The secrets of an award-winning sales rep
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At Beco Pets, Senior Field Sales Account Manager Becky Lambert drives 1,000 miles a week covering her patch, the east of England, East Midlands and Yorkshire.
After 16 years in the pet trade, she’s just won welcome recognition of all her hard work – by scooping her first-ever award, the Pet Industry Federation Sales Representative of the Year 2016. The judges’ decision was said to have been “unanimous”.
In this exclusive interview with Pet Trade Xtra, she shares a few of her ‘Golden Rules’ which have helped her stand out from the pack and stay one step ahead...
How long have you worked in sales?
I started off in sales 17 years ago when I landed a job as a Sales Admin assistant working in packaging. It meant I was selling bubble wrap and cardboard boxes.
When did you first get a job in the pet industry?
That first job lasted a year, so I started in the pet trade 16 years ago. I have always been mad about animals and I've always had pets, so it was a no brainer. Certainly better than selling bubble wrap!
What did you do before joining Beco Pets?
I worked for Armitage Pet Care, the biggest suppliers of pet treats and toys, based in Nottingham, which is where I was born. I started off as a Sales Admin for a year, then I went out on the road and ended up as Key Account Manager. Later, I took a sabbatical for a year and a half, when I left and managed six pet shops across the county, before then being enticed back to Armitage. There are not many sales reps who have had the experience of working on the other side of the counter. I grasped an understanding of how difficult it is when a delivery comes in incorrectly or when you are out of stock and worried about letting the customer down. That experience taught me a lot about the importance of putting the customer first.
What does this award mean to you?
I was told that some of the judges knew my name from having been part of the industry for some years and that came as a great surprise to me. I give the job my all so it's fantastic to now receive this recognition from the Pet Industry Federation. When they read my name out, I was ‘chuffed to bits’ – a proper Nottingham saying that!
The only other prize I have ever won is an award for designing a miniature garden in a competition at my primary school when I was aged six. This was my first award in the pet industry and I was very, very proud to get it.
I wasn’t expecting the award at all. I’m very honoured. It comes from a lot of hard work and building relationships. But it’s easy to be a successful sales rep if you have a fantastic product range and a supportive company like Beco Pets to work with. I was absolutely blown away and this is a great early Christmas present for me that is already on my mantle piece.
What are the secrets of your success?
I like to think of my customers as my friends. And over the years I have developed a few personal Golden Rules. Whenever I have trained other reps, I have always told them:
- Golden Rule One: Do what you say you'll do.
- Golden Rule Two: Always tell the truth.
I don't think there anything worse than a rep blagging it, because you always get found out. If you say you're going to send a price list, then send a price list.
I do also enjoy doing admin and I think customers appreciate that things are done for them. I will do a personalised price list for a customer with their discount on it. If they request a credit I will make sure it's done right away so they aren't chasing it three months later.
Another of my secrets is that I see my inbox as a ‘To Do’ list. If I have more than 30 emails in my inbox then I hate it. And when I hear people saying they have 7,000 emails in their inbox it really just makes me want to cry!
I also keep account files for all my customers and always try to wish them a happy birthday if I know the date.
How do you stand out from the crowd?
I think some sales reps, from what I hear, can just be about ‘talking the talk’. I don't mean that in a nasty way. A good friend of mine is a bit like that. I like to make sure I am very diligent with the admin so that I always do what I have promised to do.
 What’s it like to work at Beco Pets?
I love it. I love Beco Pets - it’s me. I’m selling stuff I believe in. My customers can see how much I enjoy it, how much I believe in Beco's ethos and products and that means they believe in it as well. Initially, I approached Beco and asked if they would like me to sell for them because of my sales track record and my eco ethos. We had a meeting and we took it from there. I felt fantastic when they offered me the job because it was absolutely what I wanted to do. The products are absolutely me. Beco’s ethos is all about being eco-friendly and at home, I also live the eco lifestyle. We recycle plastic soda bottles and hang them up as birdseed feeders (pictured right), I recycle old clothes as dusters, and use old pallets to build hedgehog houses in the garden.
Describe a typical working day
My day begins daily at 6am when I get up and the first thing I do is check my emails. I then take the kids to school, and get out on the road. I plan my journeys on Google to drive the shortest distances between clients, which is better for the environment, and better for Beco’s petrol sales! I try to work smarter. I’m usually back home in time to sort out any admin for the day. I cover approximately 1,000 miles a week. My patch is a pretty large area geographically. It includes North Yorkshire and East Angelia, so it often means there is quite a lot of distance between pet shops. I travel in the ‘Becomobile’, a fully branded up saloon car. It always makes an impression and gets noticed. Putting in the quantity of mileage that I do, I always take care to get the right amount of sleep.
 Do you own pets yourself?
As a life-long animal lover (and a vegetarian since the age of 13) I grew up with pets and my parents had dogs, two Shetland sheep dogs. Now we have one rescue cat named Matilda, aged 4, and her two kittens; also three rescue guinea pigs, called Kwazii, Peso and Shellington, who are named after characters in Octonauts, a children's TV series on CBeebies.
How do you top this?
Well, sales are very black and white. By that I mean that in sales the only way you get judged is by how much money you're bringing in. The way I top this is to continue working hard and try to sell more. On the night I won my award, somebody said to me: ‘Becky, this must be the pinnacle of your career.’ And I replied: ‘Yes... my career so far.’
What next for Becky Lambert?
I am so excited to be working for a young, fast-growing company like Beco Pets that is set on such an exciting path. Now I just want to grow with them and be part of the amazing Beco story moving forward.
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