An unusual event just took place. Nancy, a sales rep for one of my janitorial supply distributor clients, wrote over $1 million in sales in the year 2000. What’s unusual?

In my experience, $1 million a year in sales for a janitorial supply rep is outstanding. For a woman do it is even more outstanding. Not because women can’t produce volume in this business, but because they are definitely in the minority as sales reps in the jan/san business.

Many janitorial supply distributors don’t have any female sales reps, and for those that do, it’s a small percentage. I wonder if management is missing something — I think they are.

I interviewed Nancy and two other women for this article. We’ll call the other two Donnell and Linda.

Donnell works for a major manufacturer of chemicals for floor and carpet maintenance. Linda works for a major paper manufacturer.

Both Donnell and Linda call on numerous re-sellers of janitorial supply products as well as paper products. They, too, feel that women account for only a small percentage of sales reps in this industry. And like me, they feel that women can be very successful at sales in this industry — as proven by Nancy.

Years ago, I believed that a janitorial supply rep had to be out working nights demonstrating floor care, equipment and products. I didn’t think the nature of the work was necessarily suited to women.

I learned as I grew in the business that that wasn’t true at all, and that women could excel regardless of those job requirements.

I asked Nancy, Donnell and Linda about their successes, observations and suggestions. Their opinions should be of help to other women (and men) in the sales business and hopefully to those hiring salespeople.

Nancy said that to succeed, she needed to focus on certain products and market segments rather than trying to be everything to everyone. She also said that in order to be focused, she needed to gain as much knowledge as possible about specific products and applications. “No need, no sale. Find the need and fill it,” she said.

Use available resources. Sales managers and manufacturers’ reps can be good resources. Remember: with knowledge comes confidence and with confidence comes more and bigger sales.

Nancy has identified needs within specific market segments and has used that knowledge to appeal to other accounts — and fuel her own sales effort.

In Donnell’s case she started out in the contract cleaning business and in her own words, “learned to be a very good janitor.” Basic “how-to” knowledge has proven helpful to her and to her distributor base. Product and industry knowledge are certainly important, and have been a big help to Donnell. She feels that, in addition to this knowledge, a successful sales rep — male or female — must have desire and ambition. In her case, as a woman, she felt she needed to prove herself to sales management and to the sales force of her distributors. She did that by sharing her knowledge with them as well as with the end-user customer.

Linda became an outside sales rep after learning the industry and the products from an inside position.

Linda said in her case the “trust factor” is big. Like Donnell, proving herself and building trust is essential. Linda also said that, in her opinion, a big part of successful selling is balancing paperwork and selling time.

She also told me about someone she knows who sells industrial tools to the end user (same idea, different products). Only 15 percent of the sales reps are women, Linda said, but when year-end comes, 25 percent of the award-winners are women. What’s wrong with this picture?

In my mind, it doesn’t matter if a sales rep is a man or a woman, but it does matter that the person has the talent to be a successful salesperson.
In reviewing my notes from these interviews, many of the key words and phrases tie into selling basics — words like desire, ambition, focus, resources, organization, trust, listening skills, knowledge and confidence.

To me, these characteristics fall under one category: selling skills. As noted in my recent columns, product knowledge, industry knowledge and selling skills are the three most important drivers of success in sales. The question then is not whether you should hire a woman or a man. The question is, which person has the best characteristics required to be successful in the selling business?

To those of you who do the hiring, keep your eyes and minds open to the best people, regardless of gender. And to the women reading this, the opportunities in the janitorial business are terrific for you — opportunities in sales, sales management and general management at the distributor level or at the manufacturer’s level, in housekeeping and facility management, the contract cleaning business, manufacturer’s reps organizations and so on.

To share your selling ideas, fax: (414) 228-1134, contact Mr. Dixon at (877) 379-3566 or e-mail Seiche Sanders.




POSTED ON: 5/1/2002