If you’re like me you probably can’t believe another week has passed we’re still dealing with this surreal situation. It seems as though time is standing still.
The only good thing I can say about being in the middle of week three of our “lockdown” (which varies across our territory) is that we are one week closer to the other side. I pray that the government’s projections of the number of sick and lost lives that are going to grow in numbers over the next three weeks are extremely overestimated. I was talking to my wife Shannon this last weekend and I told her how excited I was to be able to get back on the road and do what I’ve done for the last 25 years which is visit with our customer base. (I’m not sure who wants me on the road more, me or Shannon.) If you are on this email, that means I was thinking of you. I realize that it will take time for people to open their offices with the ‘all clear.’ And, across our market, those dates are sure to vary from one business to another. The commitment I can make to you right now is that when the travel bans are lifted, I am going to set out and visit every one of you face-to-face as soon as possible. I sat down and calculated early this morning how many miles it will take me to accomplish this if everyone opened at the same time. The answer is it will take approximately 26 nights and at least 8,800 miles to go from Kansas City to southwest Missouri, through the expanse of Kansas coming back through Nebraska and zig-zagging all over Iowa. A few of you won’t be available when I am, or you may lie somewhere just outside of the normal borders. Don’t worry, I’ll make another loop because I am committed to seeing you! My primary goal in this trip is very simple: I want to say “thank you” to you and your team for your faith in us over this difficult time. The second thing I need to do is ask you, just how RB Sales can continue to make your job easier and better?
There are initiatives we started before the pandemic locked us up. And, by force of the pandemic, there are new challenges we are going to undertake to make us a better company. These new ideas are necessary for us to be a better company – for our manufacturers and for you and even for ourselves internally. Another expectation I hope plays out is to bring more factory production back to the United States and have a stronger stomach to ‘Buy American.’ We can see already how necessary it is to our medical community. Bit-by-bit, I’ve become so much more aware of how important it is in our industry as well now that some goods have run extremely short or entirely stocked-out based on imports. I know there are negative connotations out there when you say the word ‘nationalism.’ Trust me, I am not xenophobic. However, based on what we’ve all lived through over the last month and what we’re all going to have to deal with over the next 60 days, I have a new respect and desire for “America First.” But even before the doors are open and you are welcoming guests, our salespeople from top-to-bottom are working hard to be flexible and creative in helping your teams better understand the products we sell as we prepare for this next wave of American business we have in the near future.
I am sharing the link below because I agree with this gentleman’s sentiment: we are going to see a construction boom like we’ve never seen before after this is over. I believe we all need to prepare for that dangerous wave! Attached is also something I hope makes you stop and laugh if only for a second – because we all need that with the doom and gloom around us. I’m all for serious discussions, but lately conversations are tipping towards dire. So let’s have a little fun and remember WHY we do all of this – because life is meant to be meaningful in both work and play!
Again, as I stated earlier, if you’re on this email that means you are on my list! I hope and pray by the time we meet next that it is acceptable again to shake your hand while I look you in the eyes and say “thank you” for your business.
We are always here to do what we can to help you and your customers!
Have a Great rest of your week,
Bill
