Have you recently thought about WHY you are an Alison’s Pantry Sales Rep? I was recently asked this question which sparked a long contemplation on my part because my WHY has changed a little over the 17 years that I have been a sales rep.
I first became a sales rep in January 2000 when my sales rep decided to quit when she went back to work full-time. I wanted to continue buying from Alison’s Pantry because I loved their high-quality products and I was working at building my food storage and basics at the time. My WHY was to be able to continue getting the great products we sold.
I loved selling our great products and was making enough to pay for our groceries with my commission but my children were growing and our needs were too. When my youngest of 5 children was 2 years old, I decided that if I was going to continue being a sales rep for Alison’s Pantry, it was time to grow my sales. I needed to sell more product to more people and, therefore, make more in commission. My WHY was to continue making enough commission to pay for the food I bought from Alison’s Pantry plus have some extra income for other expenditures. **A perk to all of this was that I had built a relationship with my customers so I now had a lot of adult interaction even though I was a stay-at-home mom so my social needs were also being met.
To grow my business, I started doing fairs, customer referral incentives, contests and anything else I could think of to grow my customer base and my sales. Then in 2006, I was asked to be an Area Coordinator over a group of sales reps. Not only did I sell to my own customers but now I was helping other sales reps sell to their customers and I was recruiting and training new sales reps. My WHY was now not only all the other things I’ve stated but also to help other sales reps sell our great products and grow their own Alison’s Pantry businesses!
I was the only sales rep in Rock Springs, Green River and Farson at the time I was asked to be an Area Coordinator (now Regional Sales Manager) and my first “job” was to recruit more sales reps in my area. **I had not helped the previous AC grow my area because it was “my area” and I didn’t want competition. I was doing everything I could think of to build my business but I was only doing about $3,000 sales in an area of about 40,000 in population. Now it was my job to find new sales reps in my area, so I put out the word to all my customers and anyone else I knew. To make a long story short, over the last 8 years, we now have a sales rep in Farson, 3 sales reps in Green River and 4 sales reps in Rock Springs and my sales are currently averaging $5,000 a month (double what it was when I was the only sales rep). It didn’t hurt me as a sales rep to have more sales reps in my area. It actually helped me!! Why?? Because there are more of us sharing the good news of Alison’s Pantry!! My WHY is now to keep getting the great products we offer through Alison’s Pantry, keep getting my groceries for FREE and have extra income, keep growing the company so we can keep getting these great products, and help others to sell these great products!!
I hope that by sharing my Alison’s Pantry story with you today, you’ve thought about your WHY. Why did YOU become an Alison’s Pantry sales rep and WHY are you an Alison’s Pantry sales rep today?? Hopefully, the main reason is because we have such great products. Another reason may be because you can get them for FREE with the commission you earn selling them!! Maybe you love the relationships you have built with your customers. I hope each of you knows how much we appreciate you and all you do and how happy we are that you chose to be a sales rep!! YOU are the lifeblood of Alison’s Pantry!!
Becky Price, RSM