TOB_Magazine

[ 8 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ MAY / JUNE | 18 ] Jarrid Trudeau Continued The only way we are going to continue to grow is to make our sales pro- cess better and our infrastructure easier for our sales reps to use. If their jobs are easier on a daily basis, they can write more orders, they can visit more customers, they can continue to grow, and they can become better partners for our retailers.” Besides reports, numbers and access to data to work with, effective salespeople need to show up and care about what they’re doing, he adds. “My father was a mentor for me—he worked his ass off support- ing our family,” says Trudeau. “This guy grinded his whole life. He told me when I was very young, ‘Jarrid, you can teach anything, but you cannot teach people how to give a shit.’ That is the motto that I live by. It is so simple, but it is so true. If I get the impression that somebody cares and is invested and motivated, I can teach them sales, I can teach them routing, I can teach them how to use the CRM, I can teach them blends and products, but I cannot teach them how to give a shit, no matter how hard I try.” Be a Partner, Not a Salesperson How a sales representative acts and behaves on the road determines how effective he or she will be in promoting and selling the products. While Kristoff Cigars uses both traditional print and digital platforms to advertise its products and does plenty of in-store events, the sales force behind the company is what is going to actually connect with the retailers to get their cigars on the store shelves. A sale actually begins with listening to customers to determine their needs. Trudeau firmly believes it is the responsibility of anyone in sales to add value to the customer and to demonstrate to the customer how the company and its sales reps will work harder than the retailer to get customers in the store to buy products. Rather than pushing products on retailers, his strategy is to get them excited to sell products and to work together. The same approach holds true in retail. While it may be crucial to have a goal in mind as you or your employees approach a potential new customer, a preplanned pitch is not the best way to land a sale. Instead, focus on listening to the customer’s overall needs and building a relationship with him or her, and you’ll see better results. “The pitch comes from the discourse and from workshopping the situation with the customer and making them a partner rather than an adversary,” says Trudeau. “That’s how you build a rapport—by asking the right questions, listening to what they have to say, listening to their business problems and then finding ways to help solve them, whether or not those involve your company.” Customers usually reveal what’s important to them when they’re rant- ing and raving. Take mental notes, remember what seems important to them, and a have some sort of goal or plan in mind for addressing it. Another key element of sales is negotiation, and you must be reasonable as a salesperson if you want to gain a loyal business partner. An effec- tive negotiation will benefit both you and the customer, while any sort of compromise is likely to leave both of you dissatisfied to some degree. “We don’t get paid in handshakes and hugs; we get paid in dollars invoiced,” says Trudeau. “The goal of any negotiation shouldn’t be to find a customer or create a customer. It should be to keep a customer. The only way this works is to make sure they’re happy, that they see the value in you and your product and whatever you’re going to do to sell it once it gets in.” The final piece in creating a partner rather than just a customer is making sure you do what’s right for the customer and his or her ➤ Jarrid Trudeau, vice president of sales at Kristoff Cigars.