Dear Stephen,
I'm just starting my fifth anniversary in sales at a Haworth dealer and I. Love. My. Job!
I'm in the Southwest. For two years beforehand, I was a pharmaceutical rep, and before that, I was in college!
It took me about eighteen months, maybe two years, to learn the ropes and establish my client base at this dealership, and learning here is a never-ending process. I've gotten great support from Haworth in terms of training and learning more about the product. We sell other great lines as well... #Global, #Halcon... Generally mixed. Haworth is our main focus, but we have lots of other open lines.
I don't have any design background, but I call on architects and designers and I love the environment. Sometimes when I read this column, I see people with strong critiques about dealer culture or dealer mentality; whatever it is, it seems people are always complaining and it's never positive. I figured I wanted to write to say I love this environment and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world — including going to work for a manufacturer!
That's because I'm able to control my own income by getting a percentage of the gross profit of the products that I sell. I feel like I'm in my own business, and that is a great feeling! I work in a very friendly company and it's a very professional work environment. I'm looking forward to #NeoCon in Chicago, meeting clients and seeing everyone from the manufacturers that I work with.
What's the deal with people who write you always complaining about dealers?
Signed,
Happy to be a Dealer Salesperson
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Dear Happy,
I'm happy that you're so happy. As readers of this column are probably tired of hearing, I started my own career in dealer sales (#MillerKnoll) — I liked it, but I didn't love it as much as you do. It was so much more effort and complications than just working at a single manufacturer. Coincidentally, the manufacturer was Haworth for me. I never got the hang of learning 100 different products, all kinds of different prices and discounts, and I felt less respect when cold calling on designers than when I was at a manufacturer. Everyone has a different experience, however.
Some of my best friends to this day work at dealers, thrive at dealers, and have become multi-millionaires selling for dealers.
I suspect that part of the reason that you love your job is that you have a great boss, which makes any job better! Working at a dealer can be fun and interesting because you're wearing lots of hats and you have direct contact with the customers. And most people tell me that the main reason they love working at a dealer is the money. I must admit, dealer sales can be great!
Here is something else I think is worth mentioning — you don't need to work at a dealer that represents one of the major furniture brands to be successful. It's extremely lucrative to work at a dealer where you may just sell open lines. Essentially what we would call "a non-aligned dealer." The idea is to develop relationships with the best customers, and every market is different. The geography — in other words, where you live — has a lot to do with how your customer base is developed. In a major city, everyone is chasing #Gensler and other major design firms, but in a smaller geography it's just as great to land a small local law firm or medical center.
I do get a lot of letters complaining about furniture dealers in this space, you are right about that... Most times, however, it's from manufacturers' reps biting the hand that feeds them! Complaining about chargebacks, dealers screaming about discounts, in general calling dealer salespeople and dealer principals "screamers." Probably an unfair characterization. The bottom line is dealers are the backbone of the contract furniture industry and will always remain so. And I can't see AI replacing dealer salespeople. Is AI going to cart a chair over to a potential customer and then demonstrate it? Or sit face-to-face with a client to close a deal? No way!
Thanks so much for sharing your positive experience working at a dealer. You're young in your career, and I can tell you're going to be very successful and will turn out to be one of those richy-rich dealer salespeople if not a dealer owner someday! All the best.
Signed,
Stephen