Fuller Brush salesman celebrating golden anniversary
Dave Zuchowski
Fuller Brush salesman Larry Traversari has been in the business for 50 years.
Fuller Brush salesman Larry Traversari knocks on a door.
By Dave Zuchowski
Shortly after Larry Traversari answered an ad in a local newspaper for a sales position, the business’ area manager came knocking on his door. The man brought with him a case of Fuller Brush products which he offered to Traversari at a reasonable price. He also offered him a job.
Early in April 1970, the Roscoe salesman started his career with the assignment of canvasing the Mon Valley from California to North Charleroi with Belle Vernon in between. Six days a week, he’d get in his van, start going door to door around 10 a.m. and finish up around 8 p.m.
“A ten hour day is usual in sales,” he said.
The first item he sold was a cotton mop. It’s still one of his top selling items along with pre-laundry stain spray and Fulsol degreaser.
On his first day wearing shorts on the job, he got bitten by a dog. It’s the only dog biting incident in his 50-year career, although he did say he’s been chased by them.
“Luckily, my sales case came in between us,” he said with a laugh
Once, he said he knocked on a door, and a woman responded with “come on in.”
As he entered, he tripped and fell but didn’t feel injured until the woman told him he had blood on his face. Another time and another knock introduced him to a potential customer whom he said needed milk and bread more than brushes. So he went out and bought her some out of his own pocket.
Along the way, he’s met his share of rude and nasty people who scoldingly told him never to come back. Other than these few, he never had altercations of any sort.
My motto is “the worst they can do is say in no,'” he said.
He worked through rain, snow and freezing temperature and is quick to say that, like the mail, the brushes must go through. He’s also never taken a vacation longer than a couple of days.
“When you have your own business, you don’t want to be away too long,” he said.
As time passed, his regular customers became like family and he got invited to their weddings, funerals and anniversaries. At the peak of his career, he called on 300 customers, but they’ve since dwindled to around half that now that he only works part time. He said he has 50 customers who’ve been with him from year one.
As far as his products go, his customers come first. Even when his wife asks for a replacement item, he makes sure his customers get it first.
“When you knock on a door, potential customers accept you when they learn you’re with Fuller Brush,” he said. “After that, the key is to develop and maintain credibility. It also helps that many of my products are made in America.”
One of his major sales tactics was to give product demonstrations, so he washes a window or waxes a table to spotlight a certain item.
“I’d also let the customer hold and handle the items to give them a sense of ownership,” he said.
His largest sale was a $150 order from a friend’s brother who visits annually from the South.
“That was a big sale considering you’re selling brooms and mops,” he said.
At age 72, Traversari is still on the job, although his territory has much expanded since the company disbanded its managers years ago. Over his 50-year sales career, he said his business had it’s ups and downs and was impacted by periodic recessions and bull markets.
Surprisingly, he said he was stiffed “very rarely.”
His wife, Jane, came up with a suggestion that he leave the items at the front door if no one was home during delivery. She also suggested putting an envelop in the door for them to send him a check for payment.
Once in a while, he took on secondary jobs – radio sales for WASP in Brownsville and disc jockey services for weddings, class reunions and parties. For the past 10 years, he’s also worked in the food court at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, but has recently retired from that job.
“Right now, I sell Fuller Brush products part time, but I’ll never give it up,” he said. “The company has been good to me. I’ve supported my family, paid for my house and sent my daughter, Stacy, to college. No matter what secondary job I took, I always held on to my Fuller Brush sales. From day one, I felt that sales was going to be my life.”