Steve Wahlenmaier

National Sales Manager

Steve is one of Wise Safety & Environmental’s National Sales Managers who handles its western branch locations. He has been in the safety industry for over 27 years.

Steve earned his BS in Marketing in 1994. He got his start in customer service taking care of industrial safety customers. He transferred into a sales position a year later with a specialization in PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) with an emphasis on the hundreds of types of gloves used in the workplace.

He has kept abreast of all general industry and construction OSHA regulations, doing on-site demonstrations for his customers and bringing in manufacturers for expert training. He continually acquires more knowledge and skills, adding environmental safety and abatement expertise to grow his sales base. He increased and sustained sales from $500K to over $4 million annually in the following ten years.

In 2012 he became the National Accounts Coordinator, expanding upon the relationships he built over the previous years to serve multiple-location nationwide corporations with their safety needs. He facilitated the implementation process that involves plant rollout visits and the direction of sales personnel.

In 2015 Steve became a National Sales Manager—Western Region in addition to national account responsibilities. He leads 12 salespeople at four branch locations and negotiates and closes agreements with large customers. His position requires him to monitor and analyze performance metrics and suggest improvements. Steve performs research to identify new potential customers and market opportunities. He has developed a sales pipeline for national accounts to promote forward thinking and improve the ability to forecast sales. He coordinates with Marketing to determine the most effective sales strategies to achieve sales goals. He is also a key coordinator for the annual National Sales Meeting where all the company’s salespeople come together for training, encouragement and team-building.

How I got started in Safety Equipment Sales

In 1985 I was finishing my Marketing degree at Missouri Western State University. While enrolled in my Marketing Research class, I was tasked with doing a marketing research project on a local company. I chose a local safety equipment distributor to conduct my marketing research. My research encompassed all aspects of industry spectrums ranging from pharmaceutical to steel mills and foundry's and everything in between, and the impacts of personal protective equipment. At that time, engineering controls were just beginning to play a key role in the these industry's and therefore safety supplies and ppe were on the brink of becoming the massive industry that we see today. It was during that project back in the fall of 1985 that peaked my interest not only for sales and marketing but for safety equipment and the impacts that equipment has on the many dedicated workers providing for their families. I have always loved selling a product that helps keep employees safe.

What makes me a great Safety Equipment Expert

My recipe has always been to listen first and then offer solutions that best fit each customer's needs. I don't always have the answer at my fingertips, but I have always been dedicated to researching on behalf of the customer to deliver the best possible products and solutions. This not only instills trust, but builds long-term relationships. I have always strived for building long-term business relationships and have made a lot of very good friends along the way.