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A Forklift and a Reorganized Warehouse
I needed a job. My first one was driving a forklift at Robertshaw Controls in Corona, California. I’d been in the Marine Corps, I was out a couple of years, no college, just looking for work. I went into the warehouse, started stocking shelves for the order pullers, and pretty quickly realized the layout had been set up fifteen years earlier and was completely out of kilter. Six pallets of room where you only needed one, that kind of thing.
I asked my supervisor if I could come in on Saturdays to rearrange it. He said he didn’t think he could get me overtime. I said I didn’t need to be paid — it would make my job easier. So I went in three Saturdays in a row on my own time. On the third Saturday, the operations manager walked in and asked what I was doing. I thought I was in trouble. He said, ‘You’ve gotten a lot done.’ I told him this was my third weekend. He said, ‘Your third weekend?’ And then made sure I got paid for it.
I wasn’t thinking about a career at that point. I was thinking I had a job, a steady job at a big company with benefits. But later, people inside started saying, ‘this guy’s a good worker.’ That’s how it started.
From the Warehouse to Customer Service to Sales
There was an opening for the lady who worked in the corner of the warehouse — same building, slightly different job, forty cents more an hour. I walked into the manager’s office in dirty shorts and a Styx concert t-shirt and asked about it. He was a serious guy. He didn’t end up giving me that job, but a couple of days later he pulled me into customer service.
What I found out later was that the assistant general manager, a guy named Bob, had told him I was a sharp kid worth bringing inside. I figured out how to run reworks on valves — taking one product apart and reassembling it into a different SKU — and our valve sales went up around ten percent over a few months. The manager came down and asked what was going on. I thought I was in trouble again. I wasn’t.
From there I moved into the marketing/product department, then into outside sales. In 1991 I was named National Salesman of the Year for Robertshaw. I got my associate’s degree along the way. I thought about finishing my bachelor’s, but I was married with a baby and life happened.
How I Ended Up at TRC Sales — for 26 Years
I left Robertshaw when they wanted me to move to Chicago as part of a broader effort to consolidate project management. I was already working with the global thermostat group at the time, but I’d lived in Corona, California, my whole life except for my time in the Marines, and I wasn’t ready to relocate. So I took a job at a rep agency instead. About two years later, Chris Richgels, the previous owner of TRC Sales, called me about coming over to work for him. It was twenty percent less guaranteed money on the front end. But Chris was one of the two best salesmen I’ve ever met. The territory was smaller, no overnights, my son was getting into junior high sports — I thought, this might be a better fit. My wife said okay. I took it.
Three months after I started, White Rogers — Emerson and Copeland’s HVAC group — called me about a factory role with significantly more money and a company car. I flew out for the interview. They offered me the job. I told Chris. Chris talked me through every reason to stay, raised my salary on the spot, gave me a car allowance. I stayed. Within ten years I was making more than twice what they originally offered. I never had to ask Chris for a raise. The bonuses came in. The decision paid off.
May 1st was twenty-six years at TRC Sales. I never went back and got that bachelor’s degree. But I’ve done okay.
Two Secrets
People sometimes ask, ‘Mitch, what’s your secret?’ I tell them two things. The first is: call people back. Voicemail is a great tool as long as you call people back. If you’re at a branch and you have a question, if you have to talk to a manufacturer first — get back to people. I’ve always done that.
The second is something I’ve told my son and daughter their whole lives: the harder I work, it seems the luckier I get. I don’t know if I’m the smartest person, but I’ve never been the dumbest. The thing that’s worked for me is just to work hard. Good things happen. People notice.
Make Yourself Hard to Replace
When younger reps ask me how to grow, I tell them: be the guy who does one thing extra. Make it so that if things go bad and management has to make changes, they can’t afford to lose you. Everyone does their job. Find a way to do one more thing easier. Make yourself hard to replace, and you’ll be the top-paid rep at your agency.
And for customer service — sometimes I’d hear inside reps complain that customers were calling with questions they could’ve looked up themselves. I’d say: customers call us for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes they’re swamped. Sometimes they’re short-handed. Sometimes they just need positive reassurance. Sometimes it’s the warehouse guy covering for the day. It doesn’t matter. If they call us, we help them. That’s our job.
Life Outside the Office
I really enjoy fishing — trout fishing in streams. I have a friend who gets angry if we don’t catch a bunch of fish. I’m out there by a stream, that’s enough for me. Fishing isn’t always catching.
I also mow my own lawn, and I’ll tell you why: in sales it can be three, four, six months before an order finally comes through. When I mow my lawn, it’s instant gratification. Everything’s trimmed, everything’s right. I walk to the end of the driveway and look back and there’s the nicest lawn on the street.
My wife and I have visited all fifty states. We’ve done little road trips — fly into Atlanta and drive a big circle, see ten states in a trip. We’re Dodgers fans. We listen to the Dodgers on the radio. We have a small travel trailer we take to the beach. We keep things simple.
On the Industry: Tech Is Good, Consolidation Is Concerning
On the technology side, I think a lot of it is genuinely good. Controls keep getting better and more accurate. There are old-timers who’ll say it was always better. It wasn’t always better. Some of it is great.
What does concern me is consolidation. Manufacturers consolidating, contractors consolidating, distributors consolidating. When companies have ten branches or seventy or two hundred, central purchasing makes sense. The challenge is that the people in central purchasing don’t always know the products. Someone walks in offering twenty dollars cheaper, they think it’s a good choice — but the product behind the counter might not be the same quality. And the branch people who actually depend on rep support don’t get a seat in those decisions. We adapt, but it’s a real shift.
Advice for the Next Generation
Find a way to make it look like you do the job better or harder than the next person. I don’t care what the job is — sales, counterman, football player, stock clerk at a grocery store. Find a way. If the trash needs emptying in the office, just empty it. Sometimes I empty the trash behind the counter at a distributor when they’re busy. Just stupid little things like that. That’s what gets you remembered.