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Not everyone takes a traditional path into sales. That was certainly the case for Brent Geis who currently serves as sales executive at The Home Depot Pro in Edmond, Oklahoma, and is receiving the Sanitary Maintenance 2024 Sales Leader Award.
Looking back, Geis credits experiences outside the world of jan/san as shaping the salesman he is today. That experience started in Texas when after a successful college football career he took a coaching job in the game he loved. While on the sidelines, Geis embraced every opportunity to teach and mentor, two joys that he'd carry with him moving forward.
Discovering this passion for helping others, Geis moved on from football and soon found himself involved in youth ministry. He'd spend the next four years giving his time to others involved in the program, after which a friend approached him about shifting his profession once more.
Reluctant at first, Geis quickly uncovered his fearless mentality to try new things and opened his mind to a new full-time profession. He soon discovered that sales allowed him to combine that hunger to take on new challenges with the mentorship passion he found from his previous endeavors. Twenty years later, Geis is thriving, much to the pleasure of coworkers and customers alike.
“When I was first approached about a job in sales, my wife and I were about to have our first child,” says Geis. “They offered us a good opportunity financially, so I made the jump, and I've been with them ever since.”
A wife and child at home wasn’t the only family Geis was building. His compassion when working with people and his honesty about the value of products and technologies quickly earned him the trust of his clients. While those initial steps in building equity were sometimes challenging, it made the result all-the-more rewarding when the clients were genuinely appreciative, and a partnership was established.
Just like he did on the day he started, Geis embraces the importance of keeping up with industry trends — realizing that a plan that’s working for a customer can swiftly change and he needs to anticipate pivots beforehand. It’s a level of studying that doesn’t go unnoticed by his customers. Geis’s nominator for this distinction also praised his immediate responsiveness to any calls or emails about products and services, while also immediately correcting any mistakes such as incorrect orders or invoices that occur — even if they weren’t his fault in the first place.
The combination of preparation, communication, and accountability he embodies daily in sales are a reflection of the qualities Geis learned about success when coaching on the gridiron. They are also the traits his customers love, along with his humility.
Geis is honored that a customer felt strongly enough about his service that they took the time to endorse him as a Sales Leader.
“That makes me feel good, just knowing that I'm more than just supplies to someone,” says Geis. “It brings a lot of satisfaction and makes you want to continue to get better.”
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