Profit Center Manager is now my official title!  The last three years of my life have been dedicated to preparing for this role, so I was nervous and excited before starting.  It’s been about a month and half since I first arrived, and I already feel at home in Clarksburg, WV.  The MDP is so thorough that there haven’t been any surprises.  I have been blessed with a great team of three employees with 22 years of experience among them.  I was worried they would be stuck in their routine, but each of them is excited to grow the business in innovative ways.  In the beginning it’s important to show the team that I can work hard, since they were not there for my years of training in the warehouse and helping customers on the counter.  In that sense, it’s starting over for proving myself.  Luckily, I have had all the best training to show them I know the business all around.  I have taken the time to observe and reflect on what the PC is currently doing, and it’s time to act!

My time is spent building relationships with our vendor partners to help me ensure I have the best items in stock and the best price available.  Manufacturer rep agencies are a great way for me to find leads and even get introduced to key customers in my market.  One of the first things I did upon arrival was make the place my own by rearranging furniture and getting rid of things that had been sitting around for a long time (like old price books and even an old nonworking copier). From here on out, my priority is growing sales with our existing customers and finding new contractors in the area.  It’s my job to maximize profit sharing for me and my team!

 

I have now been in my outside sales phase for thirteen months.  I have had lots of time to build the relationships with my best customers.  Many experienced salespeople agree with me that we treat them like business partners, and both offer a lot to the other company.  In wholesale, our best advertising is word of mouth.  If it were not for my customers spreading my name to other customers, I would probably only have half the business I do now.  I have also come to understand exactly how essential a contractor’s salesperson is to their business.  We provide expertise on sourcing material (I have learned how to find just about any hard-to-find item) as well as our large amount of inventory that plumbers could not afford to keep in stock themselves.  Within my quality customer relationships, there is a clear understanding of helping each other out.  Eighteen months does seem like a long time for outside sales training, but it has flown by!  There are still many times that I need help from my mentor and team mates for handling certain customer situations.

As my time in training is coming to a close, my region manager and I have discussed possible locations for me to manage.  There are currently five locations in my region that are in need of management, so that’s why the management training program is taken so seriously at Hajoca.  I have been doing research on the market, competition, and potential of each location; and there are so many things to consider about each one!  I have been able to talk with my mentors at my current training site, Richmond Virginia, and also my previous mentor in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  It’s good to know I have a whole team of experienced people that are able and excited to help me succeed in my new role as Profit Center Manager!

– Emily Cowdrey

(Pictured Above: Fellow Hajoca teammates at our Richmond, VA location!)

 

Hi everyone!

I have been in my outside sales phase for nearly four months now.  I can see why many trainees before me have loved this phase the most!  I am working mostly alone and I have a lot of control over my goals and daily activities.  At the beginning of my transition to outside sales, I met with my profit center manager and region manager to set my numerical goals for the first year.  I have monthly and quarterly sales goals that I am expected to meet.  The process I use to meet these goals is up to me, and I can always ask for help with strategy.  I quickly learned that I needed to get organized; one of the most important activities a salesperson can do is follow up with customers, so I need to be sure nothing slips through the cracks.  As my customers grow and multiply, relying on my memory just won’t work – I take notes on calls every day!

I was warned from the start, outside sales people face a lot of rejection.  I have gotten around feeling down by using the mantra “If they say no, I’ll be in the same position I’m in now”.  I focus on the positive feedback, which gives me confidence to keep trying.  There are some customers that will turn me away more than once, but keeping at it has turned into some of my best orders.  Many salespeople have even estimated that it takes 10 calls to get the first order!  My experience is that this is true for some, but most customers are willing to give a new vendor a shot after just a couple of cold calls.

Back to the positive parts! I enjoy getting out of the office to go visit my customers.  Usually I go to an office, but some customers are on a jobsite so I meet them there.  These customer interactions make up most of my job now.  My struggle has been to get away from spending my time doing inside work, and instead getting in front of the customer.  But, having customers that need help from me is a blessing!  This role is the most fun, the most difficult, and keeping me the busiest I have been!

Hello there, Hajoca friends! As we greet here in Georgia, “How y’all doin?”

I am currently writing from Leesburg, GA. No, this isn’t my new profit center … I’m still at Lithia Springs, but I am just filling in temporarily on the counter here while the manager is away. Leesburg is a 3-man operation: A manager, a counter salesperson, and a driver/warehouse guy. With a small profit center like this, all of the team members have to wear many hats, and everyone pitches in to get the job done. Since the manager normally spends a lot of time working the counter, I was more than happy to come down and help out in his absence! This is one of my favorite things about being in the Management Development Program: We get the opportunity to travel all over the region to work at different locations for inventories, training, or just filling in for a while. I love getting to meet the team members at these PCs and get a feel of what it’s like working in their market. Lithia Springs is considered part of the “Metro-Atlanta” market, so working in places like Leesburg (South Georgia) opens my eyes to how differently these markets vary from one another.

A lot of things have changed since the last time I wrote! First and foremost, I have officially made the transition from Phase One to Phase Two. My transition has been a little different than most, in that typically you will spend the first six months or so of Phase Two doing inside sales. The difference between inside and outside sales is basically just as the names imply: Inside sales consists of being “inside” the profit center and supporting the outside sales staff, who spend most of their time “outside” the store meeting with customers and building relationships. However, during my counter and operations modules of Phase One, I was basically acting as an inside sales professional as well. I was able to learn the ins-and-outs (pun intended) of inside sales by doing things such as job and material quoting, customer and product pricing, inventory management, and working closely with the customers to track down products and materials that they have a need for. I am really enjoying the outside sales role so far. I enjoy meeting new people and building relationships with them, so this job is right up my alley. I will admit though that it is quite the challenge going into a contractor’s office without ever meeting them, and trying to get them to give you a minute of their time. A contractor’s time is one of their most valuable pieces of capital, so it is important they feel that you understand that and do not abuse it. I have learned that, by acknowledging their time is important, they are much more open to talking to me. After all, time is money!

When I first started writing this blog post, I was in Leesburg. Fast-forward five days later, and I am writing from the beautiful St. Louis, Missouri! I am here attending Mainline University, a 3-day workshop meant to educate Hajoca employees on all the features, benefits, and just plain ol’ awesome details about Mainline, our private label brand. Mainline is a collection of all things plumbing – faucets, sinks, valves, fittings, etc. – and ‘private label’ means that these are products that only Hajoca locations carry.

Okay, enough about business… Let’s talk about yours truly! Since I last wrote, a lot has changed. About a month ago, I moved into a new apartment, AND I LOVE IT. I moved from Kennesaw to Smyrna, which is only about a 10 mile move, but it made an enormous difference in my commute times. Metro Atlanta is infamous for its terrible, snail’s pace traffic, which I was caught in nearly every day. Before I moved, my commute to work was about 40 minutes (on a good day), and about an hour and ten minutes on the way home. Yeah, it wasn’t fun. From my new place, it’s about a 25 minute shot both ways! I’m also trying to build a customer base in Smyrna, so it’s nice being able to say that I live nearby when visiting customers. In my opinion, living in the market that you serve is important because it can help you understand the ins-and-outs of that market a little better, and also helps you relate to the customer.

I’d also like to share with you guys a little “personal project” that I have been working on for the past few months. I call it … (Drumroll) ………. “Project Get Fit”. Having been an athlete all through high school, I focused a lot on my physical fitness and endurance. When I reached the latter years of college, however, I placed fitness on the back-burner and shifted my focus to my grades and academics. Yes, I gained the infamous “freshman 15” (although admittedly it was WAYYYY more than just 15, and I wasn’t a freshman). So about six months ago, I decided that I wanted to make a change. I wanted to get back in shape. Weighing about 260 at the time, I made a commitment to myself that I was going to get below 200 lbs again. I didn’t care how long it took, but I was not going to stop until I got there. I wanted to change my eating habits, cutting out empty carbs and sugar. My diet would consist of lean meats, fruits, and vegetables. I stopped drinking sodas, and only drank water, coffee, and milk. I also got back in the gym and started doing a consistent cardio routine. On my first day on the treadmill, I could barely get in a 10 minute mile without feeling like I was going to pass out. As of yesterday, I ran 6.5 miles in just under an hour! I plan on signing up for a half-marathon soon, and maybe even a full marathon eventually! It has always been a dream of mine to finish a 26.2 mile race. I am happy to say that now, after a little over six months of clean eating and killer cardio, I have reached my goal of being below 200 lbs!!! I feel better now than I have my entire life. It is crazy how much of a difference I can feel in myself just by living a healthy lifestyle. I have attached a few pictures of my progress along the way!

I want to thank you all for taking the time to read my blogs. It really means a lot to me, and I’m glad I get to share my experiences with you all. I hope by reading these posts, you gain a better understanding of what it’s like being in the Management Development Program and working for the magnificent company that is Hajoca. In the words of Mr. Rick Fantham, Hajoca’s President, “Hajoca gives you the freedom to live into your dreams.” I can honestly say that this statement is 100% true. I would even go beyond that statement by saying that Hajoca doesn’t just give you the freedom to live your dream, they provide you the support, strength, and encouragement as well! With Hajoca, all things are possible. Take my fitness journey, for example. From day one, I knew it was going to be a long and tough journey to reach my goal. I could have easily given up, and almost did quite a few times. However, my Hajoca family supported me every step of the way. With countless bids of confidence and encouragement like “Keep up the hard work!” and “Looking good!” from my team, I was able to stay focused on my goal and I knew that they were going to be there to support me through the tough times. I am beyond thankful that I have found a home in Hajoca. I hope you will too!

Well, that’s all for now, folks! I will write again very soon with an update on how things are going. Until then, stay safe, have fun, and be happy!

– Morgan

          

      

Now that I have spent six months as an inside salesperson, I am much more proficient in the new types of material and providing top of the line service.  The time I spend quoting items we don’t keep in our warehouse has expanded my relationships with our vendors.  Half of the battle is knowing who to call for what, so I have been keeping a word document with lists of vendors and what lines they represent.  Since Hajoca both buys and sells, I am constantly switching between being a customer and serving our customers.  I also serve as a kind of middle ground between our counter pick up business and outside sales.  I am a backup person for our counter, so I help out when we get busy; it’s a nice break to get up and move around!  I am also able to prospect from my desk by calling to follow up with customers I meet on the
counter.  There are times when I don’t need to leave the PC to find new customers, because they walk up to our counter and tell me what kind of material they use daily.  One great thing about this industry is that we don’t need to convince our customers that they need our material; we just need to convince them that we can act as a partner to them in providing the goods and services they already know they need (and of course there are opportunities for upselling). 

I attended my second Management Development Program workshop during my inside sales phase.  This time I presented a project to a panel of profit center managers, region managers, and other trainees.  I spent almost 8 months automating the pricing structure for my phase one profit center.  Luckily, I saw a significant decrease in manual price over rides, which means I saved a lot of man hours!  It is these kinds of projects that are the reason I find enjoyment at work.  Also at the workshop, all the trainees participated in daily classes that improve our potential for success as a profit center manager.  One of my favorite workshops was on hiring your “dream team”.  A strong team of employees is one of the core elements for success, so the hiring process must be very intentional.  We learned some great techniques for the interviewer to prepare questions that predict the fit of any candidate.  Another session I really enjoyed was “The Science of Selling” which went into detail on the psychology behind different sales techniques that leave customer and supplier happy.

Outsides sales is just around the corner for me now.  This will be the time when I “hit the road” to find new customers.  I am both excited and nervous to step outside my comfort zone and sell others on the greatness of Hajoca’s products and service.  Look out for my next blog for successes and lessons learned throughout my outside sales phase!