Outdoor Retailer - July 2017 - 36

1990s

Chad Gallwitz

Outdoor Retailer 35th Anniversary

THE OLD-SCHOOL
COWBOY
In the wild, fun, bygone days of the developing outdoor industry, Chad Gallwitz
emerged as a sales rep who kept it cool-
and the man still knows how to sell a brand.
Written By Aaron H. Bible

here's a breed of old-school reps out
there that I grew up idolizing as a
young guy getting my start in the
outdoor industry in the mid 1990s.
They lived in old ambulances, RVs, giant pickup trucks with racks of skis and kayaks for all to
partake ... they were the coolest.
Chad Gallwitz is one of them, having been a
rep for 22 years now. He's actually been in the industry for 34 years-spending a dozen at retail
before he turned to repping full time.
"Coming into the game, you have to do what
we've all had to do. You're not going to get a big
line right away; there's something to be said for
paying your dues," says Gallwitz. "Anybody that
wants to be a rep should work at retail for...quite
a long time, and get into management and buying before you become a rep."
According to Gallwitz, succeeding as a rep

36 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ 35th Anniversary 2017

is about truly understanding retailers. He recently committed all his time to one brand-
Lowa Boots-after having been in the wintersport hardgoods world as well for 15 years with
Madshus and then with Fischer Nordic.
But it's not all about living out of your truck
and funhogging your way around the country.
Being a rep is really hard work, requiring upward of 60 percent of your life spent on the road,
according to Gallwitz.
"I think the job for all sales reps has changed
over the past 20 years from being men or women who showed a line, asked for and got an order from a dealer, and then did a tour through
the territory for a round of clinics...to now being business advisors, consultants, if you will,"
says Peter Sachs, general manager of LOWA
Boots. "Today's rep needs to focus product assortments for a dealer, so he needs to know what

products a dealer can or cannot sell in their store
or community. He needs to write proposals and
do tons of follow up. He needs to be active on
his computer to reply and act upon correspondence daily. He needs to be available on his cell
phone seemingly 24/7. He needs to clinic and
coach retail staff about the brand and products,
and how to display, fit, and sell those products,
not just some key features."
Continues Sachs, "Chad, like all other reps,
has struggled with these changes at times because they have come so fast and the learning
curve is steep. However, in the end, he is still
there and on top of the pile."
One of his keys to success, perhaps, is that he's
not afraid to sell high end. "You get what you
pay for," says Gallwitz. But even more important
than assortments is attitude.
"When a customer walks in the door, I look at
them as someone who needs assistance, guidance, help, to talk about their day at the crag. It's
never about closing the sale," he says. "The sale
may come today, it might not, but you worry
about making them feel comfortable, having
fun, or if they come in with an issue, you have
one goal: When a customer has a problem, they
need to go out the door smiling. You spend as
much time as you can with someone. "
The only thing more important to Gallwitz
than the customers are the dealers themselves.
"They deserve for you to walk into their stores,
to be out there for them," he says. "Technology
is great, but a lot of people are relying on it
so heavily-email or Skype will never replace
hand-to-hand, face-to-face communication.
When push comes to shove, I'd probably side
with the retailer because without them I'd
have nothing." O.R.

photograph by ANDREW KORNYLAK

Outdoor Retailer - July 2017

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