5 Questions with Alan Squier

1. What excites you most about the work you do? 

I have a passion to help people, and I love that I am able to do that in my career through helping the Squier team grow professionally, to help our company grow and to offer the best quality service we can to our customers. I get satisfaction seeing things through to a solution.

2. What is one thing you wish foodservice operators knew about the job manufacturers’ reps do?

Our job has evolved over the years as the foodsevice industry has changed. We are more involved with the end user than manufacturers’ reps were a few decades ago. We’re here to help educate the operator on the options available and to work as an extension of the manufacturer to provide training and support, both to dealers and to operators. We work hard every day to strike a balance between the dealer and the end user and do our best to represent the manufacturer.

3. What is something innovative Squier Associates has done this past year?

We decided to ramp up our training for our inside sales team, which has paved the way for improved customer service. We have an almost one-to-one ratio of inside sales reps to outside salespeople, and those inside have the same training as far as product knowledge and proficiency with (quoting software) as the team out in the field. The reason for this is we want as much information to be able to flow through us as possible, and to be able to get our customers what they need as soon as possible. For example, when requests for quotes or purchase orders come in there’s no need to take a message and pass it on to a sales rep who might be in a meeting in the field. It can get handled by the person in the office receiving the request.

4. You were the first recipient of MAFSI’S Jay Mincks Mentorship Award in 2024. Why is mentorship important to you?

When I first started in this industry, I noticed how there was a lot of talk about how there weren’t many young people going into the industry. From that point I’ve always felt like it was important to find ways to attract new, young talent, whether that was to grow our family business or to improve the foodservice segment as a whole. Most recently, I joined a board with our county school system that started a vocational-technical track in hospitality. So often, kids think of a job in hospitality as being a chef, and I find it rewarding to get in front of them to talk about other industry segments, from designing kitchens to selling equipment. It’s important for them to see a career path with upward mobility, where they can grow personally and professionally.

5. What is your favorite piece of equipment and why?

I love anything that has versatility, because it saves space. This includes tilt skillets, high-speed ovens and combi ovens, but I really love the 350-degree cook-and-hold oven. You can do so much with it, from roasting to baking, and the fact that it doesn’t have to go under a hood makes it even more flexible.