20 Minutes With Daryl Foley
Dr. Mary Moon | TLT 20 Minutes March 2016
This manager for Total Lubricants discusses sales dynamics, working in Europe—and why making grease is like Mom’s pie.
DARYL FOLEY - The Quick File
Daryl Foley is the grease manager for Total Lubricants in Paris, France. He has worked in the automotive, motorcycle, heavy-duty and industrial lubricants industries for more than 18 years. Foley previously worked for American AGIP Co. (Eni) in Hainesport, N.J., from 1996-2006 and also was a worldwide general manager (industrial) for Bel-Ray Co. in Farmingdale, N.J., from 2006-2008. Before joining Total Lubricants in Paris, he was vice president of industry and technology for Total Specialties USA in Linden, N.J., from 2008-2014.
Foley received his associate’s of applied science degree in sales and marketing from Camden County Community College. He also received his bachelor’s of science degree in organizational management from University of Phoenix.
In Foley’s spare time he likes to golf, fish and play sports including baseball, tennis and basketball. He also has an interest in motorcycles. Foley lives with his wife and two sons in Garches, France.
Daryl Foley
TLT: What was your first job in the lubricants industry?
Foley: I answered an advertisement out of a local newspaper for a salesperson and got a job with American AGIP Co. (Eni) as a territory salesperson.
TLT: You've had a lot of hands-on experience working with lubricants in the field. Has this been important to your career? How has this helped your career?
Foley: Before starting in the lubricants industry I held two jobs that very much involved the use of lubricants. While going to school I worked part-time as an auto mechanic at a local repair shop and also had a hobby of rebuilding and upgrading old cars and motorcycles. At the same time I held a job as a drill rig operator and mechanic for a local geotechnical engineering firm. Both of these jobs involved the use and understanding of lubrication.
My automotive experience taught me about the importance of lubricants in relation to the maintenance and care of automotive and heavy-duty engines, transmissions and pinion gears. As a drill rig operator I was responsible for the maintenance of my rig and others in our fleet; I was experienced with lubricants and we saved money by doing routine maintenance in-house.
Grease and anti-seize compounds were vital to the operation of a drill rig. It was necessary to apply grease or anti-seize compound to each auger or piece of drill rod before we added it to the rig, so we could disassemble it after we completed a test boring. When the level of lubrication was better—in this case anti-seize compound on the parts of the drill—the operation was more efficient and there was less wear and tear on vital parts of the equipment. The mechanical parts of the rig required constant lubrication in certain demanding operations. We constantly applied lubricant to the main drive and Kelly bar in the rig to prevent wear due to the sliding motion of the rig when the drill rod was pulled up or pushed down.
These experiences have had a big impact on my career because they taught me which characteristics/selling features and benefits are important to end-user customers. I also believe it gave me the ability to speak to all levels of staff and truly understand their constraints, demands and needs. By education I am not a chemist or engineer, but I am able to comprehend complex performance demands of machinery and how lubricants satisfy mechanical performance demands in the field.
TLT: How did you become interested in grease?
Foley: I find grease to be the most interesting part of the lubricants product range for many reasons. From a manufacturing standpoint it is like making Mom’s pie, meaning a grease maker is an artist and can produce a superior product by combining their expertise with select ingredients. I think the complex nature of grease is very interesting. Making grease involves much more than just blending base oils and additives. It takes a lot of skill to create unique and complex chemistries in general. However, when it comes to greases, chemists combine special raw materials and react them to form a thickener, which is like a network in the oil that gives grease its semi-solid consistency. Then we adjust each batch with base oil and additives to meet performance specifications.
The inauguration of the new pilot grease reactor in the Centre de Recherche de Solaize (CReS), the research center in Lyon, France.
TLT: Do you have a favorite grease?
Foley: I get a lot of satisfaction from selling calcium sulfonate complex greases (CSCGs) because they are a unique technology and provide special benefits to our end-users. They are unique because they are formulated with not one but two thickeners. We formulate CSCGs with gelled calcium sulfonate (like in calcium sulfonate grease) plus soap-type thickener (like in calcium grease). When we mix these two thickeners they form a special structure inside our CSCGs. This provides many benefits: excellent water resistance, good extreme pressure and antiwear properties, high dropping point and good shear stability. Our customers like to use our CSCGs in steel-making applications, pulp and paper mills, mining and construction equipment, automotive applications, etc. We formulate certain CSCGs for low-temperature applications such as mining. We even have a special line of CSCGs that are registered for food-grade applications. They are very popular in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical and personal care product industries.
TLT: How did you become interested in sales?
Foley: I like to talk to people and I am a very social person! Many friends and colleagues will smile when they read this. I like working in sales because it gives me unlimited opportunities to sell, help customers and earn my living. I also love to study the psychology of selling. This means figuring out the reasons that people buy products.
TLT: What have you learned about sales and selling?
Foley: Customers buy for millions of different reasons. I’ve learned that there is a common thread—the law of self-interest. In some cases customers are motivated to buy products that bring the most benefit to their employers. Sometimes there are other factors such as brand loyalty and cost management. Sometimes you just never know what motivates certain customers.
As a salesperson you must determine as quickly as possible the self-interest of the buyer and present your product or service in a way to sway them and convince them to buy from you. If it’s not possible to provide what the customer needs, then it’s important to leave a good impression and an open channel for the customer to contact you in the future. Also in sales it’s important to pursue as many opportunities as possible; it is a numbers game! After many years of selling lubricants and greases, this is my perspective.
TLT: What characteristics or behaviors are important for someone to succeed in a sales career?
Foley: Successful sales reps are approachable, perceptive and creative with a relentless hunger to achieve and succeed.
TLT: What have you learned working for multinational versus domestic companies? Is one easier than the other?
Foley: I have learned many things from working for these two types of companies. When it comes to multinational companies I think for the most part they are more formal and not as agile, but they have tremendous access to resources. You may have a larger range of global human resources and perspectives that broaden the capacity to be competitive on a global—not just a local—scale.
In the U.S. domestic companies must be aggressive because they operate as competitive environment. Domestic companies tend to be relatively flat, which allows for making quicker decisions and taking more risks. As an employee working in a domestic company you may feel more comfortable, but you may be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. Working in an international firm provides opportunities to learn about global markets, which can be enlightening and open new perspectives. I think that working for domestic or multinational companies can be equally challenging.
TLT: You've been working in Paris this year. What has this been like? Do you miss anything special about working in the U.S.?
Foley: When I arrived in Paris I had only a basic knowledge of the French language. It’s been challenging, but I’ve been improving my ability to understand and speak French. The working environment at my company is great. In France the working environment in some companies tends to have a hierarchical feel. This may have historical roots in French culture.
Americans often perceive the European working environment as easy with long lunches, vacations and short working hours. This is far from reality; I find that the work day tends to be longer than in the U.S. So long vacations are well deserved. Employees are expected to use all of their vacation time. In contrast, I think employees tend to be hesitant about taking their vacation time in the U.S. Working for Total Lubricants, I have learned that it is truly challenging to work as a manager in a global organization, and I appreciate that it is critical to have a diverse staff to be effective in global markets. My employer takes very well-planned steps to ensure that the work force is diverse and this becomes more and more important every day.
TLT: You have had many experiences riding motorcycles. Do you have a favorite bike? A favorite road or place to ride?
Foley: My favorite motorcycle is the Ducati Desmosedici RR. This is a true piece of engineering brilliance. It is like riding a MotoGP bike, a true racing bike that is legal to ride on the road.
As for my favorite road or place to ride, I still find that the Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap, N.C., is one of the most beautiful, challenging and motorcycle-friendly roads in the world. Riding down this Smoky Mountain road that has 318 curves over 11 miles of road is a challenge that every motorcyclist should try to carefully experience at least once!
You can reach Daryl Foley at daryl.foley@total.com.
Dr. Mary Moon volunteers as a TLT technical editor and treasurer of the STLE Philadelphia Section. She is a physical chemist with hands-on R&D and management experience in the lubricants industry and she writes professionally for lubricants industry publications. You can reach her at mmmoon@ix.netcom.com or (267) 567-7234.