The Gustave A. Larson Co. announced its 2016 sales representative award winners during a gathering for the 28th anniversary of its supplier evaluation program, Partners in Excellence and Quality.

The awards dinner, held at the Blue Mound Country Club in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, honored the top supplier salespersons for 2016 in each of the company’s five regions.  The winner in the Great Lakes region was Eric McClure, representing Sporlan Valve. The winner in the East Central region was Dennis Tisch, representing Rheem Air Conditioning Division. The winner in the Mountain region was Ken Hager, representing Trane/Ingersoll Rand. Keith Rinderknecht, representing RAC Sales Inc., was the winner in the North Central region, and Roy Heimbrock, representing Endres & Associates, was the winner in the Great Plains region.

The winners are chosen through an evaluation of data collected throughout the year, including quality and frequency of sales calls, product knowledge, training capabilities, responsiveness to requests, ability to meet previous commitments, communication skills and professionalism, among other factors.

“The individual salespersons who are selected to win the PEAQ Award are chosen through an evaluation process, which includes participation from every region of the Gustave A. Larson Co. These sales professionals represent the ‘best of the best’ of those who have sales responsibility for our stores,” said Herb Daugherty, director of inventory management at Gustave A. Larson Co., who also administers the PEAQ program. “The program continues to help us communicate more effectively with the supplier sales representatives. This was our 28th year for the Partners in Excellence and Quality program, and it remains an important part of our relationship with our suppliers and their sales team.”