I recently had the fantastic opportunity to do a ride-along with a fantastic sales rep for one of our distributors. As I am fairly new to the pet industry, it was a great experience to get an inside-look at what a day in the live of a distributor rep might look like. Since I am more in the marketing field than sales, this was a unique experience where I took in everything I learned, versus trying to sell products. One of the main things I noticed? In order to be a distributor rep, you need to know how to drive and multitask at the same time.

As many of you may not make it to the bottom of this article, let me just start by saying this: I, and All Points Marketing, do not condone driving without two hands on the steering wheel and full attention. This article is satirical in nature and is meant to be humorous. 

Now, here are 5 ways to easily multitask while driving as a distributor rep.

1) Get an Apple watch 

...Or a similar smart watch that will seemlessly sync with your phone. Getting a smart watch is a great way to actually multitask and keep both hands on the wheel. They are great because, if you have an Apple watch for example, you can just ask Siri to send text messages out for you, just like speaking to someone in the car.

Need to tell your next retailer you're on your way? No problem, just make a quick call or send a quick text via voice and you wouldn't have even blinked twice. 

2) Utilize Bluetooth

Can't afford or don't want a smart watch? No problem. There's other ways to multitask and drive at the same time. Many newer cars have Bluetooth capabilities so you can automatically sync your phone to your car and still use voice commands to call retailers and suppliers who are waiting to hear back from you like yesterday (at least isn't that how it always seems?). 

If you don't even have Bluetooth, then I don't know what to tell you. Only joking. Fortunately, there are some great headsets out there that will allow you to the same thing as the in-car one. The only setback is that it won't automatically stop Jay-Z from playing on the radio when you have an important call coming in, so you'll have to turn that down yourself. 

3) Use voice commands. A lot.

This very much ties into 1 and 2. If you're going to be successful at being able to drive and multitask then you better get used to using your voice. You will likely get very good at bossing Siri (or Android equivalent) around. This is a skill not many have, so consider yourself one of the chosen few if you have truly mastered the art of speaking to a smart phone.

4) Make sure you know your route

I really can't stress this one enough. If you're going to be distracted, at least know where you're going before you do so. This will help you:

• Stay on time to your meetings
• Avoid traffic (seriously worth it)
• Be less frazzled
• Drive and multitask better

It's important to sit down in the morning, or preferably on your office day, and plan out your route for the day. Then, download a navigation app (such as Route4Me Route Planner) where you can plug in all your planned destinations for the day. Not only will this help you drive and multitask better (which, by the way, you shouldn't be doing...), but it will also keep you on time and on track for all of your meetings and allow you to see how many stores you will realistically be able to visit in one day.

5) Don't Drive and Multitask

I know, I'm basically contradicting myself...but it's something I am kind of obligated to say.

Although the temptation may be there to answer every text you get, it's better to schedule time throughout the day to pull over, respond safely, and then get back on the road. Then, you can use your post-driving time and office days to really ensure you have the time to read silly articles such as these from crazy suppliers and sales and marketing firms, and also do the important stuff like respond to inquiries. 

Have any other suggestions or funny stories from on-the-road you'd like to share? Tweet us at @allpointsmarket or send me an email at ashley@allpointsmarketing.com!

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About the Author

Ashley Hoffman – E-Commerce & Digital Marketing Manager joined the All Points family in April of 2015. Ashley brings a fresh outlook to the marketing industry as well as a constant desire for learning something new. She is dedicated to consistently improving her skills and efficiency in the marketing industry and using those skills to promote APM and all brands we represent. Ashley has grown up with many animals throughout her life and is currently the loving owner of two cats.