{"id":7046,"date":"2014-06-19T10:07:13","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T14:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theweekinimaging.com\/?p=7046"},"modified":"2014-06-19T10:07:13","modified_gmt":"2014-06-19T14:07:13","slug":"twiis-and-print4pay-hotels-top-sales-reps-of-2014-nate-robinson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2014\/06\/twiis-and-print4pay-hotels-top-sales-reps-of-2014-nate-robinson\/","title":{"rendered":"TWII\u2019s and Print4Pay Hotel\u2019s Top Sales Reps of 2014: Nate Robinson"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"He<\/a>

He could have been a drummer in a rock or jazz band, but instead Nate Robinson is one of Impact Networking’s top sales people.<\/p><\/div>\n

Name: <\/strong>Nate Robinson<\/p>\n

Title:\u00a0<\/strong>Document Solutions Account Executive<\/p>\n

Company:\u00a0<\/strong> Impact Networking LLC, Waukegan, IL<\/p>\n

Years in industry:<\/strong> 16<\/p>\n

New business revenue:\u00a0<\/strong> $737,238<\/p>\n

Gross revenue: <\/strong>$2,457,459 (Revenue figures include equipment, software and maintenance)<\/p>\n

Units placed: <\/strong>213<\/p>\n

What they\u2019re saying about Nate: \u201cNate is one of the most selfless, loyal, dedicated, hardest working professionals that any business partner could ask for. He has never uttered the phrase \u201cthat\u2019s not my job\u201d\u2014he would do just about anything to help Impact and his co-workers succeed. He was the first employee\/sales rep at Impact when we started the business in the CEO\u2019s basement in September 1999, and has been an integral part in our growth over the last 14 years to becoming a $37 million dealership in 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it weren\u2019t for some well-timed words of wisdom from his father years ago, Nate Robinson might still be driving an ice cream truck selling cool treats instead of making cold calls to prospective copier buyers. Or he might have pursued a degree in music and been playing drums in rock and jazz bands as he did during high school and college. Instead, he took his father\u2019s advice and earned a degree in business administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was torn as to whether follow the business track or music,\u201d recalls Robinson. \u201cMy dad encouraged me to make music my hobby and focus on business and use business to drive my hobby.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drummer turned document solutions account executive still keeps the beat, playing in different bands and with a group at his church. He even collects drum sets. However, becoming one of the top sales reps at Impact Networking LLC in Waukegan, IL, has given him the freedom to play for fun and invest in his hobby while also earning a good living to take care of his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always knew sales was in my blood,\u201d says Robinson who\u2019s first sales experience was selling newspapers door to door in high school.<\/p>\n

Prior to joining Impact he worked with Impact\u2019s founder Frank Cucco at another company before joining Cucco\u2019s new venture. \u00a0Although Robinson was a natural at selling newspapers and ice cream, the transition to office technology was a culture shock. \u201cI wasn\u2019t used to hitting the phones and making cold calls, but I enjoyed the challenge,\u201d states Robinson.<\/p>\n

He found his first job in the industry in the classifieds after returning home to the Chicago area from Nashville. He was lucky; the sales manager of the dealership where he applied was short staffed and desperate and when he asked the shaggy haired drummer if he thought he could sell copiers, Robinson said yes and was hired on the spot. The only caveat was that after a couple of weeks the manager took him aside and told him he had to cut his hair and shave his goatee. It wasn\u2019t an easy decision and the independent-minded Robinson thought about bagging the job, but his father once again talked some sense into him and he showed up at work the next day trimmed, clean shaven, and ready to sell.<\/p>\n

He concedes that he wasn\u2019t a fan of his manager at the time, which inspired him to get out of the office and pound the pavement. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons I was successful,\u201d notes Robinson. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be in the office; I wanted to meet with clients. By taking the time and putting my effort towards learning the equipment, how to prospect, about the company [I was selling to], that helped me get my feet underneath me and learn the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within three months he was getting the hang of copier sales and a few months later he left to join Impact Networking.<\/p>\n

One of his first sales for Impact was a small church on the south side of Chicago. \u201cThis was back when we delivered the machines ourselves,\u201d recalls Robinson. \u201cWe did the installation at 7 p.m. at night. We arrived at the church and there was a church service going on. The minister stopped the church service and said \u2018Praise the Lord the copier has arrived.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The office technology industry suits Robinson just fine. \u201cI like working with technology, working with customers, negotiating, and helping people solve the challenges they have in their offices. I\u2019m not a person that can sit behind a desk all day and work on a computer, I enjoy being out with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s making the most of the transition to solutions selling, acknowledging that sales reps can\u2019t be box movers anymore. \u201cThere\u2019s so much more we can offer a client and it\u2019s much more rewarding. We\u2019re not just replacing a copier with a copier or giving them a new copier with a faster document feeder; we can actually make an impact on people\u2019s businesses and completely change the way they\u2019re operating as a company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recalling his biggest sale, Robinson talks about his early days at Impact when he was single and had the flexibility to make sales calls from 5-9 in the evening. \u201cI often met with the business owners because they were the only ones still in their offices at that time of night.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Thursday night around 7 p.m. he struck gold when he made a cold call at a telephone card company.\u00a0 It had to be his lucky day, because the owner was in the office researching printers and was looking for the fastest printer he could find. At that time digital technology was still in its infancy, but Impact had a 65-ppm machine that sold in the $75-$100,000 range. The owner wanted three.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d exclaims Robinson. \u201cWe did the deal and I walked away with a couple hundred thousand dollar deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson\u2019s clients are extremely loyal because of his excellent customer service skills. \u201cHis sales skills, industry knowledge, and sales activities are second to none, and he always has a positive outlook,\u201d says Cucco.<\/p>\n

Some of his sales achievements include six consecutive years in the Million Dollar Club (over $1 million in annual equipment revenue sales), 24 sales contest trips achieved in 14 years, and 31 quarterly partners\u2019 awards. In addition to his individual results, he has always been a team player and leader. He helped launch and manage Impact\u2019s KIP and Riso initiatives, and mentors, trains and supports Impact\u2019s sales reps while leading by example.<\/p>\n

Robinson is also actively involved in the community, including Impact\u2019s \u201cLetters for Santa\u201d program where he plays the role of Santa. He\u2019s also an active member in his church.<\/p>\n

When not selling, you\u2019ll find Robinson spending time with his wife and three kids, ages 1, 4, and 6. He enjoys traveling with his family too, and thanks to his sales success has earned some sweet travel awards from his manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s another nice perk of doing what I do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

And for Impact Networking, having Robinson on staff a great perk as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Name: Nate Robinson Title:\u00a0Document Solutions Account Executive Company:\u00a0 Impact Networking LLC, Waukegan, IL Years in industry: 16 New business revenue:\u00a0 $737,238 Gross revenue: $2,457,459 (Revenue figures include equipment, software and maintenance) Units placed: 213 What they\u2019re saying about Nate: \u201cNate is one of the most selfless, loyal, dedicated, hardest working professionals that any business partner could ask for. He has never uttered the phrase \u201cthat\u2019s not my job\u201d\u2014he would do just about anything to help Impact and his co-workers succeed. He was the first employee\/sales rep at Impact when we started the business in the CEO\u2019s basement in September 1999, and has been an integral part in our growth over the last 14 years to becoming a $37 million dealership in 2013.\u201d If it weren\u2019t for some well-timed words of wisdom from his father years ago, Nate Robinson might still be driving an ice cream truck selling cool treats instead of making cold calls to prospective copier buyers. Or he might have pursued a degree in music and been playing drums in rock and jazz bands as he did during high school and college. Instead, he took his father\u2019s advice and earned a degree in business administration. \u201cI was torn as to whether follow the business track or music,\u201d recalls Robinson. \u201cMy dad encouraged me to make music my hobby and focus on business and use business to drive my hobby.\u201d The drummer turned document solutions account executive still keeps the beat, playing in different bands and with a group at his church. He even collects drum sets. However, becoming one of the top sales reps at Impact Networking LLC in Waukegan, IL, has given him the freedom to play for fun and invest in his hobby while also earning a good living to take care of his family. \u201cI always knew sales was in my blood,\u201d says Robinson who\u2019s first sales experience was selling newspapers door to door in high school. Prior to joining Impact he worked with Impact\u2019s founder Frank Cucco at another company before joining Cucco\u2019s new venture. \u00a0Although Robinson was a natural at selling newspapers and ice cream, the transition to office technology was a culture shock. \u201cI wasn\u2019t used to hitting the phones and making cold calls, but I enjoyed the challenge,\u201d states Robinson. He found his first job in the industry in the classifieds after returning home to the Chicago area from Nashville. He was lucky; the sales manager of the dealership where he applied was short staffed and desperate and when he asked the shaggy haired drummer if he thought he could sell copiers, Robinson said yes and was hired on the spot. The only caveat was that after a couple of weeks the manager took him aside and told him he had to cut his hair and shave his goatee. It wasn\u2019t an easy decision and the independent-minded Robinson thought about bagging the job, but his father once again talked some sense into him and he showed up at work the next day trimmed, clean shaven, and ready to sell. He concedes that he wasn\u2019t a fan of his manager at the time, which inspired him to get out of the office and pound the pavement. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons I was successful,\u201d notes Robinson. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be in the office; I wanted to meet with clients. By taking the time and putting my effort towards learning the equipment, how to prospect, about the company [I was selling to], that helped me get my feet underneath me and learn the business.\u201d Within three months he was getting the hang of copier sales and a few months later he left to join Impact Networking. One of his first sales for Impact was a small church on the south side of Chicago. \u201cThis was back when we delivered the machines ourselves,\u201d recalls Robinson. \u201cWe did the installation at 7 p.m. at night. We arrived at the church and there was a church service going on. The minister stopped the church service and said \u2018Praise the Lord the copier has arrived.\u2019\u201d The office technology industry suits Robinson just fine. \u201cI like working with technology, working with customers, negotiating, and helping people solve the challenges they have in their offices. I\u2019m not a person that can sit behind a desk all day and work on a computer, I enjoy being out with people.\u201d He\u2019s making the most of the transition to solutions selling, acknowledging that sales reps can\u2019t be box movers anymore. \u201cThere\u2019s so much more we can offer a client and it\u2019s much more rewarding. We\u2019re not just replacing a copier with a copier or giving them a new copier with a faster document feeder; we can actually make an impact on people\u2019s businesses and completely change the way they\u2019re operating as a company.\u201d Recalling his biggest sale, Robinson talks about his early days at Impact when he was single and had the flexibility to make sales calls from 5-9 in the evening. \u201cI often met with the business owners because they were the only ones still in their offices at that time of night.\u201d One Thursday night around 7 p.m. he struck gold when he made a cold call at a telephone card company.\u00a0 It had to be his lucky day, because the owner was in the office researching printers and was looking for the fastest printer he could find. At that time digital technology was still in its infancy, but Impact had a 65-ppm machine that sold in the $75-$100,000 range. The owner wanted three. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d exclaims Robinson. \u201cWe did the deal and I walked away with a couple hundred thousand dollar deal.\u201d Robinson\u2019s clients are extremely loyal because of his excellent customer service skills. \u201cHis sales skills, industry knowledge, and sales activities are second to none, and he always has a positive outlook,\u201d says Cucco. Some of his sales achievements include six consecutive years in the Million Dollar Club (over $1 million in annual equipment revenue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[151,1510,1509,1455],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7046"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7046"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7048,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7046\/revisions\/7048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}