He Was a Legendary Manager.
I remember well the first day I worked with my new manager. He had always been friendly and kind to me. But, now it was different. He was my boss. He was no longer the Legendary Manager from the other branch.
I had heard how he single-handedly sold more monthly than the other branches with sales teams. How if there was a trip to be won by sales volume, he always made the trip. There were rumors he was ruthless as competition and how calculated he was to stay on the top of the leader board. All earning him the Legendary Manager title.
We scheduled to meet the morning he was to go in the field with me. He said, “Meet me at Jerry’s at 8:00 am.” I was nervous. I dressed in my navy pantsuit and wore my gray wool coat. It was a cold January morning in Kentucky, and the air was filled with light snow flurries you could see randomly flying.
I thought we would head to the appointments as soon as I got there. But, he was seated inside already with his coffee reading the paper. Seemingly in no hurry. He was a stocky guy with all white hair and beard. He was close to my father’s age and was the father of two girls close to my age.
The waitress came over to get our order. I don’t remember what I ate. I wouldn’t have turned down warm coffee, but I don’t know what he had exactly, except it included ham, and I thought to myself. He’s ordered a big meal. The clock is ticking, so do we have time for this?
I had scheduled an appointment an hour East from Jerry’s. I had planned on us doing several cold calls before and after.
It was as if time stood still for him. He had no hurry or no rush about him. He was calm and confident.
When he finished his meal and paid the check, we left the building, and I would be riding with him.
I climbed into the passenger seat of his four-wheel-drive SUV. The next hour was one story after another, with sales lessons and thought leadership wrapped neatly inside. I took it all in.
We arrived at the school, and I introduced us to the school secretary with the sentence we were there for an appointment with the principal, and other than a handshake and my name, that’s the last word I spoke until we were back in the car.
He was a whiz. It was like nothing I had ever witnessed. He started with two minutes or less of small talk. Something on the wall had given him a clue to the type of guy he was dealing with, and that’s all he needed to take the ball and run.
Within 5 minutes, he had the principal and the secretary together with actual current invoices in hand from the incumbent competitor. He never showed them a lookbook, a brochure, or most importantly, not a smidge of doubt that we could do better and supply better than what they were using. He was closing often and early from start to finish.
While I didn’t speak a word, I heard everything said verbally and non verbally loud and clear! I watched every move and listened to every word. The questions the prospect asked were all met with answers that rolled off his tongue almost without thought, certainly without hesitation.
He wrapped it up nice a neat an appointment to bring a demo. No details, just that I would work out the details, and they could expect me the following week with the machine that would meet and exceed expectations.
We left, and as soon as we made it to the vehicle, I had questions. How did you know how much, what if, and the list went on? He answered all my questions, and I hung into every word.
The next stop came as a surprise. You can listen to my podcast (Episode 24) to hear his thoughts and results on that one. What took the average rep 90 days to do, took this man 15 minutes max.
We did those two calls that day, set up demos, and went straight back to Jerry’s to end the day. The trip back was more stories with lessons and a chuckle or two thrown in.
It was one of two field days I remember with him, and they were valuable and productive.
If you have the opportunity to tag along with the top producers or a Legendary Manager, go! Don’t hesitate, don’t be fearful. Just be ready to learn and soak it all up.
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