Sales Reps, Distribution, and Warehouses Oh my!

Wow. It has been a while since my last post, but as that vaguely funny insurance commercial reminds, life comes at you fast.  Everyone's life changes every three months.  Nothing could be truer for me at the moment. I have taken on a lease for a warehouse, written 7 books, run a real estate company, have been a father/dad to two wonderful girls and even attempted a husbandley duty every now and then.  Proof of this is my bride is now preggo.  Nevermind that we have two girls ages 7 and 9 and that wife, who works 3 full days a week has gone back to nurse practitioners school.  The Man upstairs likes to remind us that we are not in charge. "Point well taken Sir!"

I signed with a sales rep group this summer.  The purpose was/is to help with distribution.  I went into this knowing I was going to be a small fish.  Each rep would carry one to four different books.  A Virginia rep is most likely not going to sell an ECU book in there territory.  However, I am coming to find out that VA reps can't sell VT books in there area.  Since I am not a person to sit around I made an excursion up to Richmond.  I called on Pharmacies, Hardware/Gift stores, Baby stores, Toy Stores and even Fan stores.  In three days I placed 100 books in multiple stores. Most stores only bought 5 (my minimum).  Hey, if they sell they will order more, which by the way has happened!

Anyway, when I returned from the sell-a-thon, I turned in my orders to the rep that covered the territory. He turned in the orders and got paid. My goal is make the reps see how easy a sale it is.  I don't want them to view me as competition. We are in this together.  The rep did tell that he had been in the business quite awhile and had never had a company do what I did.  Nice to know, now sell them!

The part that I cannot figure at this point is that I have not received one order from the rep that covers the DC area, the rep that covers the east coast of VA and the rep that covers SW Va.  Hmmmm.  Va Tech territory? During football season?  Not sure what is going on here.  It looks as though I will have to make another trip into Va to do the job that my sales force should be doing.  Not what I had in mind, but what else is there? My hope is that they will see the light and start making the sales on their own.  I will give this company a year. Hopefully it will last a lot longer.

My experience with the NC reps have been a mixed bag.  One of my reps is better than Paul Newman in the movie "Tin Men".  She can't be stopped. I think she is the only one that has actually read my books.  These are 12 page children's books with scratch and sniff, moving parts, flaps and rhyming lines.  I am not asking much for a rep to get to know the product.  I have one other rep that is starting to turn it out and I think will do well.

The other NC reps? Not sure, they haven't answered my emails or phone calls.  Well, not exactly true, her manager finally provoked her into thanking me for orders that I turned in for her.  No joke.  The other rep still has yet to thank me for her orders...

Enough about my rep experience for the time being.  I mentioned that I now have a warehouse. I do!  Downtown Hickory, across from the post office, 2500 square feet of concrete man space.  It even has dueling shitters. Not facing each other, but side-by-side, they have yet to be used in unison, but we haven't figured out how to turn on the light in there. Until then, they will strictly be for solo use only.

The warehouse is not a good deal for us until we have 7 titles. We have 3, though 2 more are on the way.  I get to pay power, which has not broken $40 a month yet and internet through century-link, which to set up, was a disaster.  It seems to work fine and for 11 cents more a month, we got phone.

This is my life at the moment.  Children's books.  I haven't covered our book signing(s). One success, two disasters.  Next installment. Until then...

Getting Let Go

On September 11, 2009, I was let go by the company that I had given my heart, time and passion to for the last 7 years.  I was the top sales agent every year except one for 7 years.  The real estate market had turned, our company had just filed chapter 11 and I was a squeaky wheel that got the proverbial grease. 

The boss man didn't like my suggestions on what we could possibly do to boost sales, so I was traded as they say in the sports world.  Nothing like sitting in a sales meeting and being asked "What can we do to help you sell".  Gee, I how mind-blowingly thoughtful! I never thought to ask for help.  Considering I was 100% commission, I truly think these jokers did not think we were motivated or smart enough to sell.  Also, nothing like a person telling you how to sell that has never been in the sales world.  Much like a scene in the movie "Office Space", it ended and there I was in the middle of semi-depression with no job. 

15 minutes after I had hugged my former master's goodbye and walked out the door, I put it all in my past and decided to dedicate myself to figuring out what it was that I wanted to do to make a living.  I set a deadline of December 1st, 2011 to have something in the works.  I even wrote the guy that let me go a "thank you" letter for the 7 great years I had on the lake with them. No reason to burn bridges or harbor grudges...