One manufacturer’s written words last year sounded like music to the ears of manufacturers’ reps. Kendrick W. Reaves is a firm believer in going to market with reps, and he got right to that point when he penned a letter to MANA and AIM/R.

Reaves, national sales and marketing manager for Cash Acme, Cullan, Alabama, voiced his enthusiasm for working with AIM/R, “In reviewing Cash Acme’s recent successes — and they have been numerous — it became evident that our manufacturers’ reps have been key. Without the dedication and professionalism of our rep team, Cash Acme would not have enjoyed such dynamic growth and repositioning as a broad-line plumbing products manufacturer.”

The praise in the letter continued, but in an interview with Agency Sales, the manufacturing executive got a little more specific. “You can have the best manufactured products in the world, but if no one knows about it, you’re not going to be successful.” That’s why Cash Acme depends upon and works so well with independent manufacturers’ representatives.

Cash Acme is a leading supplier to wholesale distribution with production of several series of regulation valves. The company also services the general plumbing and heating industry with a broad product range including pressure regulators, relief valves, back-flow prevention devices and general plumbing and heating controls.

While he’s only been with the company for the past five years, Reaves looks back at the manufacturer’s 75-plus-year history of working with reps and says, “A larger part of our success in various territories last year was due to the work of our reps in those areas. That’s not to say that we didn’t contribute via our outstanding manufacturing, the efforts of our regional managers and inside/outside support, but our reps were truly outstanding.”

Reaves acknowledges that he can only speak from his own frame of reference as far as working with reps goes. But a major point he makes in favor of reps is the typical tenure of the rep firm in each territory, and how that benefits the manufacturer. “I had a phone conversation in the car this morning with one of our reps on the West Coast,” he relates. “He was talking about a contractor customer and considering the possibility of an order. His words to me were, ‘I’m not worried about him. I know we’ll get the order because I’ve got a solid working relationship with him, and we’ve been working together for years.”

Territorial Presence

For that rep, those words indicated the strength of a constant presence in the territory, Reaves notes. “Regional managers and other people in your company will come and go, but the rep is always going to be there. That’s why we believe that using reps is the way to go to market.”

For a manufacturer to get to the point where he’s able to benefit from the rep’s presence in the territory, however, he’s got to locate the right rep in the first place. In Reaves’ view, that’s where MANA and AIM/R come in. “Sure, I know that there are any number of ways to get in touch with prospective reps,” he says. “You ought to be communicating with your regional managers, talking with manufacturers of complementary product lines and even seeking the views of distributors and contractors. But in my view, that can result in a rather haphazard way of locating representation. That’s where MANA and AIM/R play such an important part. Those associations should serve as a reference point for working with reps. That’s what they do for us, and I know I’ve pointed at least five other manufacturers to AIM/R.”

He continues, saying that the associations play an especially important role in delivering the message to both manufacturers and reps, and that rep businesses have to be run productively and efficiently. “When that message is communicated, those businesses will be successful, and those are the kinds of firms we want to conduct business with.

“Remember that any time one of the rep firms I conduct business with goes ‘out of business,’ that costs me time and money. Then I’ve got to deal with everything from inventory, transfers, interviewing and selecting a new rep, and sending my regional manager out in the field to train people at the new firm. The costs can easily be in excess of $100,000. That’s why we like to work with successful firms.”

Seeking the Successful Business

Working with those rep firms is a lot easier when they are successful businesses, but Reaves is quick to point out that it’s still a lot of work to make the partnership effective. “There are issues — like communicating and being sure we get enough of the rep’s time in the field — that we have to address.

“Any time you work with a rep, you have to keep in mind that he’s representing 8, 10, 12 lines in addition to your line. Every time you call him and send him an e-mail, you’re just one of the many he’s receiving over the course of a day. As a result, it’s easy to fall into the trap of over-communicating. All that accomplishes is to exacerbate what might already be a bad situation.

“We just finished a meeting with many of our reps where we addressed the subject of streamlining our communications with each other. If we communicate only that which needs to be communicated, the result is that we’re going to pay more attention to each other.

“As far as being sure that we’re getting enough of our rep’s time in the field, here’s how I look at that: Work done equals money paid. If the rep is working hard and it results in a large check from me, that’s all I need to know about how much time he’s spending on my behalf.”

Finally Reaves offers that when he’s considering a new rep, or even evaluating a current firm, one important thing that he always keeps in mind as an attribute is, “Does the rep have a plan? Does he communicate that plan to me? And how well does he work on his manufacturer relationships?

“If we get the right answers to those questions, then I know we’re on the right track.”