Commercial Equipment Expertise to Spare!

Darrell Hale: The man you want planning your commercial equipment order

This interview starts a series of insightful pieces here on our blog surrounding our Senior Leadership Team and their varied years of experience and areas they lead here at PFSbrands. First up we have Darrell Hale, VP – Equipment Division. You can read a brief background on him or just dive in below.

Q: Tell us what you did before landing at PFSbrands.

A: I sold water before water was cool! Basically, I sold beer, whiskey and bottled water and it was a hell of a job. I’ve also owned and operated a restaurant so I understand the sales side and the ownership side of things.

Q: What brought you to PFSbrands?

A: Getting premier shelf space for alcohol and bottled water had its good points but everyone has to sober up sometime! Nah, really it was just an advertisement and the way it was written it seemed like it was a hands-on job which is what I enjoy. I’ve always worked with my hands and from my experience as a restaurant owner this seemed like an easy step to work for a food brand. At that point it was VERY hands on… you sold the account, delivered the food, made the signage, trained the staff and did the follow-up trainings as needed that was nearly 20 years ago now.

Q: Tell us about you and your family a bit.

A: I’ve been married, well… forever (since the 1980’s). I’ve got two daughters and a son and now grandchildren as well. As for hobbies, hobby cars, hunting and fishing top that list.

Q: What is a normal day in the life of Darrell?

A: What is normal? You don’t grow as fast as this company does being normal… (Good point)! Many days I fly out of the Jefferson City airport to whatever area I am covering, grab a rental car and set out to several pre-set meetings. All meetings are planned in advance, learned that the hard way! I try to eat local while on the road and love Cajun and BBQ especially. When I’m in the office I have better tools at my disposal but being in-person is most helpful to the customer. The one thing I always do is no matter where I am making sure I stay until the problem is solved, I owe that to everyone who buys from PFS! I also try to give them the best worker friendly kitchen layout possible and recommend the commercial equipment that will help the employees produce a consistent product every day!

Q: What is the biggest impact you make on bottom-line here at PFSbrands?

A: Negotiation skills and the opportunity to maintain great relationships with the best commercial equipment vendors in the world. We’ve added several new lines of equipment in the last few years and even private-labeled some pieces. This is a win for us and our customers. You can see our most popular equipment by visiting www.PFSbrandsequipment.com. I always want to get the best pricing I can for our customers.

Q: Anything else we didn’t cover you would like to share to our partners and potential customers?

A: You might find more competitive prices elsewhere (I hope you don’t) but you won’t find the experience and follow-through that you will here. We provide FREE on-site training with every equipment purchase and we take care of you after the sale. A commercial equipment order is not a small ticket item and we will treat you right! We help with all your warranty and service needs.

Wrap-Up:

Be sure to check back for more interviews with our Senior Leadership Team. Darrell’s next article will feature foodservice trends in our business-within-a-business segment exclusively, with over 30 years of foodservice experience you won’t want to miss his insights!