A deal that fell through landed Frank Iessi on a new career path. A former beverage specialist for a small New York-area distributor, he had traveled to North Carolina to implement a program through which a distributor there would carry his company’s private-label coffee line. Ultimately, that deal didn’t work out, but Iessi and his wife were hooked on North Carolina and opted to make a fresh start there. He joined IFH two and a half years ago and quickly became a rising star, “the kind of rep you’d love to be able to clone,” says sales manager Jerry McArthur.

Armed with three years of sales experience gained in New York, Iessi also brought 20 years of operator experience with him. He’d been involved in and ultimately owned one of four deli/catering businesses there prior to becoming a beverage specialist. “Having been in the trenches helps a lot when relating to customers,” he says. “They know I understand what they’re saying and what their challenges are.”

Operator experience also helped transition from selling a specialty segment of a small inventory to IFH’s 15,000-SKU broadline mix. “I worked with so many different products over the years that going broadline wasn’t a problem,” he says. He adds, however, that he relies heavily on internal and external resources to support his efforts.

“I do a lot of sampling and ride-withs with brokers and manufacturer reps. They’re a huge resource,” he says. “We also have an outstanding support team at IFH, including our corporate chef, managers and specialists. I have them ride with me as much as I can, not just to get them in front of customers but also so I can pick their brains.”

Roughly three-quarters of Iessi’s accounts are on prime-supplier status, and at least half place their orders via direct order-entry. “It’s more efficient for them and it frees up more of my time to spend on sampling, on helping them find ways to grow and improve their businesses versus entering orders,” he says.

Iessi works hard to deliver menu ideas and strategies for improving operations and profitability. He frequently taps manufacturers to bring promotions to customers, and leverages opportunities through IFH’s sister company, Lowe’s Food Stores, for cross-promotion. “If I have a customer located near a Lowe’s, I arrange to have promotional flyers provided by the restaurant inserted into every grocery bag. I’ve had customers tell me they’ve seen 10 percent to 15 percent increases in sales when we’ve done that.”

While some reps are uncomfortable prospecting, Iessi enjoys it and does it religiously. “I make at least five prospecting calls every day. They may be complete cold calls or revisits, but I won’t go home until I’ve done five,” he says. “Account penetration is important, but cold calling is what can really grow your business.”

Iessi’s so committed to prospecting, in fact, that on top of the five calls he pre-plans into every day, he forces himself to make just one more call at the end of the day. “I may be on my way home and I’ll program the GPS to provide an alternate route. I’ll see operations I’ve never known about and stop in. I’ve put more customers on my account list doing that than through any calls I’ve planned out.”

That said, he’s as committed to planning as he is to cold calling. “I attribute about 90 percent of any success I’ve had to planning,” he says. “In my experience, if you plan well you can still allow time for putting out the inevitable fires that come up. But if you don’t plan, it’s too easy to wind up going in 17 different directions and not accomplish anything.”