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This week's "Meet The Team" blog features Jeff Eskow, regional sales manager, eCommerce Division at ECI Software Solutions. We sat down with Jeff to learn more about his role within the LBM team.
Jeff Eskow (JE): I help LBM dealers on the East Coast to grow their businesses through adopting an eCommerce strategy. I help make your team and customers more efficient while retaining and winning more customers!
JE: I graduated from Montclair State University with a degree in Business Management.
JE: It's like my entire career has converged to this place in time! My first job was as a stock boy in a paint store, and I worked my way to store manager. Years later, after numerous years in corporate sales, I started selling an eCommerce solution for multi-channel sellers. So, being here selling an amazing eCommerce platform to the LBM market seems to have been my destiny!
JE: The devil is in the details. Having "happy ears" will just embarrass you later. You need to ensure you have all the details.
JE: Twice a week, I go into my garage with my bass and Sonos and rock out like I’m still a sexy rock star. Then, an hour later, I go back into the kitchen, where my wife and daughter remind me that I am NOT, in fact, a sexy rock star.
JE: The Eskow family is a big fan of Florida, and we aspire to live there one day. So, given a few days off, I’d probably head somewhere down there.
JE: This week, it’s rock from the late 80s and early 90s, like The Outfield and Lifehouse. If you asked me two weeks ago, it was a heavy metal band called Queensryche. It changes pretty often.
JE: I live in Toms River, NJ. As a homebody, I love that it’s far from New York and Philadelphia, so I never feel obligated to go to a “big city.”
JE: I spent 10 years working for an organization where the owner and his VPs were very nurturing. I learned a ton from them; they always helped me accomplish more. It was a great learning experience, and their successes were an inspiration. There is also a sales trainer/motivational speaker named Grant Cardone, whose books and YouTube videos have been a great pick-me-up. Sometimes his energy is a bit much, but his message about growth and success has inspired me.
JE: I call on our customers and explain the value of this ecommerce solution. We use phone calls and Teams meetings to understand our customer base's operations and growth plans, then demo the product to show them how the platform works. I stay pretty busy!
JE: Statistically, LBM dealers are slower to adopt technology, especially an eCommerce strategy. Why is this exciting? Because we’re “early.” Every month, more and more dealers will realize the value of adding this strategy to their business. Every year more and more customers will be amazed at the success they have with it. It’s a great time to be offering this solution to our customers.
JE: All the "standard" sales advice still holds up all these years later: Slow down, ask a lot of good questions, really listen, and sell people solutions, not products.
JE: Again, statistically, the LBM industry is slow to adopt an eCommerce strategy. I have learned that the market needs education and that there will be resistance because change is scary, and new things are confusing.
JE: Well, when I started in the industry, the idea of a computer that could match paint colors for you was brand-new technology! It's pretty interesting- all the technology and automation available to a customer.
JE: I’m an avid reader and probably read two books a month. I try to alternate between fiction and non-fiction. I would need the rest of this month to decide my “best” recommendation, so let me instead recommend this – reading is a great habit. It doesn’t matter what you're into; just read up on it. You’ll be entertained and learn a little something every time.
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