Pssssst. Wanna know a secret? Well, you’ve come to the right article. We’ve managed to pull together a group of some of the industry’s best and brightest salespeople. Together, they account for over 140 years of experience and a half billion (yes, with a “b”) dollars in sales.

Don’t ask us how we were able to corner all these busy salespeople; we’re not entirely sure ourselves yet. But be thankful we did, because we were able to coax some secrets out of them to help you build your bottom line. Do you have what it takes to become one of the very best? Only time will tell, but we can guarantee that after reading this, you’ll be a lot closer to realizing the potential superstar salesperson in you.

Erwin Lieberman,
Beanstalk Group (asi/155460)

Lieberman is probably the most successful salesperson in the industry. He was tops in sales at (pre-Starbelly) HALO for three years and literally owned The Counselor Distributor Salesperson Award for Largest Sales Volume & Largest Single Order, winning it a record seven years in a row. He estimates he’s written over $300 million in business during his career. But to hear his advice, you realize he doesn’t exactly fit the profile of a typical salesperson.

“I’ve always felt successful people should stay under the radar,” he says. “Don’t make yourself too highly visible, especially in our industry, and especially with Fortune 500 companies. Their perception is that they have a job to do and have eight hours in a day to do it, so respect that. Don’t show up all the time and try to be their pal; it’s not professional. Get the job done without being overbearing.”

Lieberman describes himself as a “very relaxed, upbeat person” who tries to carry himself “with as much class and dignity as I possibly can.” He doesn’t think his sales skills are any magical gift, but rather a natural ease when it comes to talking to others combined with a sense of discipline and a desire to win, borne out of his successes in sports and martial arts.

His first major sale set the tone for his career. An automotive company was seeking an award for its 27,000 salespeople, so he created a custom gift-selector book. The resulting sale for $800,000 put him on the map and gave him a nugget of knowledge he’s been going back to again and again: Customization. Creating unique items sets Lieberman apart from everyone else, which, he says, is exactly what you should do to prove your worth to a client. “It’s something you created, not something that can be bought and replaced.”

And, he says, don’t wait for your clients to come asking for help. Keep informed about their business and industry as a whole. Ask lots of question, read industry-related (theirs) publications and be on a constant lookout for opportunities. For instance, when car sales were down, Lieberman approached his clients with an incentives program for owner loyalty and ideas to inspire increased test drives.

Lieberman also doesn’t see the need for “fancy talk.” When a renewable $9 million order found itself on the table, he made a simple, straightforward presentation to the firm’s top executives: “I said, ‘This is where your sales were before the program, and this is where they are now – big increase.’ The only thing your client wants to know are the facts and how you can positively help them.” The program was renewed.

His final, and probably most important, piece of advice to any aspiring sales superstar? Learn to accept rejection and be persistent. “Rejection is part of selling. Don’t let it get you down,” he says. “I’ve had a seven-figure order rejected just before the final signature. Selling is like being a quarterback; you’re going to have incomplete passes, but what really matters are the touchdowns.”

Michael Carretta,
M. R. Carretta & Co. (asi/158700)

Most successful salespeople have an inherent natural charisma that helps them do their job better. You aren’t really selling a product, the adage goes; you’re selling yourself. Michael Carretta certainly has that ability, but he also mixes in lots of hard work and a love of his job, and it shows in both his client base and the bottom line.

Last year, M.R. Carretta & Co (asi/158700), which started in 1978, did over $16 million in sales. Carretta himself accounted for $11 million of that. In addition, he’s taken home The Counselor award for Highest Selling Distributor Principal several times.

“I did do a lot of prospecting in the beginning, but right now 100% of my business is referral,” he says. “I haven’t made a cold call in over 15 years. Customers go from one job to another, and they’re always sure I’m part of their team.”

And there’s a big reason why: Trust. “They know I take my business very seriously,” he says. “They know I’m knowledgeable and offer very fair pricing. Not the cheapest, but always a good quality product at a fair price. I never take advantage. I’ve had many situations where I could have made a killing, but [clients] know I work under a certain margin no matter what the case, and I never take advantage of that. The only time I lost an account was due to a merger. I want a customer for life.”

That kind of dedication starts with hard work. Carretta likes to tell the story of a call he received one Thursday afternoon from AT&T. It needed 10,000 caps for a speech by then-President Reagan, who was unveiling his then-new tax plan. But there was a catch: The caps had to be imprinted and at the airport by 8 a.m. Monday for a flight to Oklahoma.

The project took all weekend and involved the whole family, but every cap was delivered on time. As a result, AT&T became one of his largest clients and his sales doubled for the next several years. “If you give me something to do, it gets done,” says Carretta. “I told my wife this was going to put us on
the map. Then I didn’t come back to the house for three days.” Carretta attributes his father Dan’s advice as steering him in the right direction. In addition to bringing him into the business, he taught him many basics: the customer is always right, always acknowledge important events in your client’s lives, and no matter how good you are, someone is always right behind you.

His father also inspired a love for the industry at an early age, by bringing him to work and letting him watch pens being manufactured. How else could you explain an early career record involving a newly introduced pen? “From that day, I knew this was the business for me.”

The advice Carretta has for young salespeople is to love what you do. “Too many people come to this business to make money or to just have a job,” he says. “This business is a tough industry, but it’s also the type of industry that if you do it right and commit yourself, you can really make quite a career.”

Carretta’s dedication apparently shows. He recently met former New York Giants Coach Jim Fassel and after a few minutes, Fassel looked him in the eye and said, “I know why you’re so successful in what you do. You have the passion.”

Ken Reinstrom ,
CSA/Marc Promotions (asi/154970)

Ken Reinstrom’s journey to sales superstar was a long haul, but it can be traced to a comment from his mentor, Larry Konfirst. Upon seeing the young salesman calculate the commission on a sale even before it was finalized, Konfirst said, “Don’t worry about the money. Just do a good job and the money will come.” Reinstrom took the advice to heart, and still does, over 20 years later. He posted nearly $2.5 million in sales in 2003, earning The Counselor’s Salesperson of the Year award.

“I hate thinking about the money side of it anymore,” he says. “I’m 100% convinced that if you focus on trying to make money, you’ll never get there. I know it sounds absurd, but people can read right through you. For every call, I assume I have their business and I just try to concentrate on coming up with ideas.”

Reinstrom makes a point to listen to his clients’ needs and think about their challenges. From there, he begins developing ideas, not products. “Selling them sport cups because they used sport cups in the past might lead to a quick sale, but it doesn’t show them your promotional creativity or create a relationship,” he says.

That’s not to say, however, he hasn’t found products useful. In fact, he recommends taking some risks with spec samples. In one instance, he found a mug that closely resembled a product a prospective client produced. Instead of taking a catalog over, he ordered a sample and had it imprinted with the company’s name. A month later he walked away with a $14,000 order.

“If there’s a chance of getting an order and it means you have to spend 30 bucks for a spec sample, do it,” he says, noting that he typically sends out between 10 and 30 samples a month and keeps a few at his desk so he can always be ready for the next sales call.

Reinstrom’s also stresses his favorite saying: You are what you think. “If you think you’re a $300,000 producer, you’re not going to be calling on Coke and IBM,” he says. “But if you’re a $2 million to $3 million producer – and that’s what you think you are in your mind – you’re calling on larger corporations that have a greater potential.”

If you have bigger accounts and larger orders, Reinstrom believes cutting back your number of clients is inevitable. It’s fine for a small firm to have 40 or more with numerous orders, he explains, but collectively, they can take away from the time you need to spend with larger firms. And, naturally, a company should never put all its eggs in one basket and get too dependent on any one client.

Last, says Reinstrom, always think big: “As a million-dollar salesman, I saw myself as $2 million dollar salesman. Now, as a $2.5 million dollars salesman, I see myself as a $3 million salesman. I’m not there yet, but I will be. And quite frankly, I may be limiting myself with my current thought process.”

Billy Hughes,
Summit Marketing-Tulsa Division (asi/132710)

In the sales world, he’s a throwback to the old days of relationships – a good ol’ boy. But he’s actually great. After 31 years in the industry, his sales show no sign of burnout, and he still ranks atop the crowd, securing mammoth sales numbers, winning sales awards (often in The Counselor Top Salespeople categories) and constantly diversifying his sales portfolio because, he explains, you never know what’s going to happen.

And Billy Hughes, (asi/132710) truly believes that people buy from you. “They can buy what we sell from anybody,” he says. “They choose you because they like you.” And he’s a hard guy not to like – easygoing, humble and frank without being over-friendly, phony or cheesy. There’s no sales jargon, no scripted catch phrases, no gimmicks or tricks. He’s simply himself.

Hughes says his secret isn’t a secret at all – he believes in being open, honest and genuine, but keeping it in the right context. “I’ve learned you need to adapt to people and their personalities,” he says. “Everyone is different. You have to be ready for that and be able to communicate with them whether it’s a 60 year-old man in the same company for 40 years or a 21 year-old woman straight out of college.”

This is important because, he says, communication is the key to any sale: “It’s getting to know them and learning what they need. Sometimes we don’t even talk about promotional products. Before you can do anything, you have to know what makes them tick.”

But they also have to trust you. Hughes instills trust in three steps: “Walk the walk; do what you say. Talk the talk; be honest. If you don’t know, tell them you don’t and follow up. Keep them informed. Give your clients updates on any new products and ideas, and they know you’re looking out for them.”

And if you’re attempting to find a borrowable sales pitch, it’s not here. “I don’t have a pitch,” he says. “I don’t think about it. I just react. I don’t research before I go in for a call, because that’s where I do my research – with them. I ad-lib and fly by the seat of my pants.”

He lists three essential virtues to make it to the top: 1) Patience – that it takes years to learn the industry; 2) Ambition – you have to want things; and 3) Diligence – the harder you work, the luckier you get. “And above all, you can’t be a paper salesman,” he says. “You must be candid and honest. Otherwise, clients see right through you; they aren’t stupid. I’m what you see, and what you see is what you get.”

But, he adds, integrity and etiquette alone won’t keep you on top of the heap in today’s economy. “You have to be ready and able to adapt to constant changes – personnel, company or focus. If you’re not prepared, changes will take you out of business. You have to be always looking for new business. And you can’t just follow the larger customers; someday the smaller orders will be your savior. I think diversity is the spice of business life. That and balance. Otherwise, when the bow breaks, your sales will fall.”

Pat Cavanaugh,
President/CEO,
Cavanaugh (asi/159262)

As much as Hughes improvises and overcomes, Pat Cavanaugh divides and conquers. His goals stem from lifetime achievements and are broken down to yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily, hourly and sometimes, even down to the minute. His “to-do” list reads like a rush-hour subway schedule (he calls it “organized chaos”), and he follows it with quasi-military precision.

But not only is his time broken down into miniscule parts; so are his sales and service forces. He calls it “power sales,” a network of savvy, motivated professionals who launch yearly sales raids on the unsuspecting businesses in a chosen city and hold the competition in siege as Cavanaugh provides a new standard in service.

This tactic has given Cavanaugh an impressive memento collection: The firm has been listed in Inc. magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies three out of the past five years, and an ASI Spirit Award in 2001 and 2002 as one of the Top 10 fastest-growing distributors. Cavanaugh himself has received Ernst & Young’s 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year award as well as induction into its National Entrepreneur Hall of Fame and ASI Spirit Awards as the top-selling company principal for 2000 and 2001. The company has grown by 100% in the past three years and bumped up to seven branch offices – and counting.

Cavanaugh’s sales philosophy hinges on making the impossible seem easy. His strategy employs examples of when he’s done that. “We get much business from clients who say their normal distributors, and many others, say the job can’t be done,” he says. “For example, last week we got a call from a client that needed a product for the CEO of a 6,000-employee firm. Its normal distributor had the order for six months, then said it couldn’t be done. When the client called other distributors, all the responses were that, in that time frame, the order was impossible. We delivered the order on time.”

His take on selling is forward-thinking. “I take a doctor’s approach, which means I don’t come in and say, ‘Here’s what’s on special this month,’ and try to peddle it,” he says. “I ask ‘What’s the problem you want to get solved?’ Then I go about ways to find the solution. It’s proactive. In this industry, it’s the nature that you’re reactive a lot of the time. I think the challenge is the finite amount of time to be proactive with ideas.”

He keeps at his promotional peak by doing his homework. “That way I understand what has and hasn’t worked for [clients] in the past and I can concentrate on their strengths and start formulating a game plan.”

Sales support and beyond are equally a part of his company’s success. “I think motivation is loving what you do as well as having a talent for it,” he says. “I put and keep people in their best places as part of the team machinery. That way, roles are specialized. You don’t make Michael Jordan your rebounder; he’s paid to score 30 a game.”

On closing a sale: “It’s all about accountability,” he says. “This is something I preach to our reps constantly – you have to make the buyer or decision-maker accountable for the next move. It’s difficult to teach and hard to quantify. Whether you ask for another meeting, quote opportunity or placed order, make them give you a date, because then they’re accountable for that. Too many reps don’t hold their clients accountable; they let them string them along. No steps should be taken without the next step planned.”

His overall outlook on business is also his overall outlook on anything: “I think in any situation you have to have a goal,” he says. “And our goal, is our motto: Setting A New Standard.”

Marsha Londe,
vice president, promotional products,
Summit-Nevins (asi/339129)

Marsha Londe’s personal trophy case is impressive: 21 Pyramid Awards, three clients selected as Buyer of the Year, twice honored as Salesperson of the Year (once for most dollars sold, once for single largest order); the Inaugural class of “Women in the Promotional Products Industry,” and more. Of her 23 years in the industry, the last 18 have seen her reach $1 million to $2 million in sales with a few big contracts spiking it to $3 million. But what’s most impressive is her energy and unshakeable commitment to her clients and suppliers.

When a friend told Londe promotional products was a great part-time job for her, she soon found that was untrue. “This is a client-driven business, and once you’ve built a relationship, it’s a time-and-a-half business,” she says, noting that at first, she was surprised at the detail needed to get a creative order done correctly, efficiently and on time, then had a revelation of her surprising secret to lucrative, lasting sales: “No matter how hard I work, my success as a salesperson has, and will always be, linked to successful supplier relationships.”

The balance of client and supplier relations is what keeps Londe going every day and what she intends to carry her through the next decade of her promotional product career. “Finding the perfect product to deliver a client’s message and the satisfaction when all the elements come together is energizing,” she says. “Selling is easy. Holding the order together and delivering correctly is the challenge.”

Asked what make her such a successful salesperson, she replies, “Are we salespeople? That implies opening our jackets and selling a widget from the lining. Our job is to make the client look good. An uneducated customer buys ‘stuff, trash, trinkets,’ etc., from a salesperson. Those terms make me shudder. My role is to educate my client on the power of thoughtfully selected product to deliver a message, fulfill a need, and market their company. Our industry is branding. Promotional products is not about selling but about helping companies market their business and extend their brand. If you’re out to sell, you’ll always be a salesperson. If you’re interested in helping the client fulfill goals and objectives, you’re a business partner.”

Her service checklist includes:

• Value the client.
• Listen first, carefully and often.
• Take notes. Refer to them for details.
• Think creatively to fulfill needs.
• Communicate about delivery, and follow through.
• Deliver what you promise.

A few other Londe-tips: “Even veterans need to slow down for education and research before providing the quick response to a client need. Always leave things that can be left to after hours to after hours, and everything else for during the working day. That way, the most pressing things are done first.”

With a record like hers, who can argue?

Matt Histand is associate editor and Josh Vasquez is assistant editor of The Counselor.