One of my closest friends, John Andico suffered through his final days, knowing that cancer would be the winner. John died on August 11, 2018. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and four grandchildren. I am reminded that he is one of the last of the dying breed of people called Salesman. As the world of wholesale and retail change, I am reminded that throughout the early days of our outdoor industry was growing and it developed into what it is today; it just didn’t happen, it was created by forgotten people called Salesman.
Salesman is a word that is not covered by political correctness, Salesman is gender-neutral. Before brands became nationally recognized, the early growth had nothing to do with a marketing or advertising person, but the relationship of a Salesman to an individual store or retailer. Once a Salesman sign on with the company that Salesman became the company’s image in the field. In the hay day, of the rise of sporting goods and outdoor brands, it was there Salesman, who placed it in with retailers and convince them even to take new brands. The Salesman’s words were usually good enough to place the product.
As brands became established, and I can speak first hand on this topic, the wisdom of management usually came up with the concept of increasing goals and reducing commissions. Why should a Super Salesman be paid more than the manager, this was the thought that success, needed to be spread to management as well as sales. As brands grew and retail changed, the pressure on the bottom line was always directed towards the cost of goods sold. We had corporate egos, who felt it was more important to pay our investors and stockholders first, then management, salesman and then our sales force last.
As commissions shrank, more and more one branded Salesman became multi-brand salesman. The cost to sell on the road increased and monies paid for success decreased. Many brands went with the concept of in-house reps, the concept was to promote within or hire some young person off the street; have them contact the account base and sell product. In-house sales personnel, brand ambassadors, key account service personnel, or whatever else fancy name we as management could come up with, replaced Salesman. The human contact went away.
As the information world drastically changed and the Internet became the wave of the future, the connectivity between retail and wholesale, was dramatically altered. The old buyer who bought from a gut feeling, was replaced by software packages and algorithms that helped wholesalers and manufacturers determine what to make, when to make it, and delivering it on time. The buyer became more an analytic processor of data, and less deciding based on look and feel. By now, salesman have become more product presenters and order takers. But every so often when you walk a tradeshow and you hear someone making a presentation and it made everything sound beautiful and perfect, and you hear the words “it will sell”; and a smile comes to your face.
My friend John, who could close the deal and then force the company he worked for to deliver on time, was eventually promoted to sales management. He never changed, he just ended up selling to bigger accounts, and he always worked on the customer’s behalf even if it went against some of the company’s own policies. As far as political correctness is concerned, he always said some of his best salesman were named Jen, Carol, Pam, Jamie, Lindsay, and even Matt, John, Todd, and even Dick. Having worked with John in five different companies over the last 30 years, I can still always remember him introducing me to one of his better clients as,” this is Dick, head of the company.” We will miss this great person; but never forget that he was the Best Salesmen Ever!