A Contractor’s Birthright

What should an HVAC contractor be able to expect from the sales rep who calls on him or her from his major brand supplier?  In this blog, I will paint a picture of what a superb sales rep should be able to do for a contractor.

First, a superb sales rep (I’ll use the acronym SSR from here on out to save my fingers some wear and tear on my keyboard) knows that you create the pool of profits from which everyone in this business drinks. You, of course, derive your livelihood from what you do, but so does that sales rep and the company he works for.  The factory that supplies that distributor with equipment depends on the profits YOU generate.  The suppliers to the factory (metals, refrigerants, motors, etc.) depend on those profits too.

Because of that, an SSR will focus all of his or her efforts on you and your business. Like a waiter in a five-star restaurant, an SSR will be so devoted to you and your success that his employer may sometimes wonder who he works for—you or the distributor!  An SSR will go more than the extra mile to help you and your business succeed.  Because of that, an SSR will learn this trade so he or she may help you in EVERY area of your business.

An SSR will possess strong business skills, helping you develop and write a marketing plan that will help you generate leads, and then help you learn how to convert those leads to appointments and then to sales at high margins, keeping your installers busy almost all year and attracting the kind of business you are looking for.

An SSR will help you write a business plan that will help you grow safely and strongly for years to come.

An SSR will help you find, hire and keep excellent installation and service talent so you have the people to do the jobs you need to do quickly and right the first time.

An SSR will call upon you often enough to be a key partner in your business, but not so often as to become irritating, and will always be just a phone call away, 24/7.

An SSR will know his or her product line inside and out, frontwards and backwards, and will know how to help you apply that product line to any job you encounter.

An SSR will be a good communication conduit between the factory and distributor and you, passing vital information up and down the line as needed to keep all parties in sync and productive.

An SSR will be a leader among leaders, calling out and developing the best in you and your management team.

An SSR will be a team player, throwing the ball when asked, blocking when required, even carrying the water, all to help you score big.

In short, an SSR can be one of the most important elements in your successful business and will only fully enjoy his or her success when you enjoy yours.

If that is the kind of sales representative you have calling on you, thank your lucky stars.  If it is not, maybe it’s time to look around and try to find one. Feel free to drop me a note to discuss it.

It really does take two to be Number One!