If there were ever a year for the best sales reps to rise to the top, 2020 has to be it. From lockdowns to supply chain challenges, all reps have had a lot to juggle this year, while evolving the way they build and maintain relationships with their customers.
We’re proud of the work all our reps are doing this year, but one of the standouts has to be David Epperson. Serving the area from Atlanta to Birmingham, David is quick to offer a smile and make everyone feel welcome. It’s a great first impression, either during an in-person sales call or as those calls go digital.
Making It a Team EffortWe asked David about the key to his success, and he’s hesitant to take the credit. “I really enjoy this company, and this team is extremely unique. It has extremely strong leadership. Our goals — and everything really — is accomplished through team efforts. So there's a great team, and I really enjoy being a part of it and doing what I do.”
David’s a humble guy, and we aren’t the only ones who think so. We reached out to Mark Schaefer, Owner/Advisor at Central Woodwork, who is one of David’s biggest clients. Mark appreciates David’s responsiveness and his dedication to getting to know everyone he can at Central Woodwork, but for Mark, there’s a key quality that shines through.
“He is humble but friendly.” And that humility translates to trust in both directions. “He's very trusting of us. If we tell him something, he acts on it.”
Bringing a Personal Touch
Anyone who works in sales, along with anyone who has ever been sold to, knows that the best sales come when you feel like you have a relationship with your rep. That personal touch is the secret to great long-term relationships, and it is especially important this year when sales reps aren’t able to travel and meet with their customers in person as often as they might have in the past.
Still, Mark is eager to hear from David, even if it’s only over the phone. “David texts me to ask, ‘Would you have time for a call with me today or tomorrow?’ You know, usually, I'll just pick up the phone and dial him immediately. And, like most of the better business relationships, you know, we spend half the time talking about non-business stuff, like sports.”
For David, building that relationship is his favorite part. “That's really my favorite thing. I really enjoy the new [relationships]. Right at the start when you're getting to know someone, or if you're in a new account for the first time, and you're asking the questions and just really, more than speaking, you're listening, too.”
Mixing Digital and Personal
With fewer opportunities to travel this year, David is relying more on digital materials to help customers like Mark sell Metrie products. He likes having all the information he needs at his fingertips, regardless of whether he’s dealing with a regional customer or one with a national presence.
David loves referring customers to the website because it’s easy to find the line of profiles available in their area. And because the website is always being improved, the ease of use is always improving as well.
Mark and Central Woodwork are enjoying some new digital collateral, too. “David hasn't been traveling as much, so he has been able to work on some customized pieces for us that we like. We're operating with a new catalogue now that was made just for us, and we're working on another poster.”
But even with all the digital resources available, what Mark values most and sees as the key to the industry’s success is knowing there’s a human being like David ready to help solve problems and support his business.
“I love that about our industry; it has retained a sense of human touch and human preference to it. You know how people feel about other people in the supply chain definitely affects whose catalogue they reach for when they want to go sell something.”
Sharing the Spotlight
We’re always excited to spotlight some of our reps to our wider market, but when we asked David how he felt about it, that humility shone through pretty quickly.
“It just caught me off guard because I wasn't expecting it. And it made me feel very proud because we all work hard, right? We take a lot of pride in doing what we do. But with the same token, none of this is possible without everybody else on the team. So, I'm not real big on the spotlight. Let's keep hitting our numbers. And let's see how we can grow our business so that we can make our team proud.”
It’s easy to see why David has been successful. Humble and hardworking, he represents the Metrie brand in everything he does. We couldn’t be prouder of all the work that he and the Atlanta team are doing.
To get started with your rep, visit the Metrie website.
