DSR of the Month: Joe Walsh, Northeast Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, Bow, N.H.

As a former chef and restaurateur, and now as a sales rep and equipment specialist at Northeast Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, Joe Walsh applies the knowledge he’s acquired in these varied roles to a successful career as a DSR.

By Lisa White, Contributing Editor -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 11/1/2007

Joe Walsh Sales Rep/Equipment Specialist

This all-encompassing background is very advantageous to his dealings with customers, Walsh said. "I've always remembered that one of the key things for us as salespeople to do is listen to what customers actually want and not what we want or what we think they should buy," he said.

One example of listening to the sale was a recent visit with a college foodservice manager who was lamenting the skyrocketing price of paper cups as well as his students' concern about the needless waste. Although the visit was regarding a different matter, Walsh's suggestion resulted in the college converting to plastic tumblers, which he provided, along with the racks to store them.

Colleagues in the industry note that Walsh not only knows what customers need, but also when they need it. For these reasons and others, Walsh has been chosen as Foodservice Equipment & Supplies' November 2007 DSR of the Month.

Prior to joining NFES, Walsh graduated from Johnson & Wales Culinary School in 1977 with a culinary arts degree. He then served as a chef for the next 10 years at various hotels and restaurants, including the Sheraton John Hopkins in Baltimore, Chicago's Ambassador East Hotel and the New Hampshire Highway Hotel.

In his last five years as a chef, Walsh served as both chef and partner of a restaurant and catering business located in the lakes region of New Hampshire. Yet, the long hours and lack of a quality family life took its toll. When Walsh had the opportunity to sell his share of the business, he turned to NFES' Dave Unger, his equipment and supplies dealer, and inquired about a career change.

Unger and his partner, Jack Nicholas, then brought him onboard. "I was on the road for 11 years in the lakes and mountain regions of New Hampshire," Walsh said.

Walsh then left to join a broadline distributor, where he served as an equipment and supplies specialist for six years. He covered territories in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. "Working in such a large company honed my organization and presentation skills. I appreciated my time spent with these associates, but realized my heart was in the traditional equipment and supplies business. Jack and Dave welcomed me back to NFES," he said.

Since rejoining NFES three years ago, Walsh mainly deals with independent restaurants, country clubs, schools, healthcare and camp accounts.

At the beginning of his DSR career, Walsh said he would often make deliveries to help expedite customer orders. Even though the company has evolved and this is not a necessary part of his job, Walsh still says he does what it takes to get the job done. "On one of my most recent projects, I went out in the field to assist with the completion of the job. When I do an installation, I like to be on the job. It pays to be directly involved because communication with the installation crew helps circumvent later issues," he explained.

It also helps that Walsh can walk into a new or existing account and look at the situation from the chef's or foodservice manager's perspective.

Both a good work ethic and rapport with customers also have served Walsh well in his foodservice career. "E&S specialists need to have their product knowledge down because customers are looking to you for your expertise," he said. "I pride myself on my ability to follow through with selling smallwares, kitchenwares and tabletop items."

The best part of being a DSR, Walsh said, is working on a variety of projects with many different owners, chefs and managers in cooperation with Northeast's design team.