Training the less than knowledgeable reps can be not only terrifying but a waste of time.
Here I am, Northern Alabama with a very frustrating representative who was less than cordial; working by herself was her primary goal and my product knowledge was invasive to her working mode.
She was to meet me at the airport and travel north to work with the local health care centers, retirement homes and laboratories. She was not happy with my agenda and was clear to let me know how difficult it was for her to travel long distances from her home. She had made no appointments.
I assumed she was in charge of the complete territory and able to leave home and travel to all the corners of the State; I was wrong. Her goal was to work in the metropolitan areas and not travel overnight to the rural areas and other locations where the work was not as plentiful as in the city.
First thing I’ve learned in sales is to make certain your surrounding areas are covered; the metropolitan areas have plenty of competitive representatives and they work to receive contracts from the same businesses. On the other hand, they are not visionary enough to see the rural areas are not a magnet for their competitors, so you would have the benefit of being the only rep with innovative products.
On the way north, I mentioned there was a pounding sound on the passenger side of the truck; she said not to worry as the noise had been there for a while.
At the first stop, I looked at the tire and discovered a bubble the size of a dinner plate. I suggested she take the truck to a tire dealer and get the tire fixed or we would be in danger of the tire blowing up as we drove through on the highway. She dismissed my suggestion directly.
We continued on the road with my heart pounding in my chest; she disregarded my fear and we drove in silence to the hotel.
As we registered, I suggested to her once again to take the truck and have the tire replaced. She reluctantly left me and drove off. I ate dinner on my own and waited for her to return.
The next morning at breakfast, she informed me the truck needed to be at the dealership and she was not able to work until the truck was repaired. I suggested to get a rental car, on my dime, but she refused; by this time, I’m ready to call it done. I asked for a cab to take me back to the airport, without making any calls to businesses as I had planned, and she was adamant to take me on her not-repaired truck.
Got the luggage on board, checked out of the hotel, and with great trepidation, got back on the road. As we were getting on the highway, she asked me to look up on the sky and see if I could locate any planes because she did not know where the airport was. Eventually, she found it.
Training with a distributor’s rep required a working report to the people in charge; after the distributor received my report, I was asked not to work with this rep again because she was furious with me for making her drive north, out of the metropolitan area and at the end not accomplishing anything. After all, it was my fault?