To celebrate Advantage Solutions Front-Line Appreciation Month, we are highlighting teammates throughout August who go above and beyond to live out our values at Advantage every day.
Retail sales specialist Judy St. Angelo is one of Advantage Solutions’ Canadian front-line teammates working in the Hamilton-Niagara Falls region. She has been working for Advantage for seven years, putting her sales and merchandising knowledge and experience to use every day as part of the McCormick dedicated retail team.
We recently spoke to Judy about her role at Advantage, what advice she has for teammates and why the Buffalo Bills keep her busy during football season.
What does your average work day look like?
On a typical day, I prioritize store visits according to the schedule and the needs of individual stores, such as displays that I need to maintain or build. I visit approximately five stores a day and I have 89 stores in my territory.
When I visit a store, I check on the displays that are up and look for any new display opportunities. The expectation is a minimum of two displays in each store. I’m at an average of 3.9, so I have a lot of success with my stores.
Do you work with a team or are you doing all of this solo?
I work solo in stores, but I often will be called to train new reps as well. A few times a year I’ll work in the field with reps from the head office to share insights, or with a client when we’re doing resets or to show them our display work.
How important is it to know the markets and shoppers you serve?
It is 100% important. For example, I have a border town as part of my territory and during the NFL season, they have so many fans for the Buffalo Bills. When I know where specific fans are, I can focus on bigger displays in stores in those territories.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
We have a great team, supportive management and I love the independence Advantage gives us — like the ability to manage the work like it’s my own business. I have great relationships with my stores, so that makes my job easier when I’m coming to them with anything. They trust me and my expertise in doing what’s best for them. I always know what to order for them, so they trust me with building their displays.
And they appreciate the work we do. The most impactful thing to me is appreciation. I’ve been recognized most times when we have display contests, and I’m usually in the top three. Being valued for the hard work that we put in keeps you motivated.
What advice can you share with your front-line teammates?
I’ve seen and I’ve heard from stores that they appreciate the rep that’s working the shelves and doing more than just showing up and checking displays. Make sure that they see that you are an asset to them because that gains their respect and in turn makes your job easier when you’re selling to them. They see that you’ve earned it, you’ve helped them out. You’re a value to the store.
Stores don’t always have the time or the labor to do everything that needs to be done. So anything that we can do to help them, they love it.
