True Commitment
One distributor discovers that success begins with a top-notch sales staff, whether they work in the field or behind a desk
by Laura Thill
Darby Dental Supply, LLC (Jericho, N.Y.) is committed - to its customers, and to its employees. Without the support of a well-educated sales and customer service staff, the company believes it wouldn’t be able to provide its customers with the best possible service.
"A company is only as good as the promises it makes and keeps to its customers and employees," says Gary Rosenberg, president. "To our customers, we are committed to providing them with the products they need, at a very competitive price, supported by a very knowledgeable staff that can help them run their offices efficiently. Our commitment to our employees is to provide them with the education and tools they need in order to provide their customers with world class service."
Sixty years in the making
These principles are not new to the company, notes Rosenberg. In 1947, when Joseph Ashkin returned from serving in World War II, he was determined to establish a dental distributor equipped to fully meet the needs of local New York dentists. When his son, Michael (currently chairman of the board at Darby), stepped in, he did so with a vision of selling dental products through telemarketing to the entire country. "Keep in mind, Michael had to build a distribution network that would allow Darby to compete nationally with the traditional outside sales rep model that existed at the time," says Rosenberg. "Michael believed - and eventually proved - that a telemarketing representative could be trained as well as a field sales rep and serve as a consultant to the dentists to help them with their questions regarding products and how they are used in procedures."
This approach appeared to work well - so well in fact, that when Rosenberg first met the folks at Darby after graduating from college, he was dazzled by the company’s dynamics. "After graduating from Syracuse University (Syracuse, N.Y.) in 1980 with an accounting degree, I joined an accounting firm, which performed the audit work for Darby," he explains. In the couple of years he worked on the Darby account, he got to know and like the people who worked there. "This was my favorite account to work on, because there was never a dull moment," he says. "The Ashkin family was constantly buying companies, opening new offices, investing in leading state-of-the-art technology (distribution facilities, phone systems, computers and manufacturing), and this made Darby an extremely interesting company to me."
Eventually, Rosenberg came to work for Darby, focusing on financial reporting, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic and operational planning. In 2001, he was promoted to president of the company. "I believe my track record of continuing to hire the brightest team of hardworking professionals with a burning passion to succeed, gave the Ashkins the confidence to make me president," he says. "Carl and Michael Ashkin determined that I could continue to follow the principles they both established, along with creating some new ones to remain competitive as a dental distributor."
The seat vs. the feet
Darby has built its business on the principle that sales reps who service their customers over the phone can be just as effective as those who service them face-to-face. "As long as we provide the same training to our telesales reps that other companies provide to their outside sales staff, we can provide the same critical information that dentists require in order to properly order the products that are right for the procedures they perform," says Rosenberg. Darby telesales reps are trained to have this information available for dental customers whenever they need it, he adds.
"All our dental customers have to do is pick up the phone and speak to their sales consultant or to one of our many product specialists," says Rosenberg. "At Darby, dentists can reach a specialist to answer a question at their leisure, and they are provided with the proper answer based on their timing and need." After all, he points out, even field sales reps must respond to some of their customers’ questions over the phone. "I have yet to find a dentist whose schedule is in sync with a field sales representative when an unusual question or concern is raised," he says.
Indeed, his sales reps go through extensive training to understand the products they work with and to know the right questions to ask customers. For instance, rookie reps don’t even have contact with customers until 10 weeks after joining the company. First, they receive in-depth product training and a series of manufacturer and dentist in-services to see how products are used. "New reps must touch and feel virtually every product we offer," says Rosenberg. And, the distributor offers no less than 40,000 items, he adds. But training is not limited to products. "We have daylong training sessions on our promotions and benefit programs, such as gift card programs for the customers." In addition, new reps are involved in role playing and paired with more seasoned reps for the first five to six months.
Even longtime reps must keep current with their training and education, notes Rosenberg. "Seasoned reps must watch four hours of video modules each month and be tested on products to earn credits," he says. "Also, once each week we have manufacturer in-services, with training tied in with promotional sales offers for the reps." Add to that a sophisticated order-entry system and a database of cross-referenced items to keep reps on top of new products being ordered and to ensure customers are re-ordering correct products, and Darby telesales reps are well prepared.
True, it has been challenging educating manufacturers on the telesales model, Rosenberg says. Sometimes vendors don’t understand that Darby is a full-service distributor. "We offer customers a terrific service, from picking, packing and shipping products the same way our larger competitors do," he says. "Anyone who thinks we are a boiler room discount house just doesn’t understand what Darby is all about," he says. "With savings that can exceed 20 or 25 percent, we are a winning proposition to both our customers and our vendors."
Upbeat in an economic downturn
One thing is for certain - Darby is not struggling in the sluggish economy. If anything, Rosenberg says his company is more solid than ever. "Although I wish we weren’t in this current recession, it actually has impacted our business positively on several fronts," he points out. "First, many doctors are now looking to save money on their sundry products and as such have started to order through Darby. With this growth in our sales, we have hired over 30 new sales reps across the country in the last six months." In fact, at the Ashkin family’s insistence, the company continues to pay salary and benefits to its employees serving in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, he adds.
From 2001 to the present, Darby has expanded from two locations (Long Island, N.Y. and Pompano Beach, Fla.) and 75 telesales reps to seven locations, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Tennessee and Nevada, and about 200 reps. Another 28 reps work from home. But if Rosenberg gives the impression that success for Darby has come easy, he quickly sets the record straight: "This industry is far more complicated than one may think, and one had better understand the complexities involved in order to service potential customers properly," he says. Especially for newcomers, "the barriers to entry are severe and if not properly managed, you will be eaten up immediately." [FI]
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