DSR of the Month

While not new to sales – he’s been selling since high school some 38 years ago -- Marvin Pleason is relatively new to foodservice. A street sales specialist at Glazier Foods, he quickly put his prior experience in photography sales and in his family’s formal wear business to work building what’s now a nearly $4.5-million route when he joined the company five years ago. Jeff Oetken, Glazier’s vice president of street sales, says Pleason’s great attitude, strong work ethic, collaborative nature and willingness to embrace new initiatives have helped put him on the fast track to winning as a DSR.

Pleason, who covers a wide geographic territory and serves many customer types, credits his success to listing carefully to customer concerns and needs and responding quickly. He’s deliberate, consistent and persistent in his approach. “I plan out every day the night before and I work my plan,” he says. “That’s particularly true in terms of prospecting, which is part of my daily routine. It’s extremely important to me that I hit my target accounts on the same day, at the same time, every week. It shows them they can count on me to be there for them. I also make sure that I’m in front of the decision maker every time I’m there. That approach has definitely helped me to keep growing my sales.”

Coming in without prior foodservice experience, Pleason works hard to continue to build his product knowledge and learn the industry. He relies heavily on Glazier’s product category specialists, who make weekly calls with him and who he taps as a “second set of eyes” in his accounts. Early on, he spent two days on the road with a Glazier driver. “We delivered more than 1,000 cases of product. I learned a lot about pack sizes, labeling and multi-temperature storage requirements,” he says. “I also learned to have tremendous respect for our drivers, who really function as an extension of the sales team.”

Pleason also works the company’s annual food show both as a learning opportunity and a sales opportunity, bringing prospects and customers to show off new products and solutions. At last year’s show, he introduced a large-volume operator in search of a new French fry to one that offered longer hold times and better plate coverage than her current fry. “It was a right-place, right-time situation,” he says. “In addition to those benefits, the product she switched to yielded six extra servings per case. She now buys 90 cases a week from me. If you do that math, that’s a big home run for both of us.”

With his sales continuing to grow, Pleason says he’s not concerned about the lingering recession. It’s not the first one he’s lived through in sales. “I’ve been through numerous downturns and recessions and find that I come out the stronger and healthier than when I went in. So I don’t worry about it,” he says. “I plan my work, work my plan and that’s how I continue to grow—recession or no recession.”