New Job

[RIHMFIRE]

The architecture and construction business has totally collapsed
in our area and I have been out of work since last August.....
Applied to so many jobs all over the country with no luck....
so I had to find something,...
Just about week or so ago, I applied for a sales rep job for
Centerfire Ammo Distributors....and they offered me the job and I accepted...
I will be the rep for my area of central Florida...They supply ammo
to all of the Miami Metro Dade police departments and about 20
other LE departments around Florida, gun clubs, gun shows, retail outlets...etc.
This is totally a new world for me....Hope it works out...
So if you guys want anything...or cant find what you need,...maybe I can help.
shoot me an email or pm

I also need some sales advice....thanks

[Canuck Bob]

Wonderful news, funny how one door will close and out of left field another will open.

[alnitak]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but glad that you found some work. I'm sure you will take to it like a duck to water! Good luck in your new endeavor!

P.S. -- Maybe a leverguns group buy is in order?

[rjohns94]

Congrats

[Blaine]

Be sure to let us know if sales to Us Here would help you out, and put a civilian catalog online.

[Tycer]

Sales is all numbers. x number of noes to one yes. You'll find a pattern. Read Zig Zigler's writings. Good luck and knock em dead.

[GonnePhishin]

GREAT news
Good luck and God's blessings with your new job.
Looks like you'll probably get all kinds of special invitations to gun shoots, etc.

[TedH]

Congratulations on the new gig, and best of luck!

[jazman]

The best thing you can do in sales is listen. By listening you can figure out the customer's pain points, and what you can do to cure their pain. By curing their pain, you become a trusted advisor instead of a salesman. Don't take people saying no personally, if they don't need your products at the current time it has nothing to do with you. Failed sales people are the ones who take those rejections personally; personal rejections make them feel rotten at the end of every day, and drives them out of the sales business. Just look at it like every "no" gets you closer to a "yes". Learn your new companies' process, and work the process, the sales will come. Don't live and die by every sales call, that will drive you nuts. The process will make you a good salesperson. Hope this helps, good luck with it.
Sell, Sell, Sell. Pick any two.

[RIHMFIRE]

Be sure to let us know if sales to Us Here would help you out, and put a civilian catalog online.

that sounds good to me!

[Pitchy]

Grats on finding the job.

[Griff]

The best thing you can do in sales is listen. By listening you can figure out the customer's pain points, and what you can do to cure their pain. By curing their pain, you become a trusted advisor instead of a salesman. Don't take people saying no personally, if they don't need your products at the current time it has nothing to do with you. Failed sales people are the ones who take those rejections personally; personal rejections make them feel rotten at the end of every day, and drives them out of the sales business. Just look at it like every "no" gets you closer to a "yes". Learn your new companies' process, and work the process, the sales will come. Don't live and die by every sales call, that will drive you nuts. The process will make you a good salesperson. Hope this helps, good luck with it.
Sell, Sell, Sell. Pick any two.

+1. Good advice. Glad someone is in sales... I can't stand it. But, even my job as a truck driver is all about sales. Servicing the account, providing that bit extra that others won't... sometimes just a pleasant demeanor is all that might set you apart from all the others. It all counts.

Having been in public procurement, it's all about making sure your product meets the buyer's demand (specs); i.e. making sure their specifications include what you're selling... then having the right price point. Getting the bosses at your company make sure you can do both will be a LOT more difficult than actually making the sale.

[crs]

Congratulations on what sounds like a fun job - dealing with gun stuff.

[AJMD429]

I'm surprised all those police departments use 'RIHMFIRE'. . .

Seriously - good luck; hope you found a good job and it lasts for you...!

[piller]

Congratulations. Hope it turns out to be so much fun that you make a great living and never want to stop.

[O.S.O.K.]

Congrats and welcome to the fold.

A few things to consider:

If you don't tell your manager about a success, the it never happened - communicate - make it a routine, a habit.

If you are selling branded ammo, get toknow the manufacturer reps - they have resources and information that can help you.

Keep a running to-do list. This will help you to follow up.

If you don't know something, admit it and offer to get the information and get back to the customer - and then do.

Feel free to contact me if I can help. I've got. 26 years of sales/management under my belt.

[gamekeeper]

Congrats. sounds interesting...

[Pete44ru]

Congrats !

In one of my carrers, I was a salesman, and although can tell you many things, will only say 4 things:

1) If you sell yourself to someone, they will buy whatever you have. (IOW, be personable when meeting a client, like greeting a friend)

2) NEVER give a price first when asked, EVER - a salesperson should ALWAYS create the value BEFORE a price is ever given.
If the price is given first, any value given later is taken as an excuse for a high price, no matter how low the price given may actually be.

3) Do not let rejection deter you, as a high rejection rate (No's) is normal - just keep on, keepin' on.

4) As posted above, numbers count - so keep writing as many sales prospects as you can, & throw them on the sales wall of fame.
Like mud, some will slide off & some will stick - the more you throw, the more will stick. .

Remember two things about customers - They have YOUR paycheck in ther pocket and you have to figure out how to get it into yours; and if there's something about one you dislike, remember that you can only change yourself (attitude) and not who they are.

Good Luck


.

[Hobie]

Service sells.

[jdad]

Service sells.

Absofreakinloutely correct! I'm been an outside distributor rep, for a little over 25 years. EVERYONE has a price, but it's the service that builds a loyal customer base.

[Nath]

sounds perfect.

Best wishes

N.

[DixieBoy]

Congratulations ! I'm job shopping now too. Have done a lot of different things in the past, including sales. You're getting good advice here, espcially the part about not taking it personally when you get "no" as a response. Your good attitude, and your company's good service will carry the day. Here's a good example:

Alot of us (me included) bellyache about Midway's costs when it comes to shipping. I've been a customer of theirs long enough to remember free shipping, so the high costs of shipping do bug me. However ...

Nobody keeps the customer in the loop like Midway. I like Graf's too, and they've been better sometimes on prices. Their shipping is a better price too. But Midway still gets a good bit of my busines because they keep you so in the loop after you've made an order. E-mail confirmation, and most important to me: when I've had a problem with a piece of equipment they've sold me, it has always been "no questions asked" when it came to replacing an item. Others may have different experiences, but Midway has always done me right, and all my friends who buy from them too.

Again, Congratulations fellow Floridian ! - DixieBoy

[2ndovc]

Congrats and welcome to the fold.

A few things to consider:

If you don't tell your manager about a success, the it never happened - communicate - make it a routine, a habit.

If you are selling branded ammo, get toknow the manufacturer reps - they have resources and information that can help you.

Keep a running to-do list. This will help you to follow up.

If you don't know something, admit it and offer to get the information and get back to the customer - and then do.

Feel free to contact me if I can help. I've got. 26 years of sales/management under my belt.

Well said.

Learn everything you can about your products and the company you work for. Don't be too agressive. Polite and aimiable works just fine.
I've been in sales ( insurance restoration) for 20+ years. Sales is easier for some people than others, but after some time in the field it gets easier. It's all about building the relationship. I have adjusters that will call me and say "call Mr. Jones as soon as possible". Just got home from one of those this evening. $200k+ loss. He knows we'll take care of his customer. That one call puts me over my goal for June by $100K.
Danged right I'll take care of "Mr.Jones". Under promise and always over deliver! That always makes people happy.

The other thing I've learned. If you miss a call, return that call as fast as possible. In this day of instant comminication there is no patience on the part of the person you're trying to make a sale with.

Good luck and it sounds like a blast of a job!

jb

[RIHMFIRE]

Thanks for all the wonderful advice....all taken to heart...

But I did get a reality check yesterday at one of my friends gun shop.
This is a pretty high end gun shop and the guy is pretty internet savy....
and is connected to most of the distributors at the dealer level...
and boy the profit margins are very tight...very tight....


Tell ya what....I really did enjoy visiting a bunch of gun shops all in one day.

[Ysabel Kid]

Congrats. Sounds like a job any of us could truly love - combining putting bread on the table with selling a product we love!

All the advice is great. As Hobie noted, service sells. I know a lot of great sellers who have the hardest time getting and/or keeping business because either their after-sales service stinks, or their company's does. Anyone can sell a customer, or keep one, when everything is going right. It is the true professional that can hold things together when everything goes to heck in a handbasket. These are opportunities to shine - and prove to customers that they are buying from the right person and company.

Also as noted, be thorough. Document and over-communicate - both internally and externally. It will set you apart.

Good luck!

[JReed]

Congratulations on thie new gig. Done sales my self (Marine Recruiter) all the advice is spot on. The only thing I have to add is always be your self. A customer will all ways pick up if you are trying to be someone you aren't. Believe like trust keep that in mind and you will do great.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Good on you!!

[JHarold]

Great news, I know many of us are thinking how neat that job would be.
I don't have any sales experience, but I did have an EX girlfriend who sold Tupperware,
Her motto was "No sex, No supper, just tupper, tupper tupper". You noticed I said Ex.
With a levergun forum background you will do just fine.

[jojoh]

was just wondering how that job with centerfire ammo is going. I had a the same job offer and a little skeptical.

[RIHMFIRE]

was just wondering how that job with centerfire ammo is going. I had a the same job offer and a little skeptical.

DID NOT PAN OUT...
I HAD A $30,000 ORDER IN THE WORKS...
AND THEY COULD NOT DELIVER ALL THE ITEMS NEEDED..IN ONE SHIPMENT...
AND THE DIFFERENCE IN SAVINGS FROM ANOTHER DISTRIBUTOR
WAS VERY SMALL SO THEY STAYED WITH THEM...
AND THE COST OF THE MOST DESIRED CENTERFIRE AMMO WAS ABOUT 15% HIGHER...

AND WHEN I STARTED THE AMMO STORTAGES WERE ALREADY APPARENT...
COULD NOT GET ANY 223, 556, 9, 40, ETC

TOTAL WASTE OF TIME

[mod71alaska]

Sorry to hear that, RIHMFIRE. How are things working out otherwise for you? Is any construction/remodeling picking up at all? Where are you in FL?

[RIHMFIRE]

Sorry to hear that, RIHMFIRE. How are things working out otherwise for you? Is any construction/remodeling picking up at all? Where are you in FL?

very slow...hit and miss....mostly renovations of existing facilities...
working two part time jobs...
one in architecture..the other with a structural engineering
my scope of work is drafting....and very little design..

[wolfdog]

Congrats !

In one of my carrers, I was a salesman, and although can tell you many things, will only say 4 things:

1) If you sell yourself to someone, they will buy whatever you have. (IOW, be personable when meeting a client, like greeting a friend)

2) NEVER give a price first when asked, EVER - a salesperson should ALWAYS create the value BEFORE a price is ever given.
If the price is given first, any value given later is taken as an excuse for a high price, no matter how low the price given may actually be.

3) Do not let rejection deter you, as a high rejection rate (No's) is normal - just keep on, keepin' on.

4) As posted above, numbers count - so keep writing as many sales prospects as you can, & throw them on the sales wall of fame.
Like mud, some will slide off & some will stick - the more you throw, the more will stick. .

Remember two things about customers - They have YOUR paycheck in ther pocket and you have to figure out how to get it into yours; and if there's something about one you dislike, remember that you can only change yourself (attitude) and not who they are.

Good Luck
.

+1 All good advice.

[austrailianblues]

Ronnie Drury, owner of Centerfire Ammo Distributors, has been arrested by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department numerous times. He is currently being prosecuted by the State's Attorney's Office for, among other charges, a Felony. He shouldn't be anywhere near Guns or Ammunition.

He claims to have contacts in the ammunition business. He has none. He runs ads on Craigslist for Sales Reps constantly. He tells people if they send him $300 he will provide them with Business Cards, Shirts and pay their entrance fees to gun shows. He does not. He claims to have wholesale prices. However, his "Dealer Costs" are higher than most retail outlets. He claims to have been in the ammunition business for years. But was selling cars at a used car lot in Tampa less than a year ago.