Throughout my time selling liquor on the "North Side" of Omaha I learned a lot of things. I learned what "getting wet" was (dipping cigarettes in formaldehyde) why they sell roses in glass tubes at gas stations (they're crack pipes) and any number of other interesting facts. However, one of the backgrounds I had was a familiarity of firearms. This proved to be useful a few times.
I was visiting a new account on my territory that was across the street from a large housing project. It wasn't the type of place you wanted to be around for too long if you weren't from the neighborhood. When I walked into the corner shop and my eyes adjusted to the light I realized I was in a glass box about 10' by 10'.
Behind the glass and steel was a little old lady named Lilly. Behind her there was her entire inventory of wine & spirits, even beer. If you wanted anything in this store you had to get it handed through a steel drawer. It was fairly obvious I was in a place that had found a way to deal with excessive theft.
"Hi, I'm looking for the owner, is that you?" Lilly slowly reached her hand down under the counter and asked "maybe...who are you and what do you want?". It dawned on me later that she had probably put her hand on the gun under the counter thinking I was a threat. "I'm your new liquor rep, I thought I'd drop by and introduce myself."
In the 30 years Lilly had owned this shop nobody had ever stopped in to see her in person. She didn't even have a rep calling her on a regular basis to take her order. Consequently she had only got the most basic level of discounts on her products and her prices were incredibly high. After talking to her for thirty minutes she finally buzzed me in only after I gave her my drivers license and a business card, verifying who I was.
Behind the counter it was a mess. There was inventory everywhere and she didn't have much need to clean up a whole lot since she was the only one back there. I took 4 steps and saw a .38 Special revolver laying on the counter in plain view. I could also see the tips of the hollowpoint bullets in the cylinder so I assumed it was loaded.
"Now why did you go with the 38 instead of a 45? I keep going back and fourth between the two calibers and cant make up my mind." Lilly smiled and offered me a seat and a drink. In between customers for the next 2 hours Lilly told me about everyone she had ever shot at who was robbing her. She owned the liquor store, the hair salon across the street, and 5 other businesses or rental homes in a 1 block area.
"I have to use hollow points because the last guy I hit walked into the ER a few hours later. I got him 3 times but didn't kill him!" Lilly went on to explain that at 85 anything bigger than a 38 would possibly break her wrist. The entire time I sat there and politely listened to her stories.
After the shooting stories passed and she realized I wasn't there to rob her I began to tell her how I worked. If she ordered through me I could get her discounts on her orders if she bought full cases. She could then keep her prices the same or lower them and sell more.
A few months go by and Lilly's average order had doubled in size. Admittedly she was calling me when ever she thought of it, including 11:30 at night, but she felt more comfortable buying from someone who she knew.
Too many of the companies out there aren't focused on building a relationship with their customers. Part of that relationship is providing a face to go with the phone number. Lilly feared for my safety and insisted I never step foot in her store again. I reminded her that I was insured and if someone wanted to rob me they'd be stealing my bosses booze or my beat up car with more problems than it was worth! Still, I made it a point to stop in and say "hello" or talk guns once a quarter. I didn't get rich selling to Lilly but my products started to sell better at the local bars.
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