June 28, 2024 • 29 mins
In this episode, "The Human Approach to Selling," we dive into the art of building genuine connections in the sales world with Steven Rogers, the Southwest Regional Sales Manager for Inteplast. Hosted by Nancy Ridlen, this week's episode brings you insightful conversations and practical advice on fostering meaningful relationships with clients. Steven shares his approach to connecting with new prospects, from researching their business to leveraging resources for deeper insights. He emphasizes the importance of transparency, honesty, and building authentic relationships. Learn how a simple smile can break down barriers and foster mutual understanding.
Tune in to hear Steven's stories of both successes and challenges, including memorable encounters with potential clients. Discover his unwavering determination, his philosophy on knowing when to walk away, and his belief in never giving up. Steven's background has instilled a team spirit that he brings into his sales career. He values his sales team as family and believes in the power of collaboration and mutual support. Nancy highlights Steven’s genuine nature and his ability to motivate and teach those around him. His keys to success will open doors and emphasize the importance of being prepared, following through on promises, and learning from failures.
Join us for inspiring conversations, practical tips, and a behind-the-scenes look at the world of sales through Steven’s eyes. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, "The Human Approach to Selling" offers valuable lessons and a whole lot of heart.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Confessions Beyond the Food.
I'm your host, Nancy Redland.
Let's dig in and get inspired.
Hello, welcome back toConfessions Beyond the Food.
So today I have Stephen Rogers.
He's the Southwest RegionalSales Manager for Interplast.
(00:21):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you, Nancy.
It's great to be here thismorning with you.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
No, I'm really excited, Steven.
You are one of the funnestpeople to be around.
I mean, you get stuff done, butyou're so fun.
So I'm really excited to shareyour energy and what we're going
to talk about today.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, thank you, I do have a passion for our industry
and I have a passion for peopleand working with people and
just enjoy what I do a lot and Ithink that kind of comes
through, I hope to.
That's my.
My mission is to portray thatto everyone I'm around.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yeah Well, today we're going to focus
specifically on Steven.
Never meets a stranger.
I mean never.
I mean he is besties withsomeone within like five minutes
and as a salesperson, I meannever.
I mean he is besties withsomeone within like five minutes
and as a salesperson, I meanthat is like the goal right.
Oh absolutely yeah, so we'regoing to dive into that today.
So um so, steven, so tell us,like you are, you have a
(01:21):
prospect.
You've never met them.
Correct, what's your strategy?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Well, my first strategy is to get to know their
business, know what they'redoing, what they're about.
You know, of course, today,with the Internet, back in my
day, when I started, we didn'thave the Internet, and so now
we've got this great resourcewhere we can dig up a lot of
information on not necessarilythe company, but also people
through LinkedIn and differentavenues that we have access to.
(01:45):
So I really try to drive andunderstand as much as I can
about a company so that whenthey're talking to us about our
business or their business, thatwe can comprehend and go next
level with them to try to helpthem do what they need to do.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Okay, so once you have gotten all the, you know
their information and everything.
So how do you approach them?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, I mean it's, it's simply old school.
Uh, I don't take no for ananswer easily.
Um, you know, I think you guysknow that for me I, uh, I am
been known to be tenacious andbasically, until someone just
tells me to leave me alone orget the heck out of here, never
come back, I'm going to be onthem.
So I start with phone calls.
(02:29):
I might start with an email,just.
However.
I can get in touch with thatindividual specifically that I'm
trying to target and typically,if I can't find the target
individual, I'll work through areceptionist or whoever I need
to work through To your point.
I really don't meet strangers.
So I feel like I can workmyself through that maze to
(02:50):
drive to that right person.
And once I get to that person,then I feel like that.
That's when all game is on, andit's not just a game, it's real
for me.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Butter him up.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I don't really feel like I have to butter him up.
I mean I don't know, I justkind of let my personality take
charge.
I mean I feel like I'm astraight shooter, very honest,
open about my business.
I think sometimes I may be alittle overly honest, but in our
world today I don't thinktransparency is the key.
(03:21):
It's the key to our industry.
They can find out, just like Ifound out about them, as much
about me as as I did them.
So just be honest about whatyou can do, what your
capabilities are, and you know,I guess one of the things when I
first meet a person is is justto try to give them a smile.
And I mean, once that smilehappens for both of you and
(03:46):
you're there, in that instantall inhibitions drop away and
you're able to really kind offocus on getting to know each
other, getting to know thebusiness.
What are the opportunities hereto help each other?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So has there ever been a time where you didn't get
a smile?
Oh, absolutely so.
Has there ever been a timewhere you didn't get a smile?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Oh, absolutely so.
Probably one of the funnieststories I could tell you was
it's been many years ago I wasup in Topeka, kansas, calling on
a salad company up there and Ihad at that time I was working
in distribution.
I had a manufacturer's rep withus and we'd gone in to meet
with the head buyer at thisparticular company and she'd
(04:28):
given us the appointment.
We had an hour and we walked inand she shut her computer off
and everything was good and I'man older guy, as you can tell.
But the thing on her computerwhen she had it off, that every
time she got an email instead ofa ding or whatever.
It was the quote from Cool HandLuke.
(04:54):
What we have here is a failureto communicate and I swear if
that thing went off once, itwent off 10 or 15 times with Bob
and I there and it.
I mean it's so funny today andI mean I know this morning we
kind of talked about that alittle bit and I shared that
with you and uh, just the quoteitself uh, that movie is, uh,
that's one of the top.
Well, we read about it, it wastop 11, uh, movie quotes.
(05:17):
So, uh, it was definitely a.
Uh, it's a funny quote to beginwith.
And just the guy that was theactor in that, the way he says
it and his, his passion wassaying it the way he said it
with his robustness oh man, itjust made that.
Call it made me want to laugh,but now look back at it and I
really laugh about it.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, I mean, how did you sit there with a straight
face?
I mean, if this is going on inthe background and she's like
sitting there stoically without,how do you not smile?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, at that time I think I was more perturbed than
I was happy because, like I'mtrying to get through to a point
here with what we were tryingto offer them, which I felt like
was a very legitimate, uh,quality sales meeting that we
had put together in apresentation we had for this
coach they were a big company,um, so we really had a great
presentation for that.
(06:06):
I gained lots of sales throughthis kind of presentation before
and really had a good thing wewere trying to share and,
needless to say, that call isone that I can say did not go
well for Steven Rogers.
That's one of the negativesover here.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah Well, I don't think you have many negatives on
that side of the board.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh, there's a lot of failure.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
But so I'm curious about when do you walk away,
like you know, when you're goingafter somebody and like when do
you just say like hey, thisisn't going to work.
Do you have any?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Well, I mean, you got to look at your timing.
You know how much time do youhave to access that.
You got to respect yourcustomer's time and you know you
don't want to feel like a pest,but I mean, you know, I guess
one of the things that I lay outthere, you and I are calling on
a customer together right now,today, and I have pestered this
gentleman a few times and I feellike I'm being kind of a pest
(07:04):
to him.
But I basically told him, likeI tell you, until you tell me to
walk away, I'm not going towalk away.
I mean the opportunity is bigenough for us to continue to
pursue, although not that I justleave it sitting there.
And you know there will come apoint in time where I will find
another fish to fry, if you will, or another piece to put in my
pipeline that will take theplace of that one that I'll
(07:25):
spend more time with.
And not to say that I don'tcircle back, I can't say I
really ever give up unless I'mjust told to quit.
I mean I just don't like toquit.
You know I'm an ex -athlete.
You know I grew up an athlete,grew up in an athletic family.
Brothers played ball.
I grew up an athlete, grew upin an athletic family.
Brothers played ball, daughterplayed ball.
(07:46):
I mean it's just the passionthat you have for the game.
To me, sales is like a game ina way, but to me it goes beyond
that.
It's more or less.
I want to see both my customerwin and my company win and
everyone involved win.
To me it's a team thing, andwhen we all win together it
(08:08):
becomes a lot of fun for all ofus.
In our industry, right, we buildgreat relationships.
We love being around otherpeople and those times when
we're just outside of worksometimes we've been in some of
those situations where we're outto a dinner or what have you
that you truly enjoy theseindividuals, that you're around
and you get to know them, thatthey're true people too.
(08:28):
They're not just a buying pieceof meat, if you will, buying
stuff from us.
That they're truly.
They got family, they gotissues, they got personalities,
they got things going on intheir life, just like we do,
nancy.
So I take a real strong feelingtoward that.
I mean family and that is veryimportant to me and I look at my
(08:50):
sales family as part of myfamily.
I mean that's just how I goabout it every day.
People I work with.
I want them to feel likethey're loved by me and they are
and I just give that passionaway to everybody.
I think that's just part of whomy demeanor is.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Well, I have to back that as a fact checker 100%,
because you are the kindestperson and once you're in the
circle, I mean you take care ofus and we go into battle
together, we lock arms, and Ithink that's really.
It's really fun about beingaround you and working with you
(09:25):
and just learning from you,Because I'm not only you know,
just a sales rep.
I also like call Steven andsaid, Steven, I need some advice
, because I know that you knowyou care, like I care about our
customer.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And I care about your company.
I care about Nancy and thepeople you have working for you
and I care about your company, Icare about Nancy and the people
you have working for you.
I mean, you know, at the end ofthe day, my mission this year
when I started this year withour company I had my own mission
statement for myself is thatit's not just about me and my
well-being of my family andsupporting my family.
The company does that for meand helps me out.
(10:03):
But as long as I'm successful,they will continue to provide
for me.
But at the end of the day, ifI'm not successful, the people
that are working in our plants,that are, you know, making our
bags and doing the things thatthey do for us, for our
customers, if we're not beingsuccessful, then you know their
families are suffering.
So that was kind of well stillis.
My mission statement for thisyear is to continue to press
hard, win, win, win.
(10:25):
I know I'm going to have lossesin there, but the more I win,
the more everybody wins In our.
In a Plath's family, yourfamily, I mean we all are
affected.
It just is a trickle downeffect.
I hate using that word withpolitics because I just think
that we don't see the trickledown effect in politics.
But I truly want to see thetrickle down, and it is is if we
all win, we all get a piece ofthat.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yeah, I think that is an amazing approach to think
beyond just what you're gettingout of the deal with the
customer, but also the peoplethat make the products, and it
makes it super personal andTracy and I we were all just
talking before this and Tracymentioned you know, you're just
so genuine and it really works,is real, like it's not fake.
It's not you're, you're, you'rejust you like me or love me.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I'm sorry people, that that's how it is I'm.
I'm one of those guys thatmaybe I just get too close, I
don't know.
But I just love people and Ilove the people that I meet and
I try to be genuine about thatand it's really not a try.
It's just how I was raised bymy mom and my dad and my family
that I grew up with.
I'm going to get a tear out ofthat, but no, it's just thank
(11:36):
you.
I mean, you know I don't workto be genuine, it's just who I
am.
I want to bring that across topeople because I truly care.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
That is so cool.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I mean, probably one of the greatest things I can
state today is, when we win insales, you know, whether it's a
small piece of business or anextremely large piece of
business, or whatever that piecemay be in a success, I still
get, you know, goosebumps and Ialways say to myself, if that
doesn't come, then maybe it'stime for me to get out.
(12:06):
But I still enjoy the thrill ofthe hunt, the thrill of going
after the business and gainingthe business, and then when
you're awarded that opportunity,your customers trusting you to
take that business on it reallyis satisfying.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
So with everything changing in technology and I
know I know we hate to bring itup, but COVID kind of made
decision makers you know they'renot working as much at the
office Like, how does thatchange in, like, with your world
and your approach?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Well, in my world it really didn't change much for me
, I mean, since geez, once Imoved into a management role.
And you know I travel.
Right now I travel eight statesand manage eight states for our
company.
But with traveling I work fromhome.
I was doing it before COVID.
(13:00):
But, like I tell everybody, if Ihave people all the time, tell
me I don't know how you do that,I don't know how you do that,
and I always say it's a routine.
And I probably look back at oneof my good friends that he has
an office that's an executivesuite and basically he goes to
work every day in his shorts andgolf shirt and he's got his
suit and tie that he keeps inhis closet and that's his
(13:22):
Superman room.
He goes in and changes.
So it's the same thing withSuperman he goes and changes in
his phone booth, which we don'thave anymore.
But you know, I think you havethat routine that gets you into
that Superman suit or thatmindset, I guess is what I'm
trying to say to get out thereand go do what you do, because I
think that's important.
(13:43):
I mean, you know I have a verystrict routine every day about
how I get up and what I doimmediately before I do anything
else.
And sometimes I have to get outof that.
It's not comfortable for me.
I like to be in that comfortzone and feel like I'm prepared
and you know I always look at mycalendar what I got coming up
to be prepared for the next dayand what's coming up ahead of
(14:03):
that.
Because you know one of thethings with traveling, like
you're mentioning with COVID andworking from home, you always
got to be prepared.
You know things bad.
You got to remember you got.
You don't have it just to beable to walk out and plant and
grab it.
It's something you got to orderin.
It's going to take a littletime.
So there's organization that'sinvolved, but it's changed.
It's changed for a lot ofpeople, but there's still people
that just don't exist.
Well, in that my wife will tellyou she can't exist.
(14:26):
Well, I mean, she does it, shecan do it.
I think if she got into aregular routine of doing it, she
could.
I mean, most of us have, I mean, but a lot of people are
pushing back to office too.
Did I answer that question all?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
right, yeah, you did.
And then is it hard to get tothe decision maker with the
changes, or?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I don't think so.
I mean, as you can see, we'resitting right here on a video
right now, today, uh, but doinga podcast, I mean you know you
can do.
You can do, you know, with theZoom and the Teams and
everything we have available tous today.
I think you know, COVIDdefinitely brought that
technology to the forefront fora lot of us, where we don't have
to be necessarily in front ofsomeone.
Although I'm very old school, Idon't much care for it.
(15:06):
I mean I do it, but it's not myfirst preference To me.
Being in front of a person,being with the individual
head-to-head, close by to me, Ican read their faces better.
I can understand them better.
They're in their comfort zone,hidden behind a computer.
I say it all the time to mydaughter and to my wife
(15:27):
sometimes with text and phonecalls they're interpreted
different ways.
My wife.
Sometimes with text and phonecalls, they're interpreted
different ways.
And when you're sitting withsomeone face to face, how can
that ever be taking the place ofa computer technology?
You can't read theidiosyncrasies between the two
individuals, the body.
You know how that's looking toyou or how you feel about that
(15:49):
statement they made so to me.
That's why it's so important tome to be face-to-face.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yeah, we're all about that face-to-face engagement,
oh my goodness, yes.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
And Matt, my boss states all the time you know,
guys, we need to be moreface-to-face.
I mean, we got used to thattechnology.
A lot of people still utilizethat, but he presses all of me
and my team that we need to beface to face.
It's not a hard thing for me,because that's just how I go
about it.
I mean, like I said earlier,I'm an old school guy, so the
technology is still new to me.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah, but I mean it's cool that you're adapting that
into you know the old school andI think you've got because you
can't get away from you know thehunt, the, you know the hunt,
that.
You know the pursuit, theproposal and the closed process.
I mean that's true Sales isthat if you just we, we always
(16:41):
say show up, follow up, and thennow it's close it.
You know, close it.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, I mean, and follow up is.
You know that tenacious followup is the key.
Uh, follow up, follow up,follow up, because eventually
you know somebody will fail.
I mean we fail on our sidesometimes and you hate it when a
customer has to go that otherdirection.
But you know, if you do failand you know why you failed and
(17:05):
you know why you lost thatbusiness, it's a lot easier to
accept than why you justswitched for a penny nickel dime
.
You know it's understandable.
But, yes, the follow-up is veryimportant.
But being at that right place,right time I mean you can look
at me today and where I am todaywith my company has a lot to do
with being at the right place,the right time and building the
(17:27):
right relationship at the righttime.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
And putting yourself out there.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
And putting myself out there and also doing what I
said I would do.
I mean to me, you know, makingsales calls is one of the things
, but when you're sitting therein front of that person and you
say, hey, I'm going to have youa quote back in a week or I'll
get you your samples back, youknow, do that in a timely manner
and you need to do it.
And you know, if it's a week,try to have it in four days.
(17:51):
I mean, you know the week isgiving you the length of the
procrastination time, but if youcan do it earlier it shows you
care.
I mean to me, when you setthose timelines on yourself and
you execute before that, thenit's showing them.
It may not be visible to them,but it also shows them that you,
you do care about theirbusiness and you're doing what
you're saying you're going to doshows them that you do care
(18:12):
about their business and you'redoing what you're saying you're
going to do.
And I always believe in puttingthose little caveats in my
calls of I will do this for youand making that and executing
that, Like I said, whether it'sa sample, whether it's hey, they
want somebody's name, orwhatever happens, I mean, we get
all kinds of questions whenwe're out there, so it's just a
matter of that happening.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So what is your system for like, follow up and
organization?
Like, do you put that you havea planner, old school, are you
putting this up in your phone?
What are you doing now?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
I really don't have a planner.
I guess probably the easiestway for me to do it is I mean,
we're email prevalent today withmost everything.
I mean, of course, text andthings of that nature.
But I guess, the way I look atmy email, my email is my tickler
.
So once it moves from my inboxand I have followed up to it and
it goes to my sent box of whereit's sent, my sent box is my
(19:05):
tickler.
That's where I go daily to seewhere I am in that process and
it'll tell you.
You know, last week, week prior, it can tell you the last time
you made that contact.
So you know it's a very goodorganizational tool for me.
That's how I use it.
I mean a lot of people think,well, man, that's pretty simple,
but why make it more difficult?
I mean, you know we used tohave the old folders back in the
(19:26):
day before we had laptops andeverything to do.
Excuse me, but I just use myset file in my Outlook.
I love that I mean it's you'vesent up.
You've sent the information.
You have all the informationthere.
Why recreate the animal andhave it in a folder or anything
else, when you can have it rightthere at your disposal?
Speaker 1 (19:43):
That's awesome.
You have to be just.
I love that you talked aboutdiscipline a couple minutes ago
about you know, know setting aschedule and setting up.
You know being prepared beingprepared.
I mean not that, I'm justlistening to your thought
process and you know beingdisciplined, being prepared, and
then the organization you knowfault say you're gonna follow.
(20:05):
If you're gonna follow up,follow up correct and do it.
the other thing that I I loveabout you is you could deliver
really tough news and thisperson still loves you.
How do you do that, tell me?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Well, again, I think it comes with the trust.
I think it comes with therelationship.
I mean and you know it's notcomfortable.
I mean you know when our carinsurance goes up or homeowners
insurance or whatever, goes upon us, I mean our groceries are
up, I mean it's not pleasant forus, but it is a fact and we're
(20:40):
all aware of what's happeningaround us.
And I just try to propose it ina way that, hey, you know, I
know this is not what you wantto hear or whatever, but at the
end of the day it is what it is.
And here's the documents to backit up.
It's not an easy process butthere again, I try to deliver it
with a smile and I don't knowthat might be considered a fake
smile, because it is hard todeliver that.
(21:03):
But I think customers in ourworld today are more accepting
of that news than they were backin the other days of my sales
career.
Typically, if you threw outthat price or you had to raise
pricing, it was just unbearable.
You know you had almost achance of losing all your
business and going to gosomewhere else.
But in today's world I thinkyou've built that trust enough
(21:28):
where they can trust you thatit's legit for you to come back
with it.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
But I think you have enough open conversations
building up to that that theyunderstand too, Right.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
So they're not blindsided, they're not
blindsided at all.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You know, I mean I, you know, in our industry with
plastic we do follow the resinindicators.
I look at that monthly.
We get a report monthly thattells us what's going on in the
resin market.
I have different situations setup with every one of my
different customers with how Iaddress that with them.
Some of them want to know everymonth.
Other ones don't want to knowat all.
Some of them just like, hey,just send me my price every six
(22:02):
months or whatever.
It's all different.
Everybody's got a different waythey want their pricing handled
and it's just understandingthat.
Again, I think that gets backto understand the customer's
needs and doing what we got todo for them.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Right, right, and that's what it's about is.
And you know, taking that, youknow prospect or stranger to you
know, I mean to hey, I'm open,you know, to working with you,
to hey, I like working with youand you're going to keep
following up, you're not goingto just leave me hanging Correct
Even in the hard times, andthen they become a friend,
(22:36):
exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I mean I had that same example yesterday.
One of my customers called meyesterday.
They're looking for a printedbag.
They're wanting to move it awayfrom a competitor of ours and
he says Steven.
He says I really like what Isee here, but your lead times
don't look like they're going tofit for me because by the time
they get here our customers maybe going to be out.
So I tried to offer him anotheroption to keep our lead times
(23:00):
kind of in existence.
And he says, well, the customeris kind of a difficult customer
.
And I said I understand that.
And I said, well, let me, letme make some phone calls.
I mean, so I called my peopleat my plant, I called my graphic
artist to see how fast we couldturn that art and got a, got an
idea of what we can do andwe're actually able to maybe
turn this thing instead of a sixweek deal down to four.
(23:21):
If we can do it in four to five, he's going to give us the PO.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
So to me he trusts me enough to know that I can do
that for him, because I took theextra time and told him I call
him back and I think I had threeconversations with him
yesterday.
So I mean, you know, and Ithink there, when once you do
something like that, he'llyou've shown your value.
You know this guy if I give hima obstacle, he knows how to go
(23:45):
around it or hurdle it.
Or you know how to do what wegot to do with salespeople,
because we deal with obstaclesevery day.
I mean, whether it's justcoming in from work and having
an obstacle, traffic, it's anobstacle, so we have them every
day.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
For reals, I mean.
But obstacles are like you said, are some are great ways to win
business.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Obstacles are opportunities.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yes, Opportunities to shine, to show off, you know,
even if you have the business,but just to help walk them
through options and and be there, um, because you want to be
there for them so that they cango to their boss and have all
the info have all the, you knowavenues.
You want to make them look goodtoo, you know for their boss, I
(24:26):
mean.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Another prime example of that is is uh, had a
customer recently that kind ofslapped my hand about some
business that I had taken anddone and it wasn't really in
their corporate best interest, Iguess from her viewpoint, and
truly trust that was correct andapologize for that.
But then I found out that alsomy competitor in that instance
(24:47):
was getting an opportunity tobook some new business for her.
So I turned that obstacle allthe way around to give me an
opportunity for all of it.
So go figure, we'll see how itworks out.
We haven't landed that one yet,but we're working on it.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
That's awesome, Steven.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
That's an obstacle, just to turn it around and make
it fun.
And you know, again, it's doingwhat I do.
I just like I said, I justenjoy what I do.
I think that's, I think, aslong as we enjoy what we do.
Nancy, I mean, you love yourpassion that you guys have here
at W3.
And I see that that's why we'repartners and we really spin off
each other and it's really agreat place for both of us.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, and just, I mean you're just warm and people
like I want to be your friend,you know I want, I, I always
enjoy our friends.
Yes and so.
But he's just Stephen, you'rejust so kind and you're helpful
and and people see that and thecustomer sees that, and so, um,
(25:44):
I'm just really excited that weget to work with you and you got
to share some of your secrets,your sauce on turning all these
strangers into besties, so, butI can't let you leave without
your confession.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Oh, what was that confession?
You have it written down for me.
What was going to confess?
I mean, OK, helpful hint.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
OK, well, stephen literally never meets a stranger
, and he used that to hisbenefit at our Christmas party.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, uh, I've been invited up,my wife and I.
Nancy invited my wife and I upto come up to Dallas.
We live in Houston, so we cameup for the Christmas party with
W3 and got to be with the teamhere and really have a great
time.
We had a great event, w3 andgot to be with the team here and
really have a great time.
We had a great event Nancy andher team had planned, but it was
an ugly sweater Christmas partyand, needless to say, I don't
(26:37):
like keeping anything ugly.
Maybe this shirt appears ugly toyou, but it's not ugly to me,
but anyway.
So I kind of put my wife onthat.
I call my wife the hawk becauseI can put her on something and
she'll hawk it out and find itfor me.
So, anyway, she finds this uglysweater on the internet and I
got busy and she was busy doingthings with her decorating that
(26:57):
she does and I completely forgot.
And I was with one of myfriends and we were at a bar and
people were starting to walk inwith these ugly sweaters.
They'd been to a party.
Well, this guy walks into thebar, total stranger.
Never met him before in my life.
And he had the sweater on thatI wanted to wear for this party.
So I looked at him and says hey, dude, I love that sweater.
(27:20):
Anyway, I can borrow it, rentit or buy it from you.
And his reaction was priceless.
He laughed.
I mean, it was ugly, it'spretty hideous.
But anyway, long story short,the gentleman was very nice.
I said, hey, I'll buy you adrink if you'll let me borrow it
, or whatever he says it's yours.
So before he left he tapped meon the shoulder.
He says hey, I got anothershirt out in the truck.
(27:41):
And he went out in his truckand changed the shirt off and
gave me his sweater.
I took it home so I could washit and bring it up to wear and I
got it back to him afterChristmas.
But yes, that was one of thosethings where I never meet a
stranger.
I don't know that guy from Adam, but I didn't know that guy
from Adam.
But now he's a new friend ofmine.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
You can't even make that up.
I mean, that is so awesome andhe's so competitive, like he
wanted it to be super ugly, yes,and it was hideous.
Yeah, and he's like I had towin the contest, nancy, I had to
bring it and he won ourChristmas sweater party and I
didn't even know the back storyon that.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I didn't at the time.
No.
Okay, so we will post oh,you're going to post a picture
of that ugly thing, can we?
Absolutely.
It's awesome, it's hideous.
I was embarrassed to walk itthrough a hotel.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
And then we had to go out to dinner and to our event
that evening in it.
So, it's like I had to show it.
It's like it's one thing if youjust go to one party with it,
but to have to go out in publicit was kind of can I hide now?
Oh.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Steven, you know, you were like showing that puffing
up.
I was rocking it.
Yeah, you were rocking it youwere rocking it.
Well, I'm so thankful that youjoined me today.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, so I hope to have youback soon.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Sounds great, we'll do it again.
Okay, all right, thanks.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Thanks, guys.
Thanks for watching orlistening to Confessions Beyond
the Food.
We'll see you next time.
For more inspiration, followour social media at W3Cells
Please like, comment andsubscribe.
You know all the things wewould love to connect with you.
Welcome to Confessions Beyond the Food.
I'm your host, Nancy Redland.
Let's dig in and get inspired.
Hello, welcome back toConfessions Beyond the Food.
So today I have Stephen Rogers.
He's the Southwest RegionalSales Manager for Interplast.
(00:21):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you, Nancy.
It's great to be here thismorning with you.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
No, I'm really excited, Steven.
You are one of the funnestpeople to be around.
I mean, you get stuff done, butyou're so fun.
So I'm really excited to shareyour energy and what we're going
to talk about today.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, thank you, I do have a passion for our industry
and I have a passion for peopleand working with people and
just enjoy what I do a lot and Ithink that kind of comes
through, I hope to.
That's my.
My mission is to portray thatto everyone I'm around.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yeah Well, today we're going to focus
specifically on Steven.
Never meets a stranger.
I mean never.
I mean he is besties withsomeone within like five minutes
and as a salesperson, I meannever.
I mean he is besties withsomeone within like five minutes
and as a salesperson, I meanthat is like the goal right.
Oh absolutely yeah, so we'regoing to dive into that today.
So um so, steven, so tell us,like you are, you have a
(01:21):
prospect.
You've never met them.
Correct, what's your strategy?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Well, my first strategy is to get to know their
business, know what they'redoing, what they're about.
You know, of course, today,with the Internet, back in my
day, when I started, we didn'thave the Internet, and so now
we've got this great resourcewhere we can dig up a lot of
information on not necessarilythe company, but also people
through LinkedIn and differentavenues that we have access to.
(01:45):
So I really try to drive andunderstand as much as I can
about a company so that whenthey're talking to us about our
business or their business, thatwe can comprehend and go next
level with them to try to helpthem do what they need to do.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Okay, so once you have gotten all the, you know
their information and everything.
So how do you approach them?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, I mean it's, it's simply old school.
Uh, I don't take no for ananswer easily.
Um, you know, I think you guysknow that for me I, uh, I am
been known to be tenacious andbasically, until someone just
tells me to leave me alone orget the heck out of here, never
come back, I'm going to be onthem.
So I start with phone calls.
(02:29):
I might start with an email,just.
However.
I can get in touch with thatindividual specifically that I'm
trying to target and typically,if I can't find the target
individual, I'll work through areceptionist or whoever I need
to work through To your point.
I really don't meet strangers.
So I feel like I can workmyself through that maze to
(02:50):
drive to that right person.
And once I get to that person,then I feel like that.
That's when all game is on, andit's not just a game, it's real
for me.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Butter him up.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I don't really feel like I have to butter him up.
I mean I don't know, I justkind of let my personality take
charge.
I mean I feel like I'm astraight shooter, very honest,
open about my business.
I think sometimes I may be alittle overly honest, but in our
world today I don't thinktransparency is the key.
(03:21):
It's the key to our industry.
They can find out, just like Ifound out about them, as much
about me as as I did them.
So just be honest about whatyou can do, what your
capabilities are, and you know,I guess one of the things when I
first meet a person is is justto try to give them a smile.
And I mean, once that smilehappens for both of you and
(03:46):
you're there, in that instantall inhibitions drop away and
you're able to really kind offocus on getting to know each
other, getting to know thebusiness.
What are the opportunities hereto help each other?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So has there ever been a time where you didn't get
a smile?
Oh, absolutely so.
Has there ever been a timewhere you didn't get a smile?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Oh, absolutely so.
Probably one of the funnieststories I could tell you was
it's been many years ago I wasup in Topeka, kansas, calling on
a salad company up there and Ihad at that time I was working
in distribution.
I had a manufacturer's rep withus and we'd gone in to meet
with the head buyer at thisparticular company and she'd
(04:28):
given us the appointment.
We had an hour and we walked inand she shut her computer off
and everything was good and I'man older guy, as you can tell.
But the thing on her computerwhen she had it off, that every
time she got an email instead ofa ding or whatever.
It was the quote from Cool HandLuke.
(04:54):
What we have here is a failureto communicate and I swear if
that thing went off once, itwent off 10 or 15 times with Bob
and I there and it.
I mean it's so funny today andI mean I know this morning we
kind of talked about that alittle bit and I shared that
with you and uh, just the quoteitself uh, that movie is, uh,
that's one of the top.
Well, we read about it, it wastop 11, uh, movie quotes.
(05:17):
So, uh, it was definitely a.
Uh, it's a funny quote to beginwith.
And just the guy that was theactor in that, the way he says
it and his, his passion wassaying it the way he said it
with his robustness oh man, itjust made that.
Call it made me want to laugh,but now look back at it and I
really laugh about it.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, I mean, how did you sit there with a straight
face?
I mean, if this is going on inthe background and she's like
sitting there stoically without,how do you not smile?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, at that time I think I was more perturbed than
I was happy because, like I'mtrying to get through to a point
here with what we were tryingto offer them, which I felt like
was a very legitimate, uh,quality sales meeting that we
had put together in apresentation we had for this
coach they were a big company,um, so we really had a great
presentation for that.
(06:06):
I gained lots of sales throughthis kind of presentation before
and really had a good thing wewere trying to share and,
needless to say, that call isone that I can say did not go
well for Steven Rogers.
That's one of the negativesover here.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah Well, I don't think you have many negatives on
that side of the board.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh, there's a lot of failure.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
But so I'm curious about when do you walk away,
like you know, when you're goingafter somebody and like when do
you just say like hey, thisisn't going to work.
Do you have any?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Well, I mean, you got to look at your timing.
You know how much time do youhave to access that.
You got to respect yourcustomer's time and you know you
don't want to feel like a pest,but I mean, you know, I guess
one of the things that I lay outthere, you and I are calling on
a customer together right now,today, and I have pestered this
gentleman a few times and I feellike I'm being kind of a pest
(07:04):
to him.
But I basically told him, likeI tell you, until you tell me to
walk away, I'm not going towalk away.
I mean the opportunity is bigenough for us to continue to
pursue, although not that I justleave it sitting there.
And you know there will come apoint in time where I will find
another fish to fry, if you will, or another piece to put in my
pipeline that will take theplace of that one that I'll
(07:25):
spend more time with.
And not to say that I don'tcircle back, I can't say I
really ever give up unless I'mjust told to quit.
I mean I just don't like toquit.
You know I'm an ex -athlete.
You know I grew up an athlete,grew up in an athletic family.
Brothers played ball.
I grew up an athlete, grew upin an athletic family.
Brothers played ball, daughterplayed ball.
(07:46):
I mean it's just the passionthat you have for the game.
To me, sales is like a game ina way, but to me it goes beyond
that.
It's more or less.
I want to see both my customerwin and my company win and
everyone involved win.
To me it's a team thing, andwhen we all win together it
(08:08):
becomes a lot of fun for all ofus.
In our industry, right, we buildgreat relationships.
We love being around otherpeople and those times when
we're just outside of worksometimes we've been in some of
those situations where we're outto a dinner or what have you
that you truly enjoy theseindividuals, that you're around
and you get to know them, thatthey're true people too.
(08:28):
They're not just a buying pieceof meat, if you will, buying
stuff from us.
That they're truly.
They got family, they gotissues, they got personalities,
they got things going on intheir life, just like we do,
nancy.
So I take a real strong feelingtoward that.
I mean family and that is veryimportant to me and I look at my
(08:50):
sales family as part of myfamily.
I mean that's just how I goabout it every day.
People I work with.
I want them to feel likethey're loved by me and they are
and I just give that passionaway to everybody.
I think that's just part of whomy demeanor is.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Well, I have to back that as a fact checker 100%,
because you are the kindestperson and once you're in the
circle, I mean you take care ofus and we go into battle
together, we lock arms, and Ithink that's really.
It's really fun about beingaround you and working with you
(09:25):
and just learning from you,Because I'm not only you know,
just a sales rep.
I also like call Steven andsaid, Steven, I need some advice
, because I know that you knowyou care, like I care about our
customer.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And I care about your company.
I care about Nancy and thepeople you have working for you
and I care about your company, Icare about Nancy and the people
you have working for you.
I mean, you know, at the end ofthe day, my mission this year
when I started this year withour company I had my own mission
statement for myself is thatit's not just about me and my
well-being of my family andsupporting my family.
The company does that for meand helps me out.
(10:03):
But as long as I'm successful,they will continue to provide
for me.
But at the end of the day, ifI'm not successful, the people
that are working in our plants,that are, you know, making our
bags and doing the things thatthey do for us, for our
customers, if we're not beingsuccessful, then you know their
families are suffering.
So that was kind of well stillis.
My mission statement for thisyear is to continue to press
hard, win, win, win.
(10:25):
I know I'm going to have lossesin there, but the more I win,
the more everybody wins In our.
In a Plath's family, yourfamily, I mean we all are
affected.
It just is a trickle downeffect.
I hate using that word withpolitics because I just think
that we don't see the trickledown effect in politics.
But I truly want to see thetrickle down, and it is is if we
all win, we all get a piece ofthat.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yeah, I think that is an amazing approach to think
beyond just what you're gettingout of the deal with the
customer, but also the peoplethat make the products, and it
makes it super personal andTracy and I we were all just
talking before this and Tracymentioned you know, you're just
so genuine and it really works,is real, like it's not fake.
It's not you're, you're, you'rejust you like me or love me.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I'm sorry people, that that's how it is I'm.
I'm one of those guys thatmaybe I just get too close, I
don't know.
But I just love people and Ilove the people that I meet and
I try to be genuine about thatand it's really not a try.
It's just how I was raised bymy mom and my dad and my family
that I grew up with.
I'm going to get a tear out ofthat, but no, it's just thank
(11:36):
you.
I mean, you know I don't workto be genuine, it's just who I
am.
I want to bring that across topeople because I truly care.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
That is so cool.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I mean, probably one of the greatest things I can
state today is, when we win insales, you know, whether it's a
small piece of business or anextremely large piece of
business, or whatever that piecemay be in a success, I still
get, you know, goosebumps and Ialways say to myself, if that
doesn't come, then maybe it'stime for me to get out.
(12:06):
But I still enjoy the thrill ofthe hunt, the thrill of going
after the business and gainingthe business, and then when
you're awarded that opportunity,your customers trusting you to
take that business on it reallyis satisfying.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
So with everything changing in technology and I
know I know we hate to bring itup, but COVID kind of made
decision makers you know they'renot working as much at the
office Like, how does thatchange in, like, with your world
and your approach?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Well, in my world it really didn't change much for me
, I mean, since geez, once Imoved into a management role.
And you know I travel.
Right now I travel eight statesand manage eight states for our
company.
But with traveling I work fromhome.
I was doing it before COVID.
(13:00):
But, like I tell everybody, if Ihave people all the time, tell
me I don't know how you do that,I don't know how you do that,
and I always say it's a routine.
And I probably look back at oneof my good friends that he has
an office that's an executivesuite and basically he goes to
work every day in his shorts andgolf shirt and he's got his
suit and tie that he keeps inhis closet and that's his
(13:22):
Superman room.
He goes in and changes.
So it's the same thing withSuperman he goes and changes in
his phone booth, which we don'thave anymore.
But you know, I think you havethat routine that gets you into
that Superman suit or thatmindset, I guess is what I'm
trying to say to get out thereand go do what you do, because I
think that's important.
(13:43):
I mean, you know I have a verystrict routine every day about
how I get up and what I doimmediately before I do anything
else.
And sometimes I have to get outof that.
It's not comfortable for me.
I like to be in that comfortzone and feel like I'm prepared
and you know I always look at mycalendar what I got coming up
to be prepared for the next dayand what's coming up ahead of
(14:03):
that.
Because you know one of thethings with traveling, like
you're mentioning with COVID andworking from home, you always
got to be prepared.
You know things bad.
You got to remember you got.
You don't have it just to beable to walk out and plant and
grab it.
It's something you got to orderin.
It's going to take a littletime.
So there's organization that'sinvolved, but it's changed.
It's changed for a lot ofpeople, but there's still people
that just don't exist.
Well, in that my wife will tellyou she can't exist.
(14:26):
Well, I mean, she does it, shecan do it.
I think if she got into aregular routine of doing it, she
could.
I mean, most of us have, I mean, but a lot of people are
pushing back to office too.
Did I answer that question all?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
right, yeah, you did.
And then is it hard to get tothe decision maker with the
changes, or?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I don't think so.
I mean, as you can see, we'resitting right here on a video
right now, today, uh, but doinga podcast, I mean you know you
can do.
You can do, you know, with theZoom and the Teams and
everything we have available tous today.
I think you know, COVIDdefinitely brought that
technology to the forefront fora lot of us, where we don't have
to be necessarily in front ofsomeone.
Although I'm very old school, Idon't much care for it.
(15:06):
I mean I do it, but it's not myfirst preference To me.
Being in front of a person,being with the individual
head-to-head, close by to me, Ican read their faces better.
I can understand them better.
They're in their comfort zone,hidden behind a computer.
I say it all the time to mydaughter and to my wife
(15:27):
sometimes with text and phonecalls they're interpreted
different ways.
My wife.
Sometimes with text and phonecalls, they're interpreted
different ways.
And when you're sitting withsomeone face to face, how can
that ever be taking the place ofa computer technology?
You can't read theidiosyncrasies between the two
individuals, the body.
You know how that's looking toyou or how you feel about that
(15:49):
statement they made so to me.
That's why it's so important tome to be face-to-face.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yeah, we're all about that face-to-face engagement,
oh my goodness, yes.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
And Matt, my boss states all the time you know,
guys, we need to be moreface-to-face.
I mean, we got used to thattechnology.
A lot of people still utilizethat, but he presses all of me
and my team that we need to beface to face.
It's not a hard thing for me,because that's just how I go
about it.
I mean, like I said earlier,I'm an old school guy, so the
technology is still new to me.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah, but I mean it's cool that you're adapting that
into you know the old school andI think you've got because you
can't get away from you know thehunt, the, you know the hunt,
that.
You know the pursuit, theproposal and the closed process.
I mean that's true Sales isthat if you just we, we always
(16:41):
say show up, follow up, and thennow it's close it.
You know, close it.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, I mean, and follow up is.
You know that tenacious followup is the key.
Uh, follow up, follow up,follow up, because eventually
you know somebody will fail.
I mean we fail on our sidesometimes and you hate it when a
customer has to go that otherdirection.
But you know, if you do failand you know why you failed and
(17:05):
you know why you lost thatbusiness, it's a lot easier to
accept than why you justswitched for a penny nickel dime
.
You know it's understandable.
But, yes, the follow-up is veryimportant.
But being at that right place,right time I mean you can look
at me today and where I am todaywith my company has a lot to do
with being at the right place,the right time and building the
(17:27):
right relationship at the righttime.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
And putting yourself out there.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
And putting myself out there and also doing what I
said I would do.
I mean to me, you know, makingsales calls is one of the things
, but when you're sitting therein front of that person and you
say, hey, I'm going to have youa quote back in a week or I'll
get you your samples back, youknow, do that in a timely manner
and you need to do it.
And you know, if it's a week,try to have it in four days.
(17:51):
I mean, you know the week isgiving you the length of the
procrastination time, but if youcan do it earlier it shows you
care.
I mean to me, when you setthose timelines on yourself and
you execute before that, thenit's showing them.
It may not be visible to them,but it also shows them that you,
you do care about theirbusiness and you're doing what
you're saying you're going to doshows them that you do care
(18:12):
about their business and you'redoing what you're saying you're
going to do.
And I always believe in puttingthose little caveats in my
calls of I will do this for youand making that and executing
that, Like I said, whether it'sa sample, whether it's hey, they
want somebody's name, orwhatever happens, I mean, we get
all kinds of questions whenwe're out there, so it's just a
matter of that happening.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So what is your system for like, follow up and
organization?
Like, do you put that you havea planner, old school, are you
putting this up in your phone?
What are you doing now?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
I really don't have a planner.
I guess probably the easiestway for me to do it is I mean,
we're email prevalent today withmost everything.
I mean, of course, text andthings of that nature.
But I guess, the way I look atmy email, my email is my tickler
.
So once it moves from my inboxand I have followed up to it and
it goes to my sent box of whereit's sent, my sent box is my
(19:05):
tickler.
That's where I go daily to seewhere I am in that process and
it'll tell you.
You know, last week, week prior, it can tell you the last time
you made that contact.
So you know it's a very goodorganizational tool for me.
That's how I use it.
I mean a lot of people think,well, man, that's pretty simple,
but why make it more difficult?
I mean, you know we used tohave the old folders back in the
(19:26):
day before we had laptops andeverything to do.
Excuse me, but I just use myset file in my Outlook.
I love that I mean it's you'vesent up.
You've sent the information.
You have all the informationthere.
Why recreate the animal andhave it in a folder or anything
else, when you can have it rightthere at your disposal?
Speaker 1 (19:43):
That's awesome.
You have to be just.
I love that you talked aboutdiscipline a couple minutes ago
about you know, know setting aschedule and setting up.
You know being prepared beingprepared.
I mean not that, I'm justlistening to your thought
process and you know beingdisciplined, being prepared, and
then the organization you knowfault say you're gonna follow.
(20:05):
If you're gonna follow up,follow up correct and do it.
the other thing that I I loveabout you is you could deliver
really tough news and thisperson still loves you.
How do you do that, tell me?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Well, again, I think it comes with the trust.
I think it comes with therelationship.
I mean and you know it's notcomfortable.
I mean you know when our carinsurance goes up or homeowners
insurance or whatever, goes upon us, I mean our groceries are
up, I mean it's not pleasant forus, but it is a fact and we're
(20:40):
all aware of what's happeningaround us.
And I just try to propose it ina way that, hey, you know, I
know this is not what you wantto hear or whatever, but at the
end of the day it is what it is.
And here's the documents to backit up.
It's not an easy process butthere again, I try to deliver it
with a smile and I don't knowthat might be considered a fake
smile, because it is hard todeliver that.
(21:03):
But I think customers in ourworld today are more accepting
of that news than they were backin the other days of my sales
career.
Typically, if you threw outthat price or you had to raise
pricing, it was just unbearable.
You know you had almost achance of losing all your
business and going to gosomewhere else.
But in today's world I thinkyou've built that trust enough
(21:28):
where they can trust you thatit's legit for you to come back
with it.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
But I think you have enough open conversations
building up to that that theyunderstand too, Right.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
So they're not blindsided, they're not
blindsided at all.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You know, I mean I, you know, in our industry with
plastic we do follow the resinindicators.
I look at that monthly.
We get a report monthly thattells us what's going on in the
resin market.
I have different situations setup with every one of my
different customers with how Iaddress that with them.
Some of them want to know everymonth.
Other ones don't want to knowat all.
Some of them just like, hey,just send me my price every six
(22:02):
months or whatever.
It's all different.
Everybody's got a different waythey want their pricing handled
and it's just understandingthat.
Again, I think that gets backto understand the customer's
needs and doing what we got todo for them.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Right, right, and that's what it's about is.
And you know, taking that, youknow prospect or stranger to you
know, I mean to hey, I'm open,you know, to working with you,
to hey, I like working with youand you're going to keep
following up, you're not goingto just leave me hanging Correct
Even in the hard times, andthen they become a friend,
(22:36):
exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I mean I had that same example yesterday.
One of my customers called meyesterday.
They're looking for a printedbag.
They're wanting to move it awayfrom a competitor of ours and
he says Steven.
He says I really like what Isee here, but your lead times
don't look like they're going tofit for me because by the time
they get here our customers maybe going to be out.
So I tried to offer him anotheroption to keep our lead times
(23:00):
kind of in existence.
And he says, well, the customeris kind of a difficult customer
.
And I said I understand that.
And I said, well, let me, letme make some phone calls.
I mean, so I called my peopleat my plant, I called my graphic
artist to see how fast we couldturn that art and got a, got an
idea of what we can do andwe're actually able to maybe
turn this thing instead of a sixweek deal down to four.
(23:21):
If we can do it in four to five, he's going to give us the PO.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
So to me he trusts me enough to know that I can do
that for him, because I took theextra time and told him I call
him back and I think I had threeconversations with him
yesterday.
So I mean, you know, and Ithink there, when once you do
something like that, he'llyou've shown your value.
You know this guy if I give hima obstacle, he knows how to go
(23:45):
around it or hurdle it.
Or you know how to do what wegot to do with salespeople,
because we deal with obstaclesevery day.
I mean, whether it's justcoming in from work and having
an obstacle, traffic, it's anobstacle, so we have them every
day.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
For reals, I mean.
But obstacles are like you said, are some are great ways to win
business.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Obstacles are opportunities.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yes, Opportunities to shine, to show off, you know,
even if you have the business,but just to help walk them
through options and and be there, um, because you want to be
there for them so that they cango to their boss and have all
the info have all the, you knowavenues.
You want to make them look goodtoo, you know for their boss, I
(24:26):
mean.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Another prime example of that is is uh, had a
customer recently that kind ofslapped my hand about some
business that I had taken anddone and it wasn't really in
their corporate best interest, Iguess from her viewpoint, and
truly trust that was correct andapologize for that.
But then I found out that alsomy competitor in that instance
(24:47):
was getting an opportunity tobook some new business for her.
So I turned that obstacle allthe way around to give me an
opportunity for all of it.
So go figure, we'll see how itworks out.
We haven't landed that one yet,but we're working on it.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
That's awesome, Steven.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
That's an obstacle, just to turn it around and make
it fun.
And you know, again, it's doingwhat I do.
I just like I said, I justenjoy what I do.
I think that's, I think, aslong as we enjoy what we do.
Nancy, I mean, you love yourpassion that you guys have here
at W3.
And I see that that's why we'repartners and we really spin off
each other and it's really agreat place for both of us.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, and just, I mean you're just warm and people
like I want to be your friend,you know I want, I, I always
enjoy our friends.
Yes and so.
But he's just Stephen, you'rejust so kind and you're helpful
and and people see that and thecustomer sees that, and so, um,
(25:44):
I'm just really excited that weget to work with you and you got
to share some of your secrets,your sauce on turning all these
strangers into besties, so, butI can't let you leave without
your confession.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Oh, what was that confession?
You have it written down for me.
What was going to confess?
I mean, OK, helpful hint.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
OK, well, stephen literally never meets a stranger
, and he used that to hisbenefit at our Christmas party.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, uh, I've been invited up,my wife and I.
Nancy invited my wife and I upto come up to Dallas.
We live in Houston, so we cameup for the Christmas party with
W3 and got to be with the teamhere and really have a great
time.
We had a great event, w3 andgot to be with the team here and
really have a great time.
We had a great event Nancy andher team had planned, but it was
an ugly sweater Christmas partyand, needless to say, I don't
(26:37):
like keeping anything ugly.
Maybe this shirt appears ugly toyou, but it's not ugly to me,
but anyway.
So I kind of put my wife onthat.
I call my wife the hawk becauseI can put her on something and
she'll hawk it out and find itfor me.
So, anyway, she finds this uglysweater on the internet and I
got busy and she was busy doingthings with her decorating that
(26:57):
she does and I completely forgot.
And I was with one of myfriends and we were at a bar and
people were starting to walk inwith these ugly sweaters.
They'd been to a party.
Well, this guy walks into thebar, total stranger.
Never met him before in my life.
And he had the sweater on thatI wanted to wear for this party.
So I looked at him and says hey, dude, I love that sweater.
(27:20):
Anyway, I can borrow it, rentit or buy it from you.
And his reaction was priceless.
He laughed.
I mean, it was ugly, it'spretty hideous.
But anyway, long story short,the gentleman was very nice.
I said, hey, I'll buy you adrink if you'll let me borrow it
, or whatever he says it's yours.
So before he left he tapped meon the shoulder.
He says hey, I got anothershirt out in the truck.
(27:41):
And he went out in his truckand changed the shirt off and
gave me his sweater.
I took it home so I could washit and bring it up to wear and I
got it back to him afterChristmas.
But yes, that was one of thosethings where I never meet a
stranger.
I don't know that guy from Adam, but I didn't know that guy
from Adam.
But now he's a new friend ofmine.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
You can't even make that up.
I mean, that is so awesome andhe's so competitive, like he
wanted it to be super ugly, yes,and it was hideous.
Yeah, and he's like I had towin the contest, nancy, I had to
bring it and he won ourChristmas sweater party and I
didn't even know the back storyon that.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I didn't at the time.
No.
Okay, so we will post oh,you're going to post a picture
of that ugly thing, can we?
Absolutely.
It's awesome, it's hideous.
I was embarrassed to walk itthrough a hotel.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
And then we had to go out to dinner and to our event
that evening in it.
So, it's like I had to show it.
It's like it's one thing if youjust go to one party with it,
but to have to go out in publicit was kind of can I hide now?
Oh.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Steven, you know, you were like showing that puffing
up.
I was rocking it.
Yeah, you were rocking it youwere rocking it.
Well, I'm so thankful that youjoined me today.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, so I hope to have youback soon.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Sounds great, we'll do it again.
Okay, all right, thanks.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Thanks, guys.
Thanks for watching orlistening to Confessions Beyond
the Food.
We'll see you next time.
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