When Sid Trump was a high schooler playing offensive and defensive tackle for the York Suburban High School Trojans in York, Pa., his coach in freshman year, Ray Schmidt, shared these words with his players: “A team that won’t be beat, can’t be beat.” The orange and black were, indeed, a team that wouldn’t be beat, winning 38 out of the 40 games they played while Trump was at York. And while the 23-game winning streak remains etched in Trump’s memory, even longer lasting are Coach Schmidt’s words and the spirit behind them. Sid Trump lives out those words every day as territory manager for Butler Schein Animal Health.

“He is one of the most well-organized, motivated salespeople in our business,” says Butler Schein Animal Health Vice President of Business Development Ben Coe. “He’s been at it for close to 40 years, and he stays as motivated as ever. I’ve never seen him change.”

“He outworks the competition to satisfy his customers’ needs,” says Michael Stone, Butler Schein’s Northeast regional manager. “He will work harder to satisfy his customers and do whatever it takes to take care of them.”

“He lives and breathes a lot of the things that sales instructors talk about,” says Dennis Corbitt, a college classmate of Trump’s and later, director of marketing for NLS Schein (now Butler Schein Animal Health). “He’s goal-oriented, purposeful with everything he does, always positive, never negative. He’s a guy who puts his handwritten goals on his refrigerator, and he doesn’t forget about them.”

Trump himself demonstrates the point as he talks about pre-call planning. “It’s imperative you stop your car before you make the call and think about your customer,” he says. “Look at your notes, decide what you’re going to talk about and what you want to accomplish in that call. That’s extremely important; you’ve got to do it. You can’t just go in there, shaking hands. You have to be intense, but in a calm way. And you have to show that you’re focused on that customer and their needs.”

Livestock and football
From the time he was a kid, Trump had two big interests: football and livestock. He was born in April 1945 in Hanover, Pa., and raised in York, about 25 miles northwest of Hanover. His fraternal grandfather, F.M. Trump, had been a schoolteacher for 50 years in a one-room schoolhouse. His father, Dale L. Trump, was one of four children. He too became a teacher, focusing on industrial arts at the junior high and high school level.
His mother, Arta Mae Trump (maiden name Warner), came from a family of livestock dealers. In fact, Trump spent the first three years of his life on the Warner farm, while his father was overseas during World War II. For a couple of years when he was in grade school, the Trumps lived on a farm near the Warner family. There, young Trump cared for a horse, and even bought a steer one summer and raised it on grass.

When he was just five, Trump’s uncle, Clarence F. Warner, began taking his nephew on calls to farms to buy and sell livestock. Two or three times a week, they would drive in his uncle’s 18-wheeler to the Baltimore Livestock Terminal, where cattle, hogs and other livestock were bought and sold. “I felt I was in fifth heaven,” says Trump. “I saw a lot of buying and trading. My uncle did a lot of bartering and selling. It was a great experience. “This is where my interest [in animals] came from.”

Trump had another interest besides livestock. Sports. He was into all kinds of sports in grade school and early high school, but in the 10th grade, after sustaining a back injury, he decided to focus exclusively on football. “I was the starting tackle in ninth grade,” he says. “That’s an interesting story. I was slow out of the gate; I didn’t even know how to do a jumping jack. It was a character-builder.”

Much of his inspiration came from the Trojans’ coach, Ray Schmidt, who believed that teams that won’t be beat, can’t be beat. “It is a great, great saying,” says Trump. Another strong influence was Otto Kneidinger, a former player from Penn State, who took over for Schmidt in Trump’s second year at York Suburban. (At Penn State, Kneidinger played for Rip Engle, whose assistant coach was Joe Paterno, points out Trump.)

Animal science
In 1963 he enrolled at the University of Maryland as an animal science major. A big draw for him was the United States
Department of Agriculture’s research center in nearby Beltsville. The competition to work in the center was stiff. “I was at the bottom of the list, just like I was in football,” he recalls. “But I stuck it out and got there.” He got a job at the center, working on weekends, holidays and summers, taking care of the cattle on whom research was being conducted. “Most of the other guys there were pre-vet students,” he says. “I was an animal science major, and I stuck to it.”

He considered a career in pharmaceutical sales, but turned his attention to distribution, “because of the diversification of the products distributors sell, from antibiotics, to medications, to hospital supplies, to instruments and equipment,” he says.
With the help of a former professor and veterinarian, Dr. A.C. Brown, Beltsville, Md., he got an interview with the big regional distributor at the time, A.J. Buck & Son Inc. The company had been founded in 1939 in Baltimore by a medical doctor of the same name. By the time Trump graduated in 1968, the founder’s son, Richard O. Buck, had become president. The company’s director of sales, Dick Prins, met with Trump, and arranged for him to meet Buck in Baltimore in August of that year. It didn’t go well. “I told Dick [Prins], ‘I really don’t believe that Mr. Buck believes I want to be a successful salesman,’” recalls Trump.

A.J. Buck
Trump did more interviewing, but had his mind set on working for A.J. Buck & Son. So he went back to Prins and told him he would be willing to do just about anything to get his foot in the door, including working as a packer or some other inside job. Prins instructed him to call Mr. Buck and tell him that. Buck heard Trump out and acceded to his request, but made it clear that “this doesn’t mean you will be a salesman.” So the recent college grad started his $1.90-an-hour job in the warehouse, packing boxes and loading them onto pallets for shipment.
“I took some criticism from my college classmates,” he says. “‘Trump, you didn’t go to college to do this.’ But I had done my homework and knew who I wanted to work for.”
The association with Prins was critical for young Trump. Prins himself had been an outstanding basketball player at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa., from which he graduated in 1958. In fact, he is in the college’s Hall of Fame. He admired Trump’s enthusiasm, his background in athletics, and the practical work experience he had gained at the University of Maryland. The two remain in contact today.
After some time, Trump became A.J. Buck’s first telephone salesperson. Soon after, Prins pitched Buck on letting Trump try out a territory of his own. At first, Buck, who valued Trump’s productivity in the warehouse, told Prins to give Trump a raise and keep him inside. Prins persisted, and Trump finally got 25 accounts in south central Pennsylvania. “They were very demanding,” he says of those 25 accounts. They asked Trump to track down some difficult products and solutions. “But I came through.”

His own territory
In fact, by October 1971, Trump had demonstrated he could handle a territory, and he was given one of his own in what he refers to as the fertile valleys of central Pennsylvania. Since then, he has been busy demonstrating the “won’t be beat, can’t be beat” approach to sales and life.
For example, in 1975, he broke $1 million in sales, something “a lot of reps weren’t doing until the ’90s,” notes Stone.
“People thought my numbers came from mastitis tubes,” says Trump. Indeed, mastitis tubes were a big – very big – business in the early 1970s. “But what happened was, it came to an end,” he says. Abruptly, the product line went direct. “So I had to figure things out,” he says. And he did, converting that business to a new product mix. The next year, “my dollar volume not only equaled what I did with mastitis tubes, but I exceeded it.”

Work in progress
Indeed, Trump is all about adaptability. “You have to think about what you’re going to do and who you’re going to work with,” he says. “You have to accept change, re-invent yourself, and figure out how you’re going to accomplish it. It can be done.”

He purposely avoids putting too many eggs in one basket. For example, he maintains a mix of large-animal and small-animal customers. Whether it’s foaling season, calving season, heartworm prevention or dental care month, “I’m busy all year long. And I can switch gears and go in another direction if I have to.”

He manages to continually re-invent himself by maintaining – and changing – his perspective on things. Yes, he may work from 5 in the morning until 11 or 12 at night, but he manages to stay focused. “I’m famous for my power naps,” he says. “That’s how I keep long hours. When I have a problem, I take a power nap. Just relaxing and closing my eyes is a way for me to clear my mind. And I’m not embarrassed to say to someone riding with me, ‘Wake me up in 15 minutes.’”

Much of his thinking occurs during windshield time. He has spent a lot of money over the years on motivational/educational tapes, but considers the expense worthwhile. “They have been a very excellent source of learning and help, very beneficial.” (Another thing he used to do during windshield time was cook Delmonico and strip steaks on his engine’s manifold, just to keep eating healthy while on the run. But today’s engines don’t accommodate steaks, so no more grilling on the move.)
He spends quiet weekends on his 47-acre farm in Baltimore County, Md., located on the same road that he and his uncle used to take to and from the Baltimore Livestock Terminal. On his land is a rustic cabin built by the Amish. The land has a two-acre, manmade lake, with a pier jutting out into it. “I sit out there and do my thinking. It helps me make decisions. It’s quiet time. And it’s very, very picturesque.”

Game time
His relationships with manufacturers have also been beneficial, he adds. “I may not be noted for riding with a lot of people, but I’m in communication with everybody all the time,” he says. “The biggest and most fun I’ve ever had in this business is through teamwork with manufacturers reps. The biggest orders I write are through that teamwork.

“When I walk into a doctor’s office and a manufacturer rep is with me, we’re on a mission. We’re selling something. And that’s the most fun I have – besides performing for people and finding things for people that they thought were impossible to find.”
Indeed, Trump is on a mission on every call he makes. “My customers know I’m coming, because I send an advance card. And I have the same routine every week. If I’m not there within 15 minutes of the time they expect me, they start to wonder why.

“My first rule is, always have an order pad. I’m there to do one thing and one thing only – take orders. My customers know that when I come in, it’s game time. Every day is game day for me. My job is to make those calls, get those orders, process the order and any problems, and still be on time for the next call.”

Customer relationships
But despite the no-nonsense approach to sales, Trump has always valued his relationships with customers above all, and has worked hard to cultivate them.
“A lot of his accounts have become his family,” says Corbitt. “He knows the names of their children. He knows almost everybody in every clinic by name. He has no trouble getting in the back door. He’s very methodical about the frequency of his calls, and he has always been available on Sunday nights.”
“At meetings, they line up to see him,” says Coe, referring to Trump’s customers.

“When I first started, [the veterinarians] did it all,” says Trump. “I don’t know how they had the hours. Not only did they do their veterinary work, they also did the buying and paid the bills.” Sales reps like Trump always had access to these decision-makers, but it wasn’t easy. “I’d be making calls late at night.” He recalls one sales technique that worked particularly well: He would put gum and lollipops in his detail bag; the vets’ kids, knowing the drill, would open the bag to get the candy. As if on cue, Trump would pull out a hand instrument and begin selling.
Coe recalls one manufacturer telling him of a ride-with involving Trump. “They drove down this country road and came up to the vet’s house at midnight. Sid got out of the car and pounded on the door, and all the lights flicked on in the house. They came down and opened the door and said, ‘Sid, we’ve been waiting for you.’ Then they got out a pie and talked. Sid [and the manufacturer] left at 2 in the morning.”

Things have changed over the years, says Trump. The large-animal vets tend to service bigger corporate farms, not the family farms of yesterday. Nor does Trump find himself calling on vets in their homes, as he used to. “But this is still a people business,” he says. He still carries goodies around. “It’s a trademark of mine.” But he aims to impress not with goodies, but rather, with dedication, enthusiasm and value.

“Planning, preparation, discipline and consistency are the cornerstones of success,” he says. “In this business, you have to be a marathoner, not a sprinter. I’ve always been a slow starter coming out of the gate,” he says. “But when I come to the three-quarter pole, I’ve got the jets on.” On his refrigerator are these words to remind him of his ideals: “Vision, commitment, persistence to excel, mental toughness, confidence, and pride in who you are and what you do.”
Trump has built a rich life outside sales. Every Easter, he sponsors an egg hunt for family and friends, including some in the business. This past Easter, more than 125 people were on hand for his 32nd egg hunt. And every March, he buys 50 steers, lets them feed on his grass for 100 days, then sells them for a profit.

Trump is convinced he’s in the best profession in the world. “I love to perform for people; I really do,” he says. “I like to make things happen. If it’s tough, I like to take it on.”
Won’t be beat. Can’t be beat.

Sidebar:
Don’t quite

Following is a poem that Sid Trump’s parents cut out of the local newspaper and gave to him when he was a young man. He carries it in his wallet today. The author is unknown.

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you want, but don’t you quit.

Life is strange with its twist and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns;
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow,
You might succeed with another blow;
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.