The Business Wisdom of Dealer of the Year Raynal Pearson

Sept. 1, 1999

Persistence is a quality much admired by Raynal Pearson.

He quotes the following except form a letter written by Joseph E. Smith to his son in England in 1896:

“Energy is the vitalizing force which leads on to success and triumph. It is energy which has developed greatness in men, more than natural talent.

“Many a man with meager ability has made his mark in the world through being energetic and persistent, while many a man with superior native talent has completely failed for the sole want of energy.”

Pearson stresses to his dealership’s sales representatives that they continually call on prospective new wholesale accounts and periodically return to the dealers who have previously declined.

And Pearson, himself, calls on prospects as he travels around the state. His son, Larry, says during his growing-up years, whenever the family drove anywhere on vacation, his father stopped all along the way to ask dealers for their wholesale business.

And Pearson, himself, tells of the Seiberling sales representative who called on him for four years without success. But when Pearson Tire decided to take on a new tire brand, Pearson turned to Seiberling because he knew the sales rep would value his business.

Pearson tells employees:

“Procrastination is a villain that can thwart your ambitions, destroy your happiness and frustrate your ability to reach business goals.

“Set priorities and focus on one problem at a time. List these on a written goal outline.”

Another Pearson Favorite:

“If our salesmen are 10% better than competition, we can put our competition out of business.”