If Mike Gallagher has learned anything over the course of his lengthy and successful business career it is the value of employing and relying on best practices.

Just as so many reps before him, Gallagher, president and CEO of Centro, Inc., began his business career on the manufacturing side of the desk working for companies including Thomas & Betts, Norton Abrasives, and Square D Company.

“I spent most of my business life working with large companies that sold products through distribution and rep channels. When I was about 40, I determined that my goal of serving as president of a … Read the rest

When Agency Sales magazine reported on a MANAchat that was devoted to a discussion of what reps like most and don’t like about their jobs, it must have struck a chord. Since that article appeared in the December issue, several reps have weighed in with their thoughts on the very same subject. Overall, those who took the time to comment expressed great satisfaction with their choice of profession; however, for every satisfied rep, there were others who voiced some misgivings with what they have to face on a regular basis. Overall, their opinions might very well serve as recruiting tools … Read the rest

While Matt McCroskey was raised and educated in Ohio, his family had deep roots in California, and that’s where he built and continues to grow his more than 30-year career as an independent manufacturers’ rep.

According to McCroskey, his great grandparents bought property in Southern California more than 100 years ago. As a result, following his graduation from Ohio State University, he had someplace other than Ohio to follow his career dreams. And, oddly enough, those dreams of sales began with selling cardboard boxes.

According to McCroskey, “One summer two friends and I got a job selling cardboard boxes, and … Read the rest

The similarities of reps working with principals and reps working with sub‑reps were evident over the course of a MANAchat. High on the list of those similarities were how and where do reps find sub-reps, and once found how do you work with them effectively and pay them fairly?

The problems that reps face in finding sub-reps were evident early on in the conversation when the question was raised “Why would a rep firm want/need to engage with a sub-rep?’

In answer the group of reps participating in the chat emphasized that often a manufacturer will place demands on their … Read the rest

Rick Pierce’s path from college to heading his own rep firm could be described as more “typical” compared to so many other agency owners who have been profiled in Agency Sales magazine.

So many others have begun careers in far-flung ventures covering everything from teaching, law enforcement, and even professional sports. For Pierce it was an entirely different story. After studying marketing in college, he began a sales career with a manufacturer. In his words “I began working for a manufacturer as number 32 in their sales force of 32. I left 14 years later as number two.”

His reason … Read the rest

The continued benefit of in-person contact with prospects and customers was stressed during the course of a MANAchat when reps who participated constantly pointed out that nothing beats “face-to-face, belly-to-belly” selling.

According to one rep, “Here’s the problem that’s been going on for 20 years now: You go to a website to check out a company or a product and everything you read tells you that the company producing the product — or the product itself — is absolutely fantastic. You never read how something is mediocre or performs poorly in the field. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that … Read the rest

In 2019, when Jo-Anne Hernandez opened the doors to her agency, Business Lazo, little did she know she was going to run headfirst into Covid-19 and the problems and challenges that accompanied the pandemic. However, armed with the entrepreneurial zeal that is mandatory for reps, she’s successfully come out the other end to today head the Princeton, Massachusetts-based agency.

Business Lazo, LLC, is a sales, consulting and marketing company. The agency is a certified minority- and women-owned business with more than three decades of sales, consulting and marketing experience. According to Hernandez, “Our agency’s expertise spans from startups to Fortune … Read the rest

Anyone doubting the admonition that “history repeats itself” should pay close attention to the history of the William Baker Company.

More than 40 years ago, Jim Baker, who heads the six-person Indianapolis, Indiana, rep firm, recalls he was at a point in his professional life when he was anticipating a course change. Armed with little knowledge about what his father, Bill, did for a living, he raised the prospect of a change during dinner with his parents one night. His father, who had opened the agency in 1972, floated the idea of the younger Baker joining the rep firm. Ultimately, … Read the rest

The majority of reps relish the opportunities presented to them by being their own boss. With that appreciation for independence, however, comes the realization that there are many challenges that accompany being an independent manufacturers’ rep.

Several of those challenges were emphasized in the course of a MANAchat that was conducted over the course of three days earlier this year devoted to a discussion of what reps like least about their jobs. High on the list of challenges facing reps were:

Dealing with principals who don’t appreciate what the rep does for them — “I love what I do for … Read the rest

It was a desire to get out of the wet and cold of Oregon more than 20 years ago that led John Armstrong to make a move to Arizona and ultimately to open his own rep agency.

According to Armstrong, “Since he got out of the Navy in World War II, my dad was a plumber. He also was an apprenticeship instructor for many years. Following in his footsteps, I completed the plumbing apprenticeship program in 1991. It was at that time that I thought to myself ‘This is not a bad gig.’ I turned out of the apprenticeship program … Read the rest

Business concerns specific to reps that work in an international arena and problems encountered by single-person rep firms were the subjects of two MANAchats conducted earlier this year.

“Look for the low-hanging fruit and be quick to build relationships.” That was just some of the advice that developed in a MANAchat devoted to the subject of reps — the majority of whom represented U.S. manufacturers internationally — working in an international arena.

Addressing the subject of low-hanging fruit, one rep explained, “For me, the Middle East represents the best low-hanging fruit. They have the most money and have an even … Read the rest

A number of independent rep agency owners can point to having started their careers on the manufacturing side of the desk. At the same time, however, over the years Agency Sales magazine has profiled reps who can point to a variety of other career beginnings. Included in those are law enforcement, teaching, and even former professional athletes (golf, baseball, basketball).

Add to that list the career path — commercial banking — traveled by Mike O’Malley.

According to O’Malley, president of Asian Medical, Inc., “I was a commercial banker for more than 10 years lending money to small- to medium-sized enterprises … Read the rest

The changing landscape of contracts between reps and manufacturers and the growth of shared territorial development fees were linked earlier this year in two MANAchats.

In one chat devoted to the contracts that reps sign with their principals, members of A League of Their Own (ALOTO), MANA’s Special Interest Group for women, discussed and dissected their experiences when it comes to negotiating and living with contracts. A subsequent chat was devoted to the existence and use of retainers or monthly fees paid by manufacturers to reps when pioneering work is called for.

In the first instance, one rep stressed the … Read the rest

Just as manufacturers should weigh the financial benefits of hiring an outsourced sales staff vs. independent manufacturers’ reps, so too should reps weigh whether hiring a direct employee vs. working with a sub-rep is the best way to expand or cover a territory. That was just part of the subject matter covered during a MANAcast by John McNellis.

McNellis, a former MANA Board member, heads McReps, Inc., Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, a national multi-person agency that works with a mix of both direct and sub-reps. The agency has represented specialized component manufacturers for more than 48 years. It focuses on custom-engineered parts … Read the rest

What does ESOP stand for? As defined ESOP is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. An ESOP grants company stock to employees every year. The stock value is based on the value of the company, while the number of shares awarded are based on how much each employee earns. Typically, it is part of a compensation package where shares will vest over a period of time. But, in reality, it is much more than that. Historically ESOPs motivate employees, increase productivity, improve worker retention, keep jobs local, contribute to business longevity, and much more.

While such plans aren’t for everyone, they … Read the rest

It’s a bit of an understatement to say Marshall Maguire followed a rather circuitous path to where he finds himself today — the head of Maguire Technologies, Salisbury, Massachusetts, a veteran-owned manufacturers’ rep agency.

Here’s the outline of that path he traveled: In 1972, with the end of the Vietnam War still three years away, Maguire joined the Air Force, where he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as an aircraft hydraulics/pneumatics specialist. At that time, SAC was charged with overseeing the protection of the United States in the event the Cold War ever escalated to “hot.”

Following … Read the rest

Time management and developing relationship skills were high on the list of topics that were addressed during one of MANA’s latest teleconference chats devoted to single-person agencies.

On the one hand, many of the chat participants made the point that they’ve been able to make sales while they work remotely away from the customer. “It’s unbelievable the amount of work we’ve been able to successfully complete without personally touching base with the customers. It’s interesting that looking back you had to bang on doors over and over if you wanted to be successful. But what we’ve found today is that … Read the rest

Nine years ago, Agency Sales visited S. Williston Sales Company. This year as the East Greenwich, Rhode Island-based agency marks its 15th anniversary, Steve Williston, the agency’s president and CEO, took the opportunity to recall several of the agency’s challenges and milestones. At the outset, Williston notes that the agency’s passion and efforts to succeed have firmed up the agency’s position as it serves the HVAC industry in its territory.

According to Williston, he learned the independent manufacturers’ representative trade in the HVAC/R industry from his father, a respected rep in the northeast region, which includes Upstate New York and … Read the rest

MANA offers rep and manufacturer members opportunities to network and share concerns in teleconferences and MANAchats.

Dealing with customers they’ve never met in person and making face-to-face contact with customers in a post-Covid world dominated a MANA teleconference conducted by the association’s “A League of Their Own” (ALOTO), MANA’s special interest group for women.

Two of the discussion participants detailed what they described as unusual — but successful — relationships with customers with whom they never had an in-person sit-down meeting.

The first rep detailed, “I had been soliciting one customer for more than three years, but I had never … Read the rest

When Mills Rendell, formerly with Rendell Sales Company and now the president of Zeus Battery Products, read “Is This the Future for Many Outside Salespeople” in the September 2022 issue of Agency Sales, it caused him to reflect on his career as a rep. It also reminded him that there’s no room for excuses if a rep is having difficulty getting in touch with customers and no substitute for hard work if a rep is seeking a path to a successful career in sales.

According to Rendell, “There’s no need for me to go into a great deal of … Read the rest