Stargel Office Solutions’ Sue Dailey, has set the standard for sales excellence at Stargel for the past 19 years.
Name: Sue Dailey
Title: National/Global Account Manager
Company: Stargel Office Solutions, Houston, TX
Years in industry: 30 years/19 with Stargel
New business revenue: $1.8 million
Gross revenue: $4.1 million
Units placed: 1,500+
What they’re saying about Sue: “During her time at Stargel Sue has averaged over $2.4 million dollars in sales annually” says TJ DeBello, VP of sales. “Her nickname is ‘Mama Sue’ because she is always working with reps and giving out her ‘Mama Sue’s Sales Tip of the Day.’”
Thirty years ago Sue Dailey was working as a secretary for an oil/gas company, making $800 a month when she found herself a single mother with a 5-year-old daughter. “I had to go out and find a job to support my little girl,” she recalls.
She answered an ad in the newspaper to sell Sharp copiers and was called in for an interview. “I was so poor I had to charge a dress I couldn’t afford for the interview. Her first boss in the industry, who also turned into her mentor, hired her mostly out of sympathy because he saw the price tags from her new dress hanging out from under the sleeve.
But that’s where the fairy tale ended and Dailey found herself thrust into the middle of a real and unfamiliar world. “The first three months I didn’t sell anything,” she says.
Her boss told her she was way too nice. Luckily, she had a sales manager, she remembers as the best sales manager in the world, who sat her down and told her that she would teach Dailey in six months what it would normally take most sales reps to learn in a year.
A sales rep without prospects is a sales rep that isn’t going to last very long in this industry. And Dailey had none at the time. Her sales manager told Dailey to meet her at the office the next morning at 8 a.m. and to bring a sack lunch. The next morning, Dailey showed up, lunch sack in hand, and was taken to downtown Houston where she was dropped her off on the corner of Main and Texas Ave. where all the shipping companies were located, one of the worst districts in Houston. Her sales manager told her she’d be back at 5:30 to pick her up and to have made 60 cold calls during that time.
By 5:30 she had made 58 cold calls. “I was petrified, but I had prospects,” notes Dailey. “Sales people nowadays wouldn’t do that. I did what I had to do.”
It’s not like sales was a completely foreign concept to Dailey. Her father was a salesman who sold everything from insurance to bananas. “He was the ultimate salesperson,” remembers Dailey. “Every morning he’d put on what he called his ‘monkey suit’ and go out and sell. He worked hard and was always the best in any industry in any sales job he had.”
There must have been untapped sales potential in Dailey’ genes; she just needed someone to help her tap into it. Once that happened, there was no stopping her.
As she found her footing she realized that selling is a numbers game. She’d break it down to the number of machines she needed to sell in a month to make a decent living. Back then that number was 8-10. Then she’d break it down to the number of people she’d have to call on and the number of demos she’d have to present.
“Back in the day we were trained to set a minimum of 10 demos a week,” says Dailey. “You’d make the calls on Monday and schedule 10 demos because five would either cancel or reschedule. That would leave five a week with a closing ratio of 50 percent.”
She still follows the same rules and has had some of the same customers for 25 years who would never buy a copier from anybody but her.
After 30 years she’s built a good book of business. She has two accounts she’s worked many years to grow into Toshiba’s first two global contracts. They’ve renewed those contracts for three consecutive terms.
“Those two accounts are my bread and butter and give me a cushion every month. I know these two accounts are going to place multiple orders every month.
She has other loyal customers too, including oil and gas company accounts that started small and have grown into global companies.
Dailey ended up at Stargel 19 years ago after the Ricoh dealership she was working for was bought out by Alco Standard. “Everything went to hell in a hand basket,” she laments. “I was part owner or thought I was only to find out that meant nothing if you didn’t own 51 percent. I had to go out and look for a job.”
Many of her co-workers had moved over to Stargel and when Sue visited with Jack Stargel, Stargel’s owner, she accepted his offer and ended up bringing along many of her accounts. It’s been a great match.
“We complement each other,” says Dailey. “He’s provided the best service and support I could ever ask for and he’s a great person to work for.”
These days Dailey has a little more time than she did in the past to kick back and relax. Sometimes you’ll find her at her beach house in Sargent Beach, Texas or at the 148-acre family property in East Texas. She continues to maintain and restore the old home, built in 1915. For excitement, there’s NASCAR races and NFL football. Cooking and gardening is also a favorite pastime. After all she is from Texas.
Over the last 20 years Dailey has volunteered her time to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on the Corporate Development Committee, soliciting donations college scholarships for deserving students in the Houston area who, with the HLSR scholarship, are able to attend college. Plus, this year she won the top sales award trip to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl from Toshiba America. Sue has been #1 in color sales for three consecutive years. Instead of of taking the trip herself, she donated the trip to two deserving Navy Seals from Seal Team 8, the team featured in the movie Lone Survivor.
“I wanted gave back to the people who fought and sacrificed for the freedom we sometimes take for granted. “They deserved it more than I do.”
Over the course of her career she’s witnessed a ton of changes in the industry yet concedes she’s still old school in the way she sells. “I see the way people do business has changed. I don’t necessarily think that’s for the good. A lot of people depend on social media. I’ve never been able to sell a copier through social media. I still believe in face to face contact, face to face presentations, and the old school way of doing business—a good personal handshake and building relationships. “
Does she have any advice for young sales people entering the industry?
“Shut up and listen,” she exclaims. “I see a lot of them come in with a head full of scripts and solutions, and industry buzz words. Listening to the customer is the key to closing the sale.
She still loves prospecting even since making those 58 cold calls 30 years ago. “One of the things I have the most fun doing is finding new business. Many salespeople expect and depend on leads. Successful sales professionals cannot depend on building a career based on leads. Finding a prospect and cultivating the business is a reward in itself.”
After 30 years, Dailey is still shooting straight and selling like crazy. She has no immediate plans to retire. “Jack [Stargel] won’t let me,” she says. “I have built a customer base of loyal customers. I am able to take a Friday off every now and then. I have my cell phone and I’m able to do respond to customers and maintain contact with the office. When I’m really busy I’ll stay late to finish a bid or quote. On some Fridays I’ll be the only rep here at 5. You do what you have to do to get the job done, but overall, I am very blessed.”
And that’s what Sue Dailey has been doing for 30+ years.
