Everyone knows that one of the key skills to being a good salesman is knowing the ins and outs of your product, and Donald Brooks, industrial sales manager for BETCO Scaffolds, knows scaffolding.

After getting out of the U.S. Navy in 1994, Brooks started in the industry as a helper working a turnaround. In 1998, he started working at BETCO Scaffolds — a Houston-based company that has been supplying scaffolding to the construction industry for more than 60 years — as a foreman running erection and dismantle jobs.

Before becoming the company’s industrial sales manager, Brooks “came up the ranks” at BETCO, working in the company’s labor department as a foreman, general foreman and a superintendent of both the commercial and industrial divisions. Eventually, Brooks worked his way into sales and has served as BETCO’s industrial sales representative and as the Houston-area sales manager.

“I feel that my prior experience of working in the field and actually coming up the ranks has made me a good salesman,” Brooks said. “It has allowed me to look at each project as if I were the superintendent, and I figure out what would make it run smoothly for me. I take that philosophy when I sell.”

Responsible for the day-to-day sales activities of BETCO’s industrial division and for the development of industrial sales in Texas and across the United States, Brooks is involved in all aspects of the sale, including finding the jobs, bidding on them, estimating the cost, closing the sale and then completing site visits during the job. Needless to say, Brooks’ days are always busy.

“There is no such thing as a typical day,” he said. “The industrial sector never sleeps, so I never know when I may receive a call from a client who has gone down and needs response right away.

“I just keep in mind that our goal is keeping present and future clients worry free when they have BETCO as their scaffold provider. All they have to do is pick up the phone, no matter the day or time, and they will get the response they expect.”

When Brooks first moved into sales, he turned to Jim Saxton, BETCO’s manager of national and dealer sales, to teach him the tools of the trade.

“When I went into sales initially, he pulled me to the side and told me that it would not be easy, but that anything he could do to help me, he would,” Brooks said. “To this day he still offers his vast knowledge and experience as support to me. He has been with the company 48 years and continues to come up with inventive sales techniques.”

One thing Brooks has learned from Saxton is that service should remain a top priority. According to Brooks, every client, regardless of the size of the company, is treated like a No. 1 client. To provide top-notch service, Brooks makes it a point to help the client from the very beginning of a project or make a trip to a client’s jobsite in the event of a problem and provide assistance.

“On several occasions I have had clients who rented the material and ran into problems erecting it, and I went out to the project and actually assisted them,” Brooks said. “There have also been times that the client wanted to do the project a certain way, and with my past experience in the field, I was able to show them a more cost-effective way of doing the project.

“I feel that by showing the client ways that might save them money, they will consider BETCO on future projects.”

Throughout his career, Brooks has worked many sales. According to him, though, one sale sticks out above them all.

“My most memorable sale was actually one that I messed up on,” he admits. “I rented a client material for a boiler that had two cells. When I faxed the quote over to them, I didn’t specifically say it was the cost per cell. Needless to say, it cost more than $20,000 in material that we had to provide because I didn’t spell everything out.

“That sale taught me that I had to be precise in what I would be providing.”

To stay on top of industry news, Brooks turns to BIC magazine, which he feels isn’t only a great place to advertise, but is also very informative. He also stays informed by attending trade shows such as the Texas City Industrial Trade Show and the NPRA Reliability & Maintenance Conference.

For more information, please contact Donald Brooks at (713) 539-4504.