The Steel CodCast

Anthony Fors and Jon Beresford
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Business

The Steel Codcast is a daily podcast delivering expert commentary, industry insight, and real world perspective for professionals across the appliance industry. Hosted by Jon, VP of Sales, and Anthony, President of Steel Cod, the show blends evergreen education with breaking appliance industry news to help listeners sell smarter, position products more effectively, and stay current in a fast moving market.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Designed for appliance sales professionals, manufacturers, distributors, brand leaders, and independent dealers, The Steel Codcast covers appliance industry trends, sales strategy, and product positioning across every category. Episodes explore everything from small countertop appliances and mass market products to high end luxury appliance brands, built in appliances, and emerging technologies.Released Monday through Friday, the podcast delivers consistent commentary on appliance sal...

  1. 8h ago

    "Outdoor Rated" Doesn't Mean What You Think — And Here's What to Look for Instead

    "Outdoor Rated" is one of the most confidently misunderstood claims in the outdoor kitchen category. Salespeople see the ETL certification checkmark and move on. Customers assume it means the product can handle their backyard. Nobody's asking the right question — and nobody finds out until the compressor burns out that first August. Anthony and Jon walk through what the certification actually guarantees (electrical safety — the unit won't shock you), the spec that actually matters (ambient temperature operating range — and why many outdoor-labeled products are rated to the same 60-90°F range as indoor units), and why the outdoor environment makes the premium price justification argument for the salesperson in a way that indoor refrigeration simply cannot. Then they walk through the complete failure sequence — compressor to gaskets to electronics to finish to insulation — and explain what to look for: ambient temperature range, stainless interior, 304 vs. 316L marine grade stainless for coastal and pool environments, sealed electronics, and how to read the warranty as the brand's honest opinion of their own product. They close with three brand callouts — True, Sub-Zero outdoor, and Perlick — and what separates them from everything else just carrying the checkmark. Rate and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and send your mailbag questions to: https://tally.so/r/D4ROKb

  2. 1d ago

    Jon's Wolf Take, Commission Honesty, and Why Happy Customers Aren't Always Best-Served Ones

    📧 Questions for the mailbag? Send them to: https://tally.so/r/D4ROKb Jon got cornered this week. Shannon asked him to name a brand people would be shocked to hear his honest opinion about, and he actually answered. The brand is Wolf — and the position is more nuanced than the name suggests. Sub-Zero earns everything the market gives them. Wolf makes great luxury product, and their simmer is the best in the category. But Wolf does not deserve the floor share they have by default, and Jon makes the full case for why that's a floor behavior problem, not a product problem. From there: what silence actually means if Steel Cod has never mentioned your brand, why a customer being happy with their Sub-Zero Wolf doesn't mean they were best served, why lying about commission is costing salespeople the exact trust it was designed to protect, and why general sales training has never been built for what independent luxury appliance retail actually asks of a salesperson. Jon also teases something that's been in the works — Steel Cod's Advanced Sales Training. Six weeks, ~15 minutes a day, built for every skill level. More soon.

  3. 4d ago

    Copied Brands, Backward Launches, Flooring Demands, and the Categories Losing to Bad Memories | Steel Cod Retail Council

    📩 Apply to Join the Retail Council Here: https://tally.so/r/vGGdq0 📧 Questions for the mailbag? Send them to: https://tally.so/r/D4ROKb Four questions this week, and every single one of them hit. The SCRC named the brands being copied most right now — and Jon explains why copying never actually works, no matter how close you get to the original story. Thermador's 1-2-3 promotional structure still dominates the conversation years after everyone copied it, and that tells you everything you need to know about being first versus being second. The brands whose next-gen products were a step backward came up fast. And the brands that are still pretending otherwise came up even faster. Jon's weed analogy for what ignoring retail feedback looks like over time is going to stick with you. Then it's into flooring requirements and the real margin math — why the number a manufacturer presents in a pitch meeting and the number a retailer calculates in real time on every transaction are never the same, and why brands keep losing floor space because of it. And the final question goes to customer misconception: induction, front load laundry, steam ovens, heat pump dryers — some of the best technology on the market is losing to outdated fears. Jon's position on the combi steam oven replacing the second wall oven conversation is one he'll die on, and this episode makes the full case.

  4. 5d ago

    The Boring Stuff Is Your Weapon: How to Actually Use Technical Knowledge on the Floor

    Every salesperson in this industry is told to learn the product. Compressor types, insulation technology, hinge tolerances — all of it. And then they get on the floor and watch a customer tune out the second any of it comes out of their mouth. That's the paradox this episode is built around. Because the answer isn't to stop knowing the technical stuff — it's to understand why it almost never gets translated into the conversation, and what happens when it finally does.  Anthony and Jon walk through the neuroscience behind why this approach works, the framework for actually applying it, and the filter for knowing which specs are worth going deep on versus which ones should stay in your back pocket forever. The salesperson who can make this translation consistently has something on the floor that big box will never be able to touch. If you haven't heard the previous Sales Deep Dive on the FABEI framework and emotional decision-making, go back and start there — this one builds on it. 📧 Questions for the mailbag? Send them to: https://tally.so/r/D4ROKb

  5. 6d ago

    ASKO New Generation: Andrew Savant on What Changed and Why It Matters for Your Floor

    📧 Questions for the mailbag? Send them to: https://tally.so/r/D4ROKb Andrew Savant, CEO of Pinnacle Sales Group, is back — and he's the first repeat guest in Steel CodCast history. He's here to walk through ASKO's new generation laundry launch, and the conversation goes well beyond spec sheet highlights. Jon and Andrew dig into why ASKO always required a certain level of blind faith from the floor — and how the new launch is specifically designed to fix that. The Steel Seal eliminates the rubber gasket entirely (95% less bacterial growth, certified). The Quattro construction drops a 70+ pound counterweight into the machine to eliminate vibration at the source. And the capacity conversation gets reframed entirely: this isn't compact laundry — it's a 26.5-pound story, and that changes who you bring it to. There's also a real ASKO vs. Miele conversation — Jon's not walking back his position on Miele, but he makes the case clearly for where ASKO wins the head-to-head. And the drying cabinet gets its due. Again. Because apparently Jon will keep dying on that hill until the floor finally listens.

  6. Aug 25

    True vs. Sub-Zero: Jon Picks the Best Residential Refrigerator on the Planet

    Sub-Zero has earned its position — that much isn't up for debate. But True came from commercial refrigeration, and that means the engineering standard was never a choice. It was a requirement. Anthony and Jon break down both cases and pick a winner. They go through Sub-Zero's legitimate claim to the top, then make the True argument: commercial DNA, forced air refrigeration, interior construction, and a hinging system that's a completely different conversation from anything Sub-Zero is doing. They also cover where dual compressor / dual evaporator lands differently between the two, and the one area where Jon gives Sub-Zero an honest edge. Then the versus episode tradition holds: Jon picks a winner. Rate and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and send your mailbag questions to: https://tally.so/r/D4ROKb

  7. Aug 24

    Big Box, Bad Reps, Toxic Floors, and Why Steel Cod Won't Soften the Message

    📧 Questions for the mailbag? Send them to: https://tally.so/r/D4ROKb This Mailbag Monday is the kind of episode that doesn't come along very often — five questions, all submitted by people in the industry, and every single one of them goes somewhere real. Anthony and Jon tackle what the independent channel is actually supposed to do now that big box has manufacturers' attention, what a rep submitting their own question reveals about what good training should look like, and what the filter is for pulling brands off your floor on day one. They also spend time on a question that has nothing to do with appliances and everything to do with the industry — what happens when a toxic coworker has management's protection and the good people are already walking out the door. And finally: was the shift in how Steel Cod talks about the industry a conscious call? The answer to that last one is yes. And Jon explains why it has to be.

  8. Aug 21

    The Council's Verdict: Most and Least Trusted Brands on the Independent Floor

    📧 Questions for the mailbag? Send them to: https://forms.office.com/r/XQLFmqn03F 📧 Apply to Join the Retail Council Here: https://tally.so/r/vGGdq0 The Steel Cod Retail Council had its biggest submission week ever — and the data delivered. Shannon and Jon go through four questions: the most trusted brands on the floor (Sub-Zero unanimous at #1, Miele near unanimous at #2, Café surprisingly strong at #3, True at #4, Fisher & Paykel at #5 with an important caveat — Wolf came in sixth), the least trusted (Samsung took multiple spots, some responses had all five as Samsung — Jon says the relationship between Samsung and independent retail is broken and probably unrepeatable), which price increases are creating the most frustration (Thermador and Bosch raising while the floor waits for the overhaul they've been asking for; the Gaggenau data point that illustrates exactly where the line between true ultra-luxury and everything below it sits; and Cove being pushed into a package before trust had time to develop), and what to do when your brand's product shows up at Big Box for less than you paid to acquire it — Jon's answer is unambiguous and today-not-eventually. One of the most data-dense SCRC episodes yet.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

The Steel Codcast is a daily podcast delivering expert commentary, industry insight, and real world perspective for professionals across the appliance industry. Hosted by Jon, VP of Sales, and Anthony, President of Steel Cod, the show blends evergreen education with breaking appliance industry news to help listeners sell smarter, position products more effectively, and stay current in a fast moving market.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Designed for appliance sales professionals, manufacturers, distributors, brand leaders, and independent dealers, The Steel Codcast covers appliance industry trends, sales strategy, and product positioning across every category. Episodes explore everything from small countertop appliances and mass market products to high end luxury appliance brands, built in appliances, and emerging technologies.Released Monday through Friday, the podcast delivers consistent commentary on appliance sal...

Information

  • Creator
    Anthony Fors and Jon Beresford
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    The Steel CodCast

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