Learning from the Best
What does it take to be the best in our industry?
In this issue, we asked two of the top salespeople, Mike Malec, a CME Corp. account manager, and John Ballarin V, Central Region account executive for Abbott Rapid Diagnostics, for their insights and approach.
Malec and Ballarin were honored this spring as the winners’ of this year’s Excellence in Sales Award. While their stories are unique, I read them to see what common threads reps can take away and use in their day-to-day interactions with customers and supplier partners.
The following are three of those threads:
Communicate. “There was a time when our customers could cut a purchase order five or six weeks before they wanted their project delivered,” Malec said. “We would likely have everything delivered to our warehouse, and assembled and ready for delivery and placement, in plenty of time.” That’s no longer the case, he points out. “Today, we are lucky to receive half of the required items in that time frame. So, it’s critical to communicate closely with our customers about current lead times, as well as with the manufacturers about any changes in delivery times.
Collaborate. Ballarin said he promises a few things to his distribution partners: “‘I will be the quickest of any manufacturer rep to respond. I will give you and your customers the truth. If you bring me to a deal, it’s yours. If I do not know the answer, I will find it. You will have my support after the sale. I will make it easy for you, and I will always deliver on what I say I am going to do.’ These might sound very basic, but I have found that by doing these things, we manufacturer reps can earn their trust – which is the golden word, and what I always strive to earn.”
Connect. “If our manufacturer partners are confident in my ability to handle projects and see them through to completion, they can trust they are in good hands looking ahead at new opportunities,” Malec says. “Once manufacturer reps achieve this comfort level with their distributor reps, I believe they are more likely to want to continue the relationship.”
Dedicated to the Industry,
R. Scott Adams