Name: Kevin Hanna
Title: District Manager / National Pilot Manager
Company: Vector Marketing / Cutco
Education: BS - Computer Science, Wittenberg University
Work Experience: Before graduation: Farm work, Lab Tech at Wastewater Treatment plant, Student Manager of Student Union, Program Manager for CPI - Rented refrigerators on campus. After graduation: Personnel Management Specialist for Air National Guard, Sales representative for Cutco Cutlery (1987), Assistant Manager for Vector Marketing (1988), Branch Manager (1990), District Manager (1990), Division Coordinator(1992), and Pilot Manager (1995) which is my current position. Also, I am an adjunct professor teaching a “Selling Principles” course at a local community college in Madison (MATC).
What I Do: As a District Manager for Vector Marketing, my job is to recruit, train, and develop sales reps as well as managers to grow Cutco sales throughout the state of Wisconsin. As a Pilot Manager for Vector, I also conduct experiments testing new ideas to further our company's progress to achieve our corporate goal of becoming the world's largest and most respected cutlery company in the world. These experiments include testing changes in advertising, phone approaches, interview and training methods as well as sales approaches.
How I Got Here: I began as a sales representative selling Cutco on a part time basis while working a full time job with the government in 1987. Quickly, I gained complete confidence that the Cutco product was the best available in the cutlery industry. Once I started to achieve some sales success, I decided to commit to representing Cutco products through Vector Marketing on a full-time basis. I took the opportunity very seriously recognizing the benefits of growing both personally and professionally through the process. To increase my knowledge and understanding, I attended meetings and conferences for sales and management training. I took advantage of opportunities to advance through Vector's promotion schedule and on-the-job management training starting as an Assistant Manager. Despite the usual challenges, I was able to maintain a positive and enthusiastic outlook for myself, Vector Marketing, and the Cutco product I represented. I feel that I've been most successful by trying to put other's interest ahead of my own. As Zig Ziglar states, "you can get everything you want in life, if you'll just help enough other people get what they want."
Skills Needed: Ability to communicate with confidence whether in person one-on-one or over the phone, as well as to large groups in a public setting. Learning to build rapport and connect with others demonstrating a true concern for them as individuals is vital. Being detail oriented with ability to remain organized in a very fast paced environment also helps. Knowing how to set goals and working a plan to achieve those goals is the most important factor. Knowing how to lead by empowering others to do what you need them to do because they want to do it is key. Also important is understanding how to use technology to efficiently track information to measure key areas of the business.
Where Would I Go From Here? I plan to stay right where I am. Vector Marketing has helped me achieve great personal and financial success.
Advice: Find an opportunity that you can be passionate about and pursue it with a positive success oriented approach. Look for reasons to succeed versus excuses to fail.
Biggest Misconception: "You're either born a salesman or you aren't" - that falsely suggests that you cannot learn the skills to be successful in sales.
To succeed and enjoy this position, you need to: Make a commitment to something that you love and never quit no matter how tough it may get. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, laugh about them, and learn from them to improve next time.
