Blog Link: //kromerochapmanedu.wordpress.com

My name is Keegan Romero and I’m currently a senior. I will be graduating in the fall with a degree in Strategic and Corporate Communication. For my internship, I had an awesome opportunity to work as a relief salesman for Pepsico!

Working in the Beverage Industry

I found this opportunity by searching for internships and jobs on LinkedIn. I was fortunate enough to land the position and start working with them immediately. My job consisted of developing relationships with grocery, pharmacy, and convenience store managers. My goal was to bring in as much Pepsi product into the store as possible. I spent a lot of my time covering full-time salesman and making sure their store managers were happy. My main duties were to write orders, selling product into the stores, and assisting my merchandisers who were stocking product if needed.

What I learned

Throughout my time working I Pepsi I learned two big skills. I learned how to problem solve and I learned how to negotiate. The beverage industry can be problematic at times. For example, there was a time where the store manager wanted to take our display down to put up a valentines day display with flowers and baked goods. The problem soda displays need around 200 cases of product to build and we didn’t have any room in the back room for those cases to go. I instead insisted to the store manager that we can build a heart display with the product we already have and the store can place the flowers and baked goods alongside the display. Majoring in SCC has taught me a lot about persuasion and I was able to apply lessons I learned about persuasion when it came to negotiation. Overall, this experience was a valuable experience and it has better prepared me to be a well-rounded professional.