Pay your dues, keep learning and stay humble. These are John Reidelbach’s keys to consistent success selling for Emerson. John has been with Emerson for almost 17 years. He came to Emerson through an Inside Sales Role. He was in Outside Sales for four years prior. When introduced to Emerson, he didn’t want to go backwards from Outside Sales to Inside sales. The company felt it was a better fit for the time being so he took the advice and took a step back. He was in the Inside Sales role for 3 ½ years. He then moved into an Outside Sales position when one opened up. He was ready to jump in and has stayed in the role ever since. He had to invest some time in the beginning but it was worth it for him in the long run.
Sales runs in John’s family. John’s dad was in sales. He saw the lifestyle and how his dad was able to provide for his family. He graduated from Purdue and took his first job out of school working for SquareD. John learned a lot about selling through channels. Then he worked in the energy sector before he found himself looking for new opportunities. He then worked with a recruiter who brought him to Emerson where he has found a home.
In This Episode
- What does paying your dues look like
- John’s information diet and how he continues to improve himself
- Peaks and valleys of John’s career
- Responsibilities of the Inside Sales role
- John’s sales origin story
- What John would do differently if he could start over today
- John’s favorite sales story
- Never negotiating with yourself
- Biggest challenge John faced
- Trying to find work life balance
- Habits and routines essential to John’s Success
- Apps and tools John use
- John’s sales philosophy
- Hobbies John enjoys
- You can be a successful salesperson without picking up a golf club
- Advice for someone just starting out in their sales career
- Advice for someone in the midst of their career
Top 3 Key Contributors to John’s Success
- To pay your dues. There are no short cuts to success. Keep on moving. You can’t expect to be at the top of the leader board over night.
- Keep learning. There is always something you can pick up from a book, podcast, etc.
- Stay humble. You can always reach out a helping hand. Never get to full of yourself.
John’s Sales Results
In 2008, John set the record with 11.2 million dollars in sales. He was the first of anyone to go into double digits. The next year, someone knocked him down. In 2014 they brought in 20 million dollars, and John earned the right to go to President’s Club. John had his best year, his banner year, in 2017, when he brought in 25 million dollars. This was the all time record.
Biggest Challenge John Faced
John was in a situation with a purchasing agent. They submitted the price but once it goes to supply chain you never know what will happen. He took the price and sliced and diced it a bunch of different ways. It was taking a long time. When it came down to it, you have to draw your line. I had to say this is the final price and we need to get started. When he realized he was out of time, the game was over. It was brutal.
Habits and Routine Essential to John’s Success
The main habit that has made John successful is his consistent habit of keeping meticulous sales records of all the orders he books.
John’s Sales Philosophy
John has recently done training in Solution Selling. He believes you can have the best product and price but if there isn’t a pain you are trying to solve, your project is going nowhere. You have to diagnose the pain. Documenting every step of the sales process is also very important. John is more of introvert and takes more of a methodical approach that is laid back and less aggressive.
John’s Challenge
Pick up a sales related book and actually start to read it. Start documenting every sales meeting you are involved with to double check you have the information right and they heard the information right. Â
Resources Mentioned
2019 Sales Success Summit
Start with Why
21 Secrets of Million-Dollar Sellers
Yelp
FlightView
Robbin Williams on Golf
John’s Pre-Call Planning Document