any liquor reps out there?

[freeskier]

i bartend these days and would like to move into the liquor/wine business sometime in the near future. i have a good relationship with a few of our distributors and tonight i was given a business card by a rep who i did not know was a rep in the check presenter after their meal. my question is, is this a "hey shoot me an email sometime" sort of thing or am i just getting ahed of myself. i know this sounds like a stupid question and thanks for the help.

[gadget]

you'll never know unless you contact him

[Stoneman]

i bartend these days and would like to move into the liquor/wine business sometime in the near future. i have a good relationship with a few of our distributors and tonight i was given a business card by a rep who i did not know was a rep in the check presenter after their meal. my question is, is this a "hey shoot me an email sometime" sort of thing or am i just getting ahed of myself. i know this sounds like a stupid question and thanks for the help.

He could be hitting on you...

[TheIglu]

i bartend these days and would like to move into the liquor/wine business sometime in the near future. i have a good relationship with a few of our distributors and tonight i was given a business card by a rep who i did not know was a rep in the check presenter after their meal. my question is, is this a "hey shoot me an email sometime" sort of thing or am i just getting ahed of myself. i know this sounds like a stupid question and thanks for the help.

Sounds like he was trying to do his job, not get you one.

[BSR6]

Contact him. Make sure he knows who you are by explaining how he gave you his card. Then use the advice seeking approach. By that I mean something along the lines of "Since you are with a distributor I was hoping you could give me some advice on how I can eventually become a rep".

With the advice seeking approach you are seeing him as a resource to help you succeed, and not as a means to get your foot in the door. There are just too many people in this world who want things but refuse to recognize the means by which those things are had. Some would see an opportunity like this and think its a job offer that they will accept and boom suddenly they will have what they want (to be a rep). Most guys in his shoes find that incredibly annoying considering how hard most of them worked to get there themselves. If you take the advice seeking approach you will seperate yourself from those people by showing you recognize you may have to take some steps to get there.

Just make sure you are brief but effective. You don't want to waste his time. I would also recomend emailing and not calling. Email gives him control over when he can respond which is more respectful of his time.

[kb1]

Contact him. Make sure he knows who you are by explaining how he gave you his card. Then use the advice seeking approach. By that I mean something along the lines of "Since you are with a distributor I was hoping you could give me some advice on how I can eventually become a rep".

With the advice seeking approach you are seeing him as a resource to help you succeed, and not as a means to get your foot in the door. There are just too many people in this world who want things but refuse to recognize the means by which those things are had. Some would see an opportunity like this and think its a job offer that they will accept and boom suddenly they will have what they want (to be a rep). Most guys in his shoes find that incredibly annoying considering how hard most of them worked to get there themselves. If you take the advice seeking approach you will seperate yourself from those people by showing you recognize you may have to take some steps to get there.

Just make sure you are brief but effective. You don't want to waste his time. I would also recomend emailing and not calling. Email gives him control over when he can respond which is more respectful of his time.

This ^^^ I quoted it just because it needed to be repeated.

[BSR6]

Being a hiring manager has opened my eyes to the reality of how most people view work. The truth is most want to reap the benefits of a lucrative career but few acknowledge the challenges that come with it. My advice to anyone looking for a career path is to first genuinely examine and be aware of those challenges. It seems like common sense but it scares me when I see how many people don't see it that way.

Whenever a job candidate sits in front of me, I almost always ask myself if they are someone who is there for the job or there for the money. Granted...In the end we are all here for the money but there are those who just want to be hired so they can pay the bills, and then there are those who persued the job/company because they see it as a good fit and something they want to do.

Freeskier...When you contact this guy, keep that in the back of your mind. You don't want to come across as some random bartender who simply knows that distributor reps have it better than bartenders and can only give a couple of superficial reasons to back that notion up. If you fall into that category don't waste his time. Go back to the drawing board and make sure your choice is genuine. Distributor reps are salesmen which means all the challenges of being a sales rep likely come with it. If you haven't even considered this, then you should definately look into things further by learning to understand sales positions in general, and not just one with a liquor distributor. Sure there are some cushy sales jobs out there, but the fundemntals are always the same accross the board and its those fundamentals you need to be aware of.

[03Worc9R]

Sounds like he was trying to do his job, not get you one.

Yep. This.
He just wanted the establishment to give him the business.

[RyanNicholson]

Shooting an email never hurt anyone. Worst that can happen is he doesn't reply (unless he's a major asshole).

I'm sure he IS looking for business, thats his job. But its rare to find someone that turns down any potential business relationship. You email him, he gives you some advice, you thank him by getting him an in with your current employer. Boom everyone wins.

Thats just how sales and ladder climbing works.

[BSR6]

Yep. This.
He just wanted the establishment to give him the business.

Yup...I agree. But contacting him could still produce results. Even if he just responded with the background the position requires, it would be worth the inquiry.

You just gotta make sure you play the right angle so he sees you as worth responding to.

[zxme]

Most reps already have the market and are not out to give up their jobs.Less they sell less they make.I have been working at the same bar for 14yrs and have seen it. I can make more than these people at 3 days a week(20hrs) and it's a 2nd job. My buddy did it for 2 yrs and went to stores and set up displays and things like that. says it was easy but didnt make any money. But if you have the time and tending bar is all you do then why not try it.