KC BBQ

Got to make a trip to KC last week for work and sample some BBQ in the very home of BBQ (Depends on who you ask) Normally I am by myself, but I had people in for a meeting the following day so we went out for some food. This is the second time I have been to this particular location in Overland Park KS and my expectations were set a bit high…..

Jack Stack’s BBQ…..a more upscale kind of place with a triple fold menu of varying tastes. I had the opportunity to hit the original location in Lenexa KS a few years ago and was blown away by the flavor and quality….This time not so much. I tried a few things….the burnt ends. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. Defiantly a mass produced kind of feel to it. I often wonder why some places don’t adopt the mentality of “When it’s gone, your too late” and just put a good product out for people to fight over. Also had a slab of the Baby Backs…..again felt mass produced. Missed a lot of the Smokey flavor I am used to and the sauce was so so.  The best thing on my plate that night was the Coleslaw.

Mr. Stack…you have let me down.

Yea We Do That!

The life of an Industrial Sales Rep has its ups and downs. To try and attempt to explain what it is that I do for a living to someone is rather cumbersome. Most of the time I either use “Sales” or “Engineering” to describe my craft.....that usually ends the discussion as most people can identify with those terms rather than “Authorized Manufactures Representative** for Thermal Oxidizers, Flare Gas Recovery, Electrostatic Preceptors and other oddly named industrial Equipment”. 

Outside of the bothersome explanation of what it is I do day to day....Truth is I love my Job.....and not most people really mean that when they say it. A big part of it is who I work with and the other smaller part is the structure or lack of structure that makes up the life of a Rep. 

Part of this post is because I am sitting in my office with my mind wondering. With the New Year comes new challenges and goals….concern of where the next order will come from or if I did everything I could do to save the one we lost.  Last year I installed a white board in my office to keep me motivated and aware of all the things I have going on…..I figured that it would be useful for drawing funny things to show people in the building but  honestly use it as intended and update it every Monday (or as close as possible).

One thing is for sure…..there are perks to being in my situation. Unlimited vacation, come and go as I please, no real start time, long lunches, make my own schedule and lots of cardinals games. That’s the thing that others around me see as my job….what they don’t know is all the nervousness and anxiety you have to go through to get to that point and even then nothing is guaranteed.  



**Manufacturer's representative or rep, manufacturer's broker and manufacturer's agent are all terms used to describe independent sales agents who work on commission. You don't pay them a salary, just a percentage of what they sell. Manufacturer's reps offer a practical, cost-effective alternative to a direct sales force for many growing companies. There are more than half a million reps in North America, most selling to targeted markets in select geographic regions. Reps know their markets well because they call on local buyers regularly and have established sound working relationships with them.
Using manufacturer's reps can provide you with many of the benefits of having a satellite office in the location--including knowledge of local markets and rapid access to large accounts--without your incurring large fixed costs. With reps, sales costs are always a fixed percentage of sales. The downside is that reps typically handle many different products. Some may be complementary to yours; others may compete. A typical manufacturer's rep earns a 5-percent commission on sales, although that amount varies widely depending on the product, market and sales volume