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Ask Jeff Joutras, CLP, what it takes to be a successful salesperson in the green industry, and he says persistence, responsiveness, and having industry knowledge. In the final analysis, though, he emphasizes that being helpful should rank no. 1 on most salespeople’s “to do” list.
“Salespeople who are pushy, greedy, or in the business only to close the sale will not be successful for very long,” says Joutras, the general manager for The Bruce Company’s landscape management division. “As a salesperson, having industry knowledge is helpful. You have to be persistent and follow up quickly, too. But, no matter what industry you are in, if you are not sincere about helping a customer make the right buying decision, then you are not selling in the truest sense of the word,” he says.

Joutras has had more than 20 years to fashion his personal selling strategy. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point with a major in forestry and a minor in business administration, he was hired by a San Antonio lawn care company. On the way to San Antonio, he called home from Oklahoma City and learned that Illinois-based Spring-Green Lawn & Tree Care had offered him a job. Never wanting to leave the Midwest in the first place, Joutras gave his Texas employer the news and headed back north. “Originally, I wanted to work for the forest service and be a real woodsy type,” Joutras relates. “Unfortunately, those positions were few and far between in the early 1980s. Spring-Green was interested in my tree-care background, and I think my minor in business just made me more marketable.

“The four-and-a-half years I spent with Spring-Green,” he continues, “gave me a cross section of the industry and some valuable experience. I started out working on collections, calling customers in February about outstanding bills they had from the previous year. Among other things, the job helped me develop some negotiating skills. After that stint, I worked in every production capacity, including mowing lawns when the company introduced that service. I was originally hired as an assistant manager and later became manager to run a $1 million operation with 7,000 residential customers.”

Joutras left Spring-Green to work another four-and-a-half years with nearby Clarence Davids & Company, where, in his words, he “started to enjoy the sales and marketing side of the landscape business.” His employment experience gave him a wealth of industry knowledge, and both organizations provided him with the opportunity to learn from several seasoned veterans. His hands-on education continued in 1992 when he was hired as the sales manager for The Bruce Company’s Racine, Wisconsin, office. Four years ago, he relocated to the company’s Middleton headquarters to assume his current position.

Hand-in-glove

The Bruce Company sports seven divisions. Its newest, an organic/compost site, composts leaves, grass clippings, and other organic material from area communities for use in its landscape construction division. Other divisions are landscape management, a retail store and garden center, golf course installation and maintenance, irrigation and an 800-acre nursery. The landscape management division that Joutras oversees brings in nearly $8 million in sales and represents almost 20 percent of the company’s total revenue.

“I believe The Bruce Company has been successful in large part because it identifies customer expectations and desires and then strives to deliver only top-quality service on every job,” adds Joutras. “The company keeps the customers’ interest in full view at all times. If, for some reason, we cannot meet customers’ expectations or time frames, we tell them.”

The strategy mirrors his approach to selling: help the customer make the right buying decision and be honest. “I think selling can be easier than a lot of people make it out to be once one understands the client’s needs,” Joutras says, “Yes, some individuals have incredible natural sales abilities; others may not, but the skills can be learned if you want to become a good salesperson.” While Joutras claims he identifies with the latter group, he notes that all the natural abilities, product knowledge, and skills in the world will fall short if a seller fails to help the customer in an honest and straightforward way.

8/05

by Rod Dickens, PLANET Contributing Writer