(More) Advice for a Rookie Salesman?

Hey All,
I’m new to WineBeserkers and certainly new (less than a week as a sales rep here in New York) to the wine business. I just pulled a boatload of great advice from Arthurk’s thread from 2009 but it would be great to get some advice on the issue of first introductions.

I’ve been warming myself up at the generic Wine & Spirits stores that all carry the exact same selection of mass market wines (Yellowtail, Sutter home etc) and liqours. I usually (the past two days) go in (no samples bag, brochures or anything) and say hello to whoever is working the counter and then take about five minutes to browse their selection before asking if the manager/owner/wine buyer is around and then figuring out if it’s possible to make an appointment to taste with them. So far everybody has been very friendly and helpful and I’ve gotten all the information I would want for a first introduction.

But today I tried to do the same thing at what appeared to be the exact same style of store and the owner was very upset. Before I could even finish my second sentence he told me to get out of his store - that he didn’t care about my company. I take it that he was offended that I didn’t make it clear right away that I was a sales rep when another employee asked me if I needed help finding anything.

Looking back I can see how that could come off as disrespectful and I do feel pretty awful for offending him but his response was SO different from that of all the other clerks/store owners.

So basically my questions are -

  1. Has my tactic been a big no-no or does this store owner happen to have a quirky attitude about Rep behavior?
  2. Should I make it apparent as soon as I walk in the store that I’m a rep and introduce myself right away before browsing?
  3. What do you guys think the best way for a new rep to introduce himself is?

First of all, do you work for a well known distributor, or are you just selling solo? Did you take over a previous rep’s route? Or are you cold calling? Off-sale? On-sale?

If you’re going in solo and don’t have a GM to introduce you, etc, then you need to network, make phone calls, talk to other reps about certain customer’s behaviors…etc. etc.

It’s a brutal world out there, esp. in the concrete jungle. You just have to be prepared.

And also realize when you’re going in. Perhaps going in the first of the month, during inventory, after a big holiday weekend, isn’t the best time to try to taste someone?

Best way to introduce yourself is to email, then call, then set an appointment date. You are on their time.

Good luck!

Dont know the wine business, but suppose I know a bit about the people business.

One size does not fit all, and people have bad days. Who knows why he blew up on you. I would suggest sending him a personal email or letter and expressing it was not your intent to offend him, and that you would like a second chance to make a first impression.

Worst can happen is he screams at you in an email…

The guy is probably afraid that someone from one of the mega distributors will knee cap him if he is seen talking to “one of those low life indie guys…the ones with wines no one has every heard of…they got nothin’ for you, we feed your kids, remember?”…

[snort.gif] neener [stirthepothal.gif]

Oh, how I miss the visits from “the suits”. I was struggling to create a destination wine shop, and the “suits” were telling me I needed to carry labels that were available at every supermarket in the area. Told me I didn’t know what I was doing if I ignored those big brand names. A good price mix is important (depending on your customer base/marketing mission), and I’ll admit that having some familiar, comfortable brand names in stock can help with some customers, but… really???

Bill, I’m not sure everyone here would agree with me, but I found this guy to be very useful as a ‘no BS’ source of thought:

http://weimax.com/how_to_be_a_wine_sales_rep.htm

The site is very old-school and so is the owner. I met him when I was up in the Bay Area visiting our daughter and researching the retail wine biz prior to opening a shop. I walked in with my wife and, while she was looking around, I introduced myself and told him I was planning a shop in SoCal (200+ miles away). He essentially asked me to leave (not very nicely I’d add), saying the last guy who fed him “that line” opened a shop a few miles from him. I’m not saying he’s a real nice person, but he’s been doing this a very long time and I found myself agreeing with most of his points on sales reps when we did finally get into the biz.

I’ve found that I had the most respect for reps who showed that they understood what I was trying to do with my business model. In this ongoing tough economy, I’m sure getting in to accounts is hard as nails. If you’ve never sold wine before I’d hope you have a reasonably good wine knowledge… unless you’re in the extreme mass market space. Most ‘better’ wine shop owners and buyers I know have little tolerance for total ignorance. It helps being an interested, nice guy, but making a profit in wine retail is no walk in the park for small shops especially. Show you care and respect their time and needs.

Over the last 20 years we have been in business, it has been my pleasure to see more than a few such distributors go under…


I’ve been at it about 8 years, and managing reps for 3. Reading Peter J’s link from Gerald at Weimax is a great place to start - I used to sell to Gerald and he was tough, but fair. He was occasionally rather amiable.

You are right to size up a set or a wine list before you approach the buyer. If you know your book well, you should have a good idea of who your customer is, and therefore it makes sense to assess whether they will even be interested in your wines. An esoteric or diverse set tells you the buyer likes to taste and learn; a mass-market, industrial set (or list) tells you the place is on autopilot and the buyer cares a lot less about their selection, if at all.

I would only go back to that cranky customer if you think your wines would be a great fit and that you really have something to offer him. If not, consider what he did a favor, and cross him off your list.

some more general advice:

  • Always be as courteous as possible, but turn off the part of your personality that gets embarrassed at bugging people, as well as the part that gets offended by rudeness or curtness. The latter can sap your spirit.

  • understand that people are either readers or listeners. For this reason, don’t rely primarily on email, especially on the restaurant side.

  • do your homework. Spend an hour each morning and find the compelling features about each wine in your bag. One rep in our company sold $200,000 last month; she knows the story about every wine in her bag, every day.

  • identify your top 20 accounts (and top prospects) and show up every week. Understand that it may take 5 or 6 visits before they buy anything. If they haven’t bought anything at the end of your 6th sales call, gracefully point it out to them - you will likely walk out with an order.

  • You should spend time prospecting and cold calling every week. Eater.com is a good resource. Here in Oregon, the Liquor control commission emails out a list of new licenses every week. Looking at opentable.com for a two-top on a Thursday night will give you an idea of which restaurants are hopping and which are not.

  • being a wine rep is time-intensive. There is a direct and exponential correlation between the extra hours worked beyond 40 each week and your income (assuming you are paid on commission).

Good luck to you -

CP

lol…yes, Gerald at Weimax is good training ground for rookie sales people.

You’ll walk away knowing if the profession is for you or not, thats for sure [basic-smile.gif]

All great and useful advice. It’s really reassuring to know there are people passionate and generous enough to take the time to give a young stranger some help.

I will take this all to heart as best as I can and refer back to your comments often.

Thank you!

What a great topic. For the sake of keeping this under a million words, I will list the things that bug me the most about salesmen in no particular order:

  1. Don’t come in unannounced, even if you are there to introduce yourself for a future meeting. Email and call. While I don’t take on new accounts anymore, if you are persistent, have an interesting book and can prove to me I am missing out by not meeting you, I might change my mind.

  2. Don’t say “wow, what a nice store” when you come in. Tell me my store looks like shit, at least then I will know your honest.

  3. Use a little commonsense when telling me about your selections. Does it look like I need another Pinot Grigio in the store and if I did, would I give a new account one of the best selling wine categories? Don’t tell me what I need for the store, you are insulting my intelligence. If anything, flatter me by pointing out an eccentric pick I have on the shelf and then taste me on something I might like based on your observation. This shows me you have done your homework and care.

  4. Ratings? Enough said.

  5. Know your shit. Impress me with some bit of knowledge about the wine other than common sense.

Best of luck and I hope it wasn’t me who kicked you out of my store.

Most NY retailers are quite proficient at being dicks. [cheers.gif] I’ve heard many similar stories from good sales reps from companies both big & small. There are lots of psychos in retail, don’t let it get you down. Some retailers just take their grief out on you because they can. You will find the good ones on your route. Good luck!

I was treated less than nicely on my first calls to 3 accounts that had done business with my company previously. The past reps had burned the bridges. I really wanted to do business with them as they were big volume stores that sell the type of wines there were in my book. One owner told me I needed an appointment to see her, so naturally I asked her for an appointment. She responded negatively to my request for an appointment. I was persistent and eventually got an appointment.

The moral here is to be persistent and sell yourself and let them know you will be there to service their account down the road. These 3 accounts did become among my best volume accounts so do not be discouraged.