The Big 30

 

This week begins my 30th year in sales! It is amazing how many great mentors I was lucky enough to have worked under and with. The one that has to top the list is Scott Keener. Scott was known as my Father at Philadelphia Turf. Scott had taken me under his wing from the start and was my sounding board on how to handle every situation. The countless hours of reviewing how I handled a sales call and what would have been the best way to do it. I am incredibly thankful that Scott was there to help me through those early years, and even as my career went on, as a great friend!

It is amazing to think that back in February of 1992, Tom Drayer, Sales Manager at Philadelphia Turf, didn't hang up on me when he offered me the job. I said that I would like to think about it and call him tomorrow because I had read somewhere in one of the books on how to interview, I had been reading, not to accept the job right away. Thank God Tom overlooked me being young and dumb! At this time in the early '90s, the job market was not great. I had been looking for a sales job for months, which makes my response even more head-scratching looking back on it.

During my early years, at Philadelphia Turf, working with so many great people, that had so many years of experience, that were willing to share their knowledge, helped to mold me into the salesman I am. Tom Drayer, Barney McFadden, Bob Stokes, Frank I Shuman, and Frank T Shuman. Frank T. Shuman has become the biggest mentor to me, in the latter part of my career.

I have had the opportunity to visit some incredible places and meet some special people throughout my career so far. Bob Stokes was a legend in the Philadelphia market and was known as Mother Stokes. He always took such great care of his customers. Bob told me that the reason he loved sales so much was that every day you go to work is never the same and he felt that that was the best part! I have come to learn he was right.

I have been incredibly lucky to have so many people that had an impact on me and taught me so much. The start of Steve Keating's implementation of the Toro Selling System program with the Toro Commercial sales group coincided with my start of sales, the timing could not have been any better. The chance to learn from Steve about the sales process and understanding that process was the foundation for my career.

One of the things that truly is amazing, as I look back on the last 29 years, is the changing availability of information and communication. When I started, my older brothers both of whom are in sales, steered me to the Franklin Maps store in King of Prussia to buy my road atlas. Each night, before you hit the road, you would need to plan the trip. This is just slightly different from today where I plug an address in my phone, and I am directed there, even taking into account the traffic on the way. Even funnier is the progression of communication since the early '90s! From stopping throughout the day to call the office from a payphone to check messages, then on to a pager, then the early versions of cell phones, to my favorite, my Blackberry, where I could first send emails, to today's smartphones. It is truly an amazing transition!

Not sure if I have another 30 years in me, but I hope I have the opportunity to keep doing it for many more years to come!

WJC