Philip Rock: Cash Machine Sales Pioneer

 

"Phil Rock" was a reluctant salesman and underwhelmed with his brother’s idea for diversifying the business. “I said, ‘Are you crazy? No one’s going to buy one of these machines,’ ” recalls Rock. While making the rounds trying to talk up the uninspiring GoFax machines, Rock happened to stop in a Seattle convenience store to buy a can of pop and a bag of chips.
He started talking to the owner, who said that he wanted a cash machine for his store, but lamented that the bank was going to charge him $1,500 a month for the pleasure. Rock went to his car to retrieve a brochure about the cash machine that his brother wanted to sell. “He looked at me and said, ‘I’ll buy it,’ ” says Rock.
The deal seemed effortless to Rock. His commission from the single sale equaled what was then a month’s salary. Rock immediately decided that he’d found a new calling. “I said, Jeff, I am now an ATM salesman,” says Rock.
Rock was reborn as an ATM evangelist. In his first month, he sold 25 machines through cold calls. He began to log 100,000 miles a year on his car throughout the Northwest. “My problem is I’m 150 percent or nothing,” says Rock.

American Investor, Phil Rock