Doug Adamson, world beater syrs in a row

Press, 2 January 1985, Page 7 (Supplement)

Doug Adamson, world beater syrs in a row

By

LYN HOLLAND

“The Rawleigh’s man” has long been a frequent visitor to New Zealand homes, selling everything from vanilla to vitamins.

.Many people have grown up with the regular visits of their local Rawleigh’s man, and the door-to-door salespeople have become something of a tradition. Mr Doug Adamson, of Boon Hay, is one such Rawleigh’s man. For 18 years he has sold the company products to thousands of people throughout Canterbury. But he is different from the other Rawleigh’s salespeople in New Zealand, Australia, the United States or Canada. For each of the last five years he has been the company’s most successful individual salesman anywhere, a record unmatched since the company began almost a century ago.

The last year’s record has been particularly rewarding, he says. Jt was achieved in spite of the fact that for much of that time his wife, Tui, was very ill. How did he manage to not only continue working, but achieve yet another record? He says simply, “I was determined to.”

“Her help and God’s help has been all I’ve needed.”

Determination is an important part of his success. Ever since he was young, living in the shadow of his sister’s success as a highland dancer, he has been determined to do well.

However, this determination has not always been directed at selling. He began his working life as a plumber and drainlayer. In 1957, when he was about 28, he met a salesman who influenced him, and he began selling part-time for J. R. Watkins, Ltd, “for a bit of a lark.”

The lark became a serious love. The following year he was the company’s top New Zealand salesman.

His early attempts at selling provided some lessons he has never forgotten. One of his first jobs was trying to sell stock feed to a cynical farmer. “I remember his saying, ‘Look son, when you know what you’re talking about come back and see me.”

The knock-back proved to be a favour. Doug Adamson went away, learnt about his products and became the company’s top stock food salesperson in Canterbury. Nearly 30 years later and now with Rawleigh’s, he still sells stock food to the region’s farmers. “That was my first knock-back in selling and it became a driving force with me to succeed.”

Knowing and liking the product he sells has remained an important part of his success, he says. “When I like the product I’ll sell it. I can sell anything as long as I know the product and believe in it.” Within a few months, he decided to make selling a full-time occupation. “I enjoyed it I loved selling, so I put my plumbing tools in the garage and got down to it”

The common stereotype of a salesman is a loud, pushy person jamming his foot in the door to get inside the house. But Doug Adamson does not fit that image.

He regards his customers as friends. The “pushy” salespeople don’t last, he says. “You have to be a special kind of person to sell. You need to like people and you have to listen to them, let them tell you what they want. “She (the customer) has got to feel not that I have sold her the product, but that she has bought it, that she wanted it and is happy with it. “All my customers have become friends over the 18 years. It is not selling all the time, it’s calling on my friends.” Often he will be asked to hold the baby while the parent answers the phone, or hear the latest family problems over a cup of tea. The friendship has now extended to three generations of the same families. The strength of this bond was evident when his wife died last year and customers showed their sympathy with messages and flowers.

Enthusiasm and cheerfulness are important elements in successful selling, he says. He certainly has plenty of both, whether he is talking about selling, singing in the church choir or about his three sons.

“My approach has always been to go with a breezy ‘Gidday, the Rawleigh’s man has arrived’.”

“Adjusting to the atmosphere” is also important If he is selling door-to-door he will make sure his shirt is clean and his shoes shiny, because this is the sort of person most housewives like to see. For farm sales, a free and easy style is necessary.

“I have to be able to jump on to the tractor and have a yarn. But when I do the business houses I stick on my Waitaki Boys’ school tie.” But ultimately it always comes back to the friendship and trust he has developed over the years. “I have made so many friends. They just want to buy from me. If I tell them it’s good they’ll buy it.”