a bartender, you become friends with everyone who comes to the bar,” says Riordan, ambulatory care sales representative and recipient of this year’s Repertoire/HIDA Excellence in Sales Award for a manufacturer rep. “Providing that customer service, getting to know and treat everybody equally, was definitely something I learned there.”
He learned that and a lot more working for his parents, John and Vickie Riordan, at their various establishments, including Riordan’s in Auburn, N.Y., and the Blue Water Grill, Skaneateles, N.Y. He learned such things as how to work hard, how to learn from one’s mistakes, and how to be actively involved and passionate in what one does.
Nick Riordan was born in San Diego, Calif., in October 1982. He was raised in Alpharetta, Ga., until he was eight, when the family moved to Chattanooga, Tenn. In the middle of his 8th grade school year, the Riordans moved to Upstate New York – first, Auburn, and then, eight months later, nearby Skaneateles.
Restaurateur
“We moved around so much because my parents were actively involved in managing different restaurants,” he explains.
“I did everything at the restaurants,” he says. “Even when I was in elementary school, I would watch as people worked, and how they treated their customers. When I was young, I was a dishwasher, line cook, host; I bussed tables.” On the occasional Friday night, if he didn’t have a basketball game, he might get a call at 7 from his parents telling him they needed him at the restaurant at 7:30.
Working at the restaurants, moving around frequently (“I’m 32 and I’ve lived in 10 states,” he says), and being an only child forced Riordan to learn how to make friends. “It’s a skill that works very well with sales, where you have to go with the flow, figure out how to add value, and relate to all walks of life. It’s a helpful skill I kind of adapted over time.”
Playing competitive sports offered its own set of life – and professional – lessons. Though his passion was basketball, he realized in high school that he was a better competitor in track & field. He did play basketball at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., his freshman year, but transferred to a bigger school, the University of Delaware, in his sophomore year, where he competed on the track & field team for three years.
Playing sports, “I learned how to compete fairly, how to compete with class, and definitely, teamwork,” he says. All valuable lessons. “In this industry, whether it be your distributors, your manager, your marketing team, whoever you have on your side, you definitely need to rely on them and use them to the best of your ability, because there are too many products, questions and concerns to do it all on your own. The more you can use your team, the better you’ll be.”
A good fit
“Quite frankly, when I graduated, I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” says Riordan. At the graduation gathering, Welch Allyn executive Lorne Elder – the father of Riordan’s best friend, Scott Elder – pulled Riordan aside and told him he might be a good fit at Welch Allyn. “But I was cocky at the time, and I actually told him, ‘No, I’m good; I have a job,’” recalls Riordan. And he did. He moved to northern Virginia to start a career in investment banking. “It lasted only a few months before I realized it was not a good fit.” So he called Lorne Elder and asked if there still might be a place for him at Welch Allyn.
Riordan knew about Welch Allyn, from working in the restaurant in Skaneateles, where many Welch Allyn employees ate, he notes “they were the type of people I looked up to and aspired to be like.” Sales seemed like a good fit as well. “I felt that my social personality and competitive nature would fit well with a sales career, especially when I convinced my parents to buy me a hatchet at the age of seven,” he says. “I also appreciate respectable morals and ethics in a company you work for, and the integrity of the products that you sell.”
Over the course of several months, Riordan interviewed for several positions – all for territories in New York City. Two of those interviews were with Welch Allyn Vice President Patrick Schiek. “He felt that with me going in right out of college without any sales experience, I would have gotten eaten alive,” says Riordan, speaking of Schiek. “I knew he was looking out for my best interest.” But as soon as an opening appeared in inside sales, Schiek called Riordan, who had just accepted a job in Baltimore as assistant manager at a hotel there.
“There wasn’t much growth in the hotel chain, and Welch Allyn was a company I had wanted to be with since high school,” he says. So, in April 2006, Riordan joined the company as an acute-care inside sales rep, something he did for about a year.
In the field
“Inside sales is a great starting point to get your feet wet,” he says. “During that year, I learned product knowledge, customer interaction and company culture.” Eleven months later, in March 2007, he moved to Dallas/Fort Worth to become an ambulatory care sales executive.
“At first it was overwhelming, learning the roles and responsibilities of the job,” he says. “The most challenging thing for me was learning how to prioritize my time. Once I got the hang of it, the most rewarding thing was traveling and visiting parts of the country I’d never been. I also enjoyed working with a new team of people and getting to know – and eventually become friends with – my distributors.”
He got plenty of help and guidance from Rachelle Van Burkleo, his first manager in Texas. “She sacrificed a lot of time my first two years, walking me through what I needed to know in terms of product knowledge, customer relations, and the way the job works,” he says. In addition, Elizabeth Eveling, a veteran Welch Allyn sales rep “had my back and helped guide me into always doing the best for myself and the company,” he says.
Riordan met his wife-to-be, Amy, at the Glass Cactus Nightclub in Grapevine, Texas. Riordan was attending a Henry Schein sales meeting, and Amy – an elementary school teacher living in Houston – was in town for an education conference. Riordan ended up proposing to Amy in Venice, Italy, in October 2010, during a Welch Allyn reward trip.
The couple moved to the Richmond, Va., area in January 2013 so Riordan could take a territory there. In early 2015, their twins Saylor and Cannon were born.
“I enjoy spending time with my growing family, who keep me grounded,” he says. “I also enjoy running, golfing and traveling. It’s nice to get out from behind the desk and enjoy these things.”
Manufacturer/distributor relationships: Three keys
Distributors work hard at building relationships with their accounts, says Nick Riordan, ambulatory care sales representative, Welch Allyn. So, when the distributor rep brings a manufacturer into an account, that distributor’s reputation is on the line. A responsibility that Riordan takes seriously.
“You have to represent yourself and your company professionally,” he says. That means taking the account’s issues seriously, speaking to the end user with respect and following up promptly.
Each distributor rep looks to his or her manufacturer counterparts for different things, he continues. But there are some consistent keys to success in the working relationship, and some consistent ways to earn the trust and respect of one’s partner. Here are three:
- Open communication. “Set the right expectations and follow up promptly, even if you don’t know the answer.”
- Open-mindedness. “Adapt to different personalities and always stay focused on growing mutual business.”
- Find ways to make the job fun, creative and exciting. “Live by the mentality of ‘work hard, play hard.’”
Nick Riordan keeps it simple
What makes Nick Riordan an exceptional sales rep? Hard work, professionalism, respect and openness, says Dan Cheever, senior regional sales manager, ambulatory care, Southeast, for Welch Allyn.
“Nick is enthusiastic, passionate, fun and real about everything he does,” says Cheever, who joined Welch Allyn in 2006 as a territory rep in Long Island, N.Y. “Whether it is a sales call or spending time with his family and friends, he puts every ounce of effort into everything he does. He really believes that what he does as a sales rep for Welch Allyn helps patients; he definitely sees it as his vocation.
“People want to work with Nick and buy from him because this shines through all the time. He is never the guy who is looking for an angle. He likes to help people, but not in the quid pro quo type of way. He is always looking for a win/win/win. He knows that if he does that, he will be successful.”
Much of Riordan’s success comes from hard work, says Cheever. “Nick is always on the move and a very hard worker. In the ‘strategic’ world we live in, Nick never lets process get in the way of progress. He knows that if he steps into the batter’s box five times per game and takes his cuts, he will score runs. People still respect hard work.
“He is also very professional and always has a plan. He keeps things simple going into accounts, but makes sure everyone knows their roles. He never has a hidden agenda and respects the long-term client relationships that his distribution partners have built. He is never the guy who leaves a plane wreck to pick up. He is easy to admit fault, even if it is not his own, and never passes the buck. I think that is special these days. Relationships are not built overnight, but take time and energy. People trust Nick, and for good reason.”
Team player
Riordan is a great team player, whose goal this year is to win “Region of the Year,” says Cheever. “He is always open to new ideas, and vocal but productive about change he would like to see. We have so many resources at Welch Allyn, and Nick uses our entire talent pool. I believe he is very intuitive about seeing the opportunity and collaborating with the right resources, but is careful not to overuse them.
Riordan is a member of Welch Allyn’s Field Advisory Team, moderated by Bill Sweeney, vice president of ambulatory care sales. “He always represents our team well and acts as a great conduit for information to and from the field and inside,” says Cheever. “Nick is always welcoming for marketing ride days, sales leadership and training new reps. He is very selfless with his time.
“Nick lives our company’s core value – ‘Be Always Kind and True’ – every day, and values his relationships and treats everyone with dignity and respect. It is important to Nick to represent Welch Allyn the best he can. He takes pride in working here and working for a 100-year-old family-owned company. It is a lot of weight to carry, but clearly, Nick is up to the challenge.”
Nick Riordan: From the distributor’s perspective
Ask distributor reps about Nick Riordan, ambulatory care sales rep for Welch Allyn, and you hear words like “hungry,” “respectful,” “trustworthy,” and “reliable.”
“He is fiery, he is hungry, he’s a closer, and he has a knack for making each of his distributor reps feel important and wanted, and wanting to work with him,” says Adam Brown, account executive, McKesson Medical-Surgical, Richmond, Va. “Some reps have egos, they want to be heroes. Nick will make his sale, but he will make his distributor rep feel like the real hero.”
Brown began working with Riordan when Riordan came to Virginia from Texas in January 2013.
“Nick is always eager to get new business,” says Brown. “He’s always available, his follow-up is impeccable, his product knowledge is off the charts, and he is unbelievable in front of the end user/clinician/customer. He has an innate ability to tailor his presentations to whatever end user he’s dealing with, and is equally effective from physician, to C-suite, to nurse, to nurse practitioner.”
“Riordan is one of those rare manufacturer reps who understand not only his or her company, but distribution and distributor reps,” adds Brown. “He understands the breadth of our offerings, and the trials and tribulations we go through on a daily basis insofar as the account base we have and the different products we offer. He understands our time constraints and always respects them.”
He is the kind of manufacturer rep that distributor reps are comfortable sending into their accounts by himself. And he is a closer.
“Some manufacturers will do great presentations but won’t ask for the order. They may be scared to ask the tough question,” says Brown. “Nick won’t leave without asking for the order. He’s big on that. He will always, always ask for the order. When I send him in to an account, in my mind, it’s closed.”
Earlier this year, Brown and Riordan called on a large community health center, which was opening up a new facility in Richmond. They wanted wallboards, but only with a couple of instruments, he recalls. Riordan brought in his catalog and sold them on a much larger order, says Brown. “They are happy and grateful they made the purchase.”
Early impressions
When McKesson Account Executive Alan Rubin first met Riordan, he formed some early impressions, most of which were borne out over time. “You could tell right away he was going to be good,” says Rubin. “Even though he was so young, he really understood the distributor/manufacturer relationship better than most. He is all about supporting the one who brings him to the dance.”
“Even when I am unable to make a joint call, I feel extremely comfortable sending him to a customer,” continues Rubin. “That’s where a good manufacturer rep comes in. They are an extension of us. Nick is extremely trustworthy; I have no issues sending him in on the deal.” Rubin recalls when Riordan drove two and half hours to bring a loaner monitor to one of Rubin’s accounts whose monitor had gone down. “He didn’t have to do that,” he says.
Riordan brings something else to the work world, says Rubin. “He’s good on the business side, but he is a lot of fun too. If you want to ignite a party, he’s the one. He talks to anybody. He’s likeable. The two and a half years we have worked together has seemed to go by in five months. We’ve become good friends.”
Solution-finder
The people at Carter BloodCare work with many vendors, says Stephen Eason, Foundation director. “We have relationships with some who are just vendors; they can provide whatever it is we want at the cheapest price. Then we have a very few vendors we truly consider as partners. With them, we share what our struggles are and what we do, and they help develop solutions.” Nick Riordan of Welch Allyn is one such vendor. Carter BloodCare is a provider of blood components and transfusion services for North, Central and East Texas.
Because roughly 20 percent of the blood collected in the United States comes from high school campuses, Carter engages in health prevention studies and activities targeting teenagers, explains Eason. “From an independent blood center’s viewpoint, our slant on it is, ‘We have this opportunity; we are touching these donors; why not give something back to the community?’” So, as it collects blood, Carter offers to share with the donor information about his or her blood pressure, cholesterol and, in many cases, a1c. “We’re finding a lot of these kids are prediabetic or diabetic,” he says.
Back in 2007, when Carter was considering testing donors’ blood pressure for sharing with donors and for research purposes, it was clear that the manual monitoring its staff was doing – while good enough to determine if someone could be a blood donor – wasn’t accurate enough for these other purposes. “We needed equipment to do automated blood pressure reading,” says Eason.
He researched vendors that provided such equipment and called three of them. “Nick was the first one to call me back. In that first conversation, I explained what we were doing and what we wanted. He had no idea if were going to buy a [blood pressure monitor], but he spent the time to gather the information and get answers to questions that I doubt any other hospital customers had ever asked. He talked to engineers at Welch Allyn to get our questions answered, and even got us in touch with their engineers.
“Going back to 2007, Nick and I developed a rapport so quickly, that when one of the other vendors called me back about a week later, they didn’t have a chance.” Carter ended up buying about 1,500 Welch Allyn units.
“Nick was always there for us,” says Eason. “I would email him a question and ask him to get back to me in the next few days, and he would reply within an hour.”
Even today, almost three years after Riordan left Texas to take his territory in Richmond, Va., “we still keep in touch on Facebook,” says Eason.