DSR of the Month

George Mansour, a top DSR for Cheney Brothers, Inc., has earned a reputation as a slow and steady achiever. Over his 14 years in foodservice sales, he’s built up a $5-million territory made up mostly of independent restaurants along Florida’s Space Coast. Like the rest of the state, his market has been hit hard by the recession and it now faces the loss of additional jobs with the discontinuation of the space shuttle program. But tough times or not, Mansour manages to continue growing.

“I’ve never had big increases from year to year,” he says. “But even when I’ve lost accounts due to closures, I’ve usually been able to keep growing with new business. I’m in an area where commercial real estate is still valuable and someone always comes along to fill vacancies. Plus, the longer I’m on the street the longer I go after businesses and the more I convince them that I don’t back down. Persistence pays off.”

Mansour focuses not just on his own success, but on that of his customers. In one example, he helped the owner of a small ice cream shop in a mall to branch out with her own café. “She approached me saying she had the deal of a lifetime to do a café, but I knew she didn’t have any experience in handling food to do a full café menu,” he says. “I knew a retired chef who was looking for a side job or consulting work, so I hooked the two of them up and helped make it happen. She’s still my customer and now has three cafes, each of which generates six figures in sales a year.”

All told, Mansour services 50 accounts, most of which he’s prime supplier to. He’s a hands-on rep who spends the bulk of his time on the road. “Ninety-five percent of my time is spent driving to and interacting with my accounts,” he says, noting that he’s equipped his car as an office on wheels, including a printer and scanner, so that whatever he needs can be handled efficiently from the road.

A big fan of sampling, he frequently arranges to have brokers, manufacturer reps and Cheney’s product category specialists ride with him to add value. “I always encourage them to bring samples,” he says. “Nobody wants to look at flyers. If a chef is considering a new product, he wants to see it, taste it and experiment with how it might work on his menu.”

Of Lebanese descent, Mansour says his mother is an accomplished cook who instilled in him an understanding of and appreciation for good food. Despite having no formal culinary training – he earned a degree in finance before joining Cheney Brothers – that background has helped shape his success. “Her approach to food and cooking helps me understand what chefs are trying to accomplish,” he says. “Now I love the education that these chefs throw at me. If I listen hard to understand their needs and react quickly, I can be an asset to them and that’s a win-win.”

Internally, Mansour is a team player who keeps buyers apprised of competitive activity on the street and helps mentor new reps. “I always take their calls and answer their questions. I know it’s tough starting out so I do what I can to help them understand how to introduce a product or collect on an open invoice. We call it the Cheney Way. It’s worked all these years for me, so I try to give back.”