Last week, I spent a couple of days in Spartanburg, S.C., facilitating a “customer interaction session” for Milliken Turf Products. (Milliken and other companies pay me to do this sort of thing. Hey, it beats digging ditches.)
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The panel featured about a dozen superintendents and distributor sales representatives from Golf Ventures in several Southeastern states. The idea was to get their feedback about new products, trends in the industry, agronomic challenges, etc. We accomplished all that quite nicely, and everyone had a good time.
But, what struck me most about the event wasn’t the brilliant product ideas that popped out of people’s mouths or the stunning solutions to the world’s problems we dreamed up at the bar in the evening. Instead, what I carried away from the event was just how special the relationship between customers and salespeople is in our business.
Yes, the sales guys were selling constantly, and the superintendents were giving them crap for it constantly. Yet, it was obvious it was a relationship of respect and friendship. The game was being played, but it was being played with honor and a sense of fun. Gee, that’s just like golf, isn’t it?
I don’t know about other industries, but I have to believe it’s rare for salespeople to almost always have held the customer’s job at some point. Almost every one of the sales reps at the meeting had been a superintendent previously. They had felt the joy (and the pain) of growing grass for a living. They weren’t just blowing smoke.
One of the questions I asked the superintendents was, “Who do you trust when it comes to choosing which products to buy?” The number one answer was “my colleagues.” But, a close second was “my sales rep.”
You’re pretty damn lucky to have that level of trust in our business. And, you’re pretty damn lucky to have sales guys who have walked a mile in your shoes already.