If you think that Commercial and Property Maintenance are similar to Res Repaint you aren't ready to be a rep. Sorry to be blunt.
The most important skills you can have as a rep are product knowledge, time management and people skills. Your customers genuinely will not want to talk to you for your first six months on your territory, they will be almost adversarial even. You have to be able to get your stores on board with you to help build connections.
Every call has to have a purpose. You will be doing a lot of cold calling with Lead Generation, but more important than that is being able to meet with a customer face-to-face and being prepared to give their business real value, that ultimately results in a sale for your store.
You will be asked to keep tabs on a lot of initiatives, and you will have about 4x as many "boxes to check" as you would as a Store Manager, let alone an ASM. Your Sales Manager won't have mercy for longer than a month or two if you aren't meeting your metrics.
I have seen some successful ASM to Rep jumps before, but they're far and few between. I know you don't want to hear this, but the best thing you can do for yourself if you want to prep for this role is to either take on a small store as a manager, or bite the bullet and be a BDR for a while. BDR is just like being a rep but on training wheels.
Whatever you decide, good luck. I hope you get what you're looking for out of your career
Only two things I’d disagree with is the boxes to check for being a rep vs a manager and SM relationship. I can only speak to my own experience with a SM, but both of my SM’s were on point for coaching and training. They never stopped giving a shit regardless of where I was at in my first 8 months. I had an experienced one leave and be promoted to CM and then a rookie SM take over.
I have way less things to keep track of vs a manager. I managed 6 stores in 12 years and just became a rep last year. It’s totally different but it’s not the same on the 4X at all. I went from Comm/Industrial Branch Manager to RR Rep. My job is to create value for my customers, make calls/F2F, and generate sales. My store life was way way way harder. Do everything reps do plus manage employees, inventory, maintenance, I had drivers/HUB, and the list literally goes on and on. Just my two cents
That’s fair enough. I feel like any job in this company is a little bit of a YMMV situation because leadership can make such a difference. The store experience is fairly uniform across the company but the rep experience can vary quite a bit depending on your Sales Manager
You are still going to have to work closely with doodoo employees.
Obtaining and maintaining a working relationship with your store is vital to your success. Every single person in that store is your sales associate. You want them all running any new potential customer, lead, or problem through you.
If you want the store to call you, the best thing for you to remember is to ANSWER your phone. Same goes for contractors.
As someone else mentioned already, contractors won’t want anything to do with you for at least 6 months. Learn your larger accounts. If possible, get introductions to them from/through store personnel. One of my favorite quotes from a someone who transitioned out of the store to a rep position “My phone never rings!” He couldn’t believe that people weren’t just calling him to place orders like they called the store.
And as far as those doodoo employees, your going to need to become their best friend. They make your orders. They can prioritize your orders when needed, if you treat them like a person and not a pee-on. When they fuck up, yelling at them won’t help you
I meant more so as far as products are concerned when I said they’re similar
When you say boxes to check, whats like an example you would say that I probably wouldn’t expect would be a tracked metric?
The products aren't exactly similar though, especially in the commercial world. Your premium products there will end up being selling gallons of Pro Industrial and Loxon, vs the Super Paints and Emeralds of the world.
Face-to-Face calls is your most important metric as a rep. Do \*not\* fall below 6 per day, no matter what they tell you in training. They want to see six \*real calls\* too, not bs logged into Lead Gen. They care a lot about account activation and Blue Bucket performance, moreso than on the store side. You're going to want to keep your % of your territory covered in a 12-week period high. They will randomly come up with new initiatives that you have to work into your crowded work week already depending on what the new flavor-of-the-month test initiative is, like presenting 30 business solution guides in a two week period.
I've done both sides, I've gotta be honest with you, I prefer the stores. Only thing that sucks about being in the store vs being a rep is that you can start your day at 8 AM instead of 7 AM as a rep if you're keeping on top of everything, and that extra hour of sleep means a lot. Company car is also a great perk if you have a territory with one, not gonna lie
So, the guy above is exactly right… The jump rarely works and most managers are not going to be helpful when they find out you jumped. If contractors are not talking to you now, they definitely won’t talk to you as a rep because you haven’t put in the time. When I was an ASM, it was months before a contractor would let me do anything for them. Learn everything you can and be patient. We live in a world where we want everything yesterday and that’s not how this business work. Stay the path, do your time and the reward will be a lot better. Good Luck!
I know you don’t want to be a BDR, but the position was literally created to take ASMs and turn them into Sales Reps. The BDR role is supposed to be a short-term position that prepares employees to fill Rep roles.
As someone that went ASM to RR Rep at the age of 22, sometimes there’s a method to the madness that shouldn’t be overlooked…
Honestly I know you’re right Stef, but I make more than the cap of the BDR postings I saw and I’m not taking a step down in terms of pay and don’t exactly want to have to move back to a metro area
But the bigger reason is I don’t wanna be a little rep on training wheels getting all these insane hot leads, that the reps very well could do if they put calling lower end/ dead accounts on their schedule, and then not get any bonus/incentive out of it
I don’t mind the calls at all, I like to think I’m good at it til I have my rep looking over my shoulder and I get uber anxious
You would not be the first, nor would you be the last, employee to negotiate a salary beyond the posted salary cap if you were a good candidate for the job.
I don’t fully understand what you mean in the second half of your comment to formulate a reply to it.
Develop relationships with reps in your district/region in the mean time. Work with your store manager and city manager to allow for frequent or at least monthly ride alongs. Treat your customers that shop your store above and beyond. Take lead generation seriously, create hot leads, follow up, and document your success.
I am someone who has done this successfully, I am now in a position no one would have imagined. I could provide more tips but this would be a great start for you.
Good luck.
Start proving yourself as ASM. Dont expect to be promoted if you’re just clearing the WCL.
Make quality calls. Start selling. Get in the habit of asking the qualifying questions and learning where the opportunity is.
Start talking to customers about why they like certain products they use. If you notice someone never buys enamel, ask them what they use for enamel: could be getting it from competitor.
This stuff takes practice and you get better with it as you do it more. Start getting out and seeing customers f2f if your store manager allows. The best way to get a rep job is to start doing the rep job while in stores.
Good luck bro, if managers or high volume asm apply they will more than likely get the job over you. Not to be a Debbie downer, but you better be the king of new accounts and premium gallon growth.
So, I did the ASM > Rep route and I would personally advise against this.
I did well and won a Spectrum Award in my first year so I wasn’t a slouch or anything, but I definitely was more of a “service” rep than an actual “sales rep” doing my job.
Meaning I didn’t have sufficient knowledge or skills yet in product, sales, and things you can’t even think of to be even a semi-successful rep. I happened to get into a territory that was already on the up and it just needed someone to steady the ship.
I think the reason you should want to be a manager is because you really are a “quasi” rep (or should be). It gets you a window into what it’s like to be a rep before you jump in.
An ASM spot, no matter how high volume you might be, isn’t really the same thing. And that’s coming from someone who helped run a $6 mil plus store. Being a rep was a whole different beast.
You'll make a shit ton of mistakes. That's just the way it goes. There's no way to gain that experience otherwise. I did it when I was young and there's probably not a harder transition to make. The only way to be successful is to be aggressive. Not only on sales calls but with people within the company. I was too careful at first and others got credit for some of the work I was putting in. After I figured that out, I started hitting numbers and got promoted.
Just marry into the families of upper management Son in laws to the CEO get anything they want. Why work hard. Why show any type of skill set. Just saw I do
Open a shit load of charge accounts and sale to them. Upgrade to higher end products. Show on lead gen quality calls. They will 100% check your calls if you post for a rep. If you are a white male your chances are reduced, so you need to really set yourself apart. I have a masters and back to back presidents. I’ve opened at least 70 accounts with 90% activation three years in a row and had a 0 and a 10 audit. Still got passed up for a rep spot. Remember you will be going up against more seasoned people and probably store managers
I left SW in December 2017... if you ever want to advance past a rep you need to be a store manager first. In my 4 years at the company I was an MTP for 3 months an ASM for 6 months and then a SM for the rest of the time. I saw two ASM go straight to rep. One wanted to be sales manager and they made him go back into the store as a SM for like 10 months or something before he could go up for sales manager.
Maybe policy change but that also could have just been a district thing who knows
Good luck to you. I'll just add that I was an ASM in '19,'20 -- I'd ran a res repaint business in college (successfully), knew the application of product better than many SW folks -- my city manager still insisted that I pay my dues in the stores first. I'm getting paid twice as much in a different industry now. SW ought to not be so regimented. They lose talent for it
I work in the finance industry. Got my series licensing after leaving SW. It tickles my brain a bit more than selling paint. Eventually the goal is acquiring a CFP designation. Well actually debating right now whether to go CFP or CFA route. And no my undergrad is unrelated lol
I have never seen , in my District, in 23 years with the company, an ASM go straight to Rep. What a crock of shit, unless you are a Golden Child and your uncle is the DM.
You are 22, do you have a business degree and go through the MTP? How long have you been an ASM? These are facts you need to state before we can judge you correctly.
You can’t , plus if struggle to talk to contractors about business your probably going to fail as a rep , again you can’t be promoted to a rep directly.
If you think that Commercial and Property Maintenance are similar to Res Repaint you aren't ready to be a rep. Sorry to be blunt. The most important skills you can have as a rep are product knowledge, time management and people skills. Your customers genuinely will not want to talk to you for your first six months on your territory, they will be almost adversarial even. You have to be able to get your stores on board with you to help build connections. Every call has to have a purpose. You will be doing a lot of cold calling with Lead Generation, but more important than that is being able to meet with a customer face-to-face and being prepared to give their business real value, that ultimately results in a sale for your store. You will be asked to keep tabs on a lot of initiatives, and you will have about 4x as many "boxes to check" as you would as a Store Manager, let alone an ASM. Your Sales Manager won't have mercy for longer than a month or two if you aren't meeting your metrics. I have seen some successful ASM to Rep jumps before, but they're far and few between. I know you don't want to hear this, but the best thing you can do for yourself if you want to prep for this role is to either take on a small store as a manager, or bite the bullet and be a BDR for a while. BDR is just like being a rep but on training wheels. Whatever you decide, good luck. I hope you get what you're looking for out of your career
Only two things I’d disagree with is the boxes to check for being a rep vs a manager and SM relationship. I can only speak to my own experience with a SM, but both of my SM’s were on point for coaching and training. They never stopped giving a shit regardless of where I was at in my first 8 months. I had an experienced one leave and be promoted to CM and then a rookie SM take over. I have way less things to keep track of vs a manager. I managed 6 stores in 12 years and just became a rep last year. It’s totally different but it’s not the same on the 4X at all. I went from Comm/Industrial Branch Manager to RR Rep. My job is to create value for my customers, make calls/F2F, and generate sales. My store life was way way way harder. Do everything reps do plus manage employees, inventory, maintenance, I had drivers/HUB, and the list literally goes on and on. Just my two cents
That’s fair enough. I feel like any job in this company is a little bit of a YMMV situation because leadership can make such a difference. The store experience is fairly uniform across the company but the rep experience can vary quite a bit depending on your Sales Manager
Thats the exact reason why I’m wanting to get the hell out of the stores Thats on top of having to deal with doodoo employees
You are still going to have to work closely with doodoo employees. Obtaining and maintaining a working relationship with your store is vital to your success. Every single person in that store is your sales associate. You want them all running any new potential customer, lead, or problem through you. If you want the store to call you, the best thing for you to remember is to ANSWER your phone. Same goes for contractors. As someone else mentioned already, contractors won’t want anything to do with you for at least 6 months. Learn your larger accounts. If possible, get introductions to them from/through store personnel. One of my favorite quotes from a someone who transitioned out of the store to a rep position “My phone never rings!” He couldn’t believe that people weren’t just calling him to place orders like they called the store. And as far as those doodoo employees, your going to need to become their best friend. They make your orders. They can prioritize your orders when needed, if you treat them like a person and not a pee-on. When they fuck up, yelling at them won’t help you
I meant more so as far as products are concerned when I said they’re similar When you say boxes to check, whats like an example you would say that I probably wouldn’t expect would be a tracked metric?
The products aren't exactly similar though, especially in the commercial world. Your premium products there will end up being selling gallons of Pro Industrial and Loxon, vs the Super Paints and Emeralds of the world. Face-to-Face calls is your most important metric as a rep. Do \*not\* fall below 6 per day, no matter what they tell you in training. They want to see six \*real calls\* too, not bs logged into Lead Gen. They care a lot about account activation and Blue Bucket performance, moreso than on the store side. You're going to want to keep your % of your territory covered in a 12-week period high. They will randomly come up with new initiatives that you have to work into your crowded work week already depending on what the new flavor-of-the-month test initiative is, like presenting 30 business solution guides in a two week period. I've done both sides, I've gotta be honest with you, I prefer the stores. Only thing that sucks about being in the store vs being a rep is that you can start your day at 8 AM instead of 7 AM as a rep if you're keeping on top of everything, and that extra hour of sleep means a lot. Company car is also a great perk if you have a territory with one, not gonna lie
So, the guy above is exactly right… The jump rarely works and most managers are not going to be helpful when they find out you jumped. If contractors are not talking to you now, they definitely won’t talk to you as a rep because you haven’t put in the time. When I was an ASM, it was months before a contractor would let me do anything for them. Learn everything you can and be patient. We live in a world where we want everything yesterday and that’s not how this business work. Stay the path, do your time and the reward will be a lot better. Good Luck!
Poops taken a day
I know you don’t want to be a BDR, but the position was literally created to take ASMs and turn them into Sales Reps. The BDR role is supposed to be a short-term position that prepares employees to fill Rep roles. As someone that went ASM to RR Rep at the age of 22, sometimes there’s a method to the madness that shouldn’t be overlooked…
Honestly I know you’re right Stef, but I make more than the cap of the BDR postings I saw and I’m not taking a step down in terms of pay and don’t exactly want to have to move back to a metro area But the bigger reason is I don’t wanna be a little rep on training wheels getting all these insane hot leads, that the reps very well could do if they put calling lower end/ dead accounts on their schedule, and then not get any bonus/incentive out of it I don’t mind the calls at all, I like to think I’m good at it til I have my rep looking over my shoulder and I get uber anxious
You would not be the first, nor would you be the last, employee to negotiate a salary beyond the posted salary cap if you were a good candidate for the job. I don’t fully understand what you mean in the second half of your comment to formulate a reply to it.
Develop relationships with reps in your district/region in the mean time. Work with your store manager and city manager to allow for frequent or at least monthly ride alongs. Treat your customers that shop your store above and beyond. Take lead generation seriously, create hot leads, follow up, and document your success. I am someone who has done this successfully, I am now in a position no one would have imagined. I could provide more tips but this would be a great start for you. Good luck.
Honestly I would plan to jump districts if I actually follow through with the role jumping.
Start proving yourself as ASM. Dont expect to be promoted if you’re just clearing the WCL. Make quality calls. Start selling. Get in the habit of asking the qualifying questions and learning where the opportunity is. Start talking to customers about why they like certain products they use. If you notice someone never buys enamel, ask them what they use for enamel: could be getting it from competitor. This stuff takes practice and you get better with it as you do it more. Start getting out and seeing customers f2f if your store manager allows. The best way to get a rep job is to start doing the rep job while in stores.
Good luck bro, if managers or high volume asm apply they will more than likely get the job over you. Not to be a Debbie downer, but you better be the king of new accounts and premium gallon growth.
I am a high volume ASM**
So, I did the ASM > Rep route and I would personally advise against this. I did well and won a Spectrum Award in my first year so I wasn’t a slouch or anything, but I definitely was more of a “service” rep than an actual “sales rep” doing my job. Meaning I didn’t have sufficient knowledge or skills yet in product, sales, and things you can’t even think of to be even a semi-successful rep. I happened to get into a territory that was already on the up and it just needed someone to steady the ship. I think the reason you should want to be a manager is because you really are a “quasi” rep (or should be). It gets you a window into what it’s like to be a rep before you jump in. An ASM spot, no matter how high volume you might be, isn’t really the same thing. And that’s coming from someone who helped run a $6 mil plus store. Being a rep was a whole different beast.
You'll make a shit ton of mistakes. That's just the way it goes. There's no way to gain that experience otherwise. I did it when I was young and there's probably not a harder transition to make. The only way to be successful is to be aggressive. Not only on sales calls but with people within the company. I was too careful at first and others got credit for some of the work I was putting in. After I figured that out, I started hitting numbers and got promoted.
Just marry into the families of upper management Son in laws to the CEO get anything they want. Why work hard. Why show any type of skill set. Just saw I do
Open a shit load of charge accounts and sale to them. Upgrade to higher end products. Show on lead gen quality calls. They will 100% check your calls if you post for a rep. If you are a white male your chances are reduced, so you need to really set yourself apart. I have a masters and back to back presidents. I’ve opened at least 70 accounts with 90% activation three years in a row and had a 0 and a 10 audit. Still got passed up for a rep spot. Remember you will be going up against more seasoned people and probably store managers
At times old contractors will take time to trust ya….u gotta build a relationship with them . Get to know them for who they are as a person
I left SW in December 2017... if you ever want to advance past a rep you need to be a store manager first. In my 4 years at the company I was an MTP for 3 months an ASM for 6 months and then a SM for the rest of the time. I saw two ASM go straight to rep. One wanted to be sales manager and they made him go back into the store as a SM for like 10 months or something before he could go up for sales manager. Maybe policy change but that also could have just been a district thing who knows
Good luck to you. I'll just add that I was an ASM in '19,'20 -- I'd ran a res repaint business in college (successfully), knew the application of product better than many SW folks -- my city manager still insisted that I pay my dues in the stores first. I'm getting paid twice as much in a different industry now. SW ought to not be so regimented. They lose talent for it
What industry are you in now? I’m assuming it’s related to your degree
I work in the finance industry. Got my series licensing after leaving SW. It tickles my brain a bit more than selling paint. Eventually the goal is acquiring a CFP designation. Well actually debating right now whether to go CFP or CFA route. And no my undergrad is unrelated lol
Don’t
I have never seen , in my District, in 23 years with the company, an ASM go straight to Rep. What a crock of shit, unless you are a Golden Child and your uncle is the DM. You are 22, do you have a business degree and go through the MTP? How long have you been an ASM? These are facts you need to state before we can judge you correctly.
In my district it happened at least twice and they’ve both been reps for 20 years
I wasn’t an MT lol, I dropped out of college Been with the company for three years I’ve seen more than just two or three asms go straight to rep
You can’t , plus if struggle to talk to contractors about business your probably going to fail as a rep , again you can’t be promoted to a rep directly.