Chris Tollaksen Edward Don & Co. North Riverside, Ill.

Chris Tollaksen, Chicago local representative with Edward Don & Co. in North Riverside, Ill., said that one of the biggest factors helping him succeed professionally is that “my customers are not afraid when I come into the building. I am more of an asset to them than I am someone trying to sell them stuff.”

By Howard Riell, Contributing Editor -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 4/1/2007

Chris Tollaksen Sales Representative

Chris Tollaksen, Chicago local representative with Edward Don & Co. in North Riverside, Ill., said that one of the biggest factors helping him succeed professionally is that "my customers are not afraid when I come into the building. I am more of an asset to them than I am someone trying to sell them stuff."

And it is greatly appreciated.

Foodservice operators may be nervous, Tollaksen said, because "many young salespeople, and even experienced salespeople, don't come in with the right attitude. They're coming in there to sell them something as opposed to helping the customer's business." The demeanor must be right "so that the customer doesn't feel like you're pushing product or shoving stuff down their throats."

Tollaksen's method for doing that is to greet and chat with every employee in the house, from busboys and waitresses to line and prep cooks back in the kitchen. "I say hello to everybody. When I come in, I get a smile from almost everyone that I see."

Nor are the results gained from such an approach measured only in smiles. "Those people you're saying hello to and acknowledging also move on to other positions or places," he said. "My business develops as those people move on into positions involving buying or influencing whoever is doing the buying."

A 25-year industry veteran, Tollaksen started his career as a student manager for Saga Corp. while studying at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill. "I started out as a dishwasher," he recalled, "and within a month I was promoted to manager of all of the student employees."

Tollaksen came to Edward Don 21 years ago as a street sales representative. He covers the Chicagoland area, including the region's North Shore. "It's a very small area that only encompasses about five municipalities. But much of my business is now done outside of the geographic territory. As my customers have expanded, they have taken me with them." In all, he services approximately 150 clients, including some very small operators who don't do a lot of business with Edward Don. He sees 12 to 15 customers a day, largely independent restaurants, institutional operators and chains. His largest customer is a rental agency that rents china, glass, silverware, furniture and other items for single events. Edward Don wrote slightly more than $500,000 in business with the agency last year. "Rental businesses are diamonds in the rough," he said. "Sales reps need to look for operations like these to grow."

By the end of 2006, Tollaksen accounted for slightly more than $2 million in business, his highest sales-volume year ever. He credits the economy, which was "excellent for our industry. There were not as many restaurant closings, I think, as there were in previous years, and people went out more often than they have in previous years."

Tollaksen puts in 12-hour days, on average, starting at 6 a.m. Once he gets home, he puts in another couple of hours finishing up things like specialty orders and e-mail. He travels to the tune of 26,000 miles a year by car.

Not surprisingly given his tenure, Tollaksen has been asked by Edward Don's management to help train less-experienced DSRs. "New salespeople go through a three-month training process during which they work in all of the departments. Their biggest emphasis is working with the salespeople to learn what they do and how they do it on the streets."

Tollaksen's responsibility is to be available. "I am a person that they can call at any time if they have a concern or an issue or are uncomfortable in talking to management about something. I am there to give them some hands-on help.

"You need to walk into a place and know more about your customers than they know about you. The biggest thing is that you have to listen to what customers say."