As he was leaving his position as national sales and marketing manager for a major manufacturer, an executive was asked his opinion of what he thought were the major challenges facing reps today. In the face of the economic challenges just about all businesses are facing today, his answer was especially optimistic. “It would be great to entertain the question of potential challenges in a healthy economy, but that’s not the case,” he said. “However, the economy we operate in today is not without tremendous opportunities. For instance, there are many manufacturers that historically haven’t used reps who are now economically ‘incented’ to consider the efficiencies that reps offer.

“Furthermore, there are many products in our channel that have been oriented to a factory-direct sales effort because of their need for specialized selling skills. For the rep savvy enough to invest in new skills capabilities, this is an ideal time to be able to service those manufacturers.”

He continued: “The good news in the face of this challenging economy is that the economy will recover. When it does, the rep that has invested in himself and his agency will reap the rewards of his investment as manufacturers continue to realize the value-add they provide. The probability of manufacturers sticking with the rep way of serving the market is greater than ever.”

Recommending Reps

A manufacturer with a long-standing business strategy of working with independent reps was asked to share his thoughts about continuing with reps in the face of a challenging economy. “Reps have never come with a higher recommendation than they do today,” he explained. The fact that we — just as so many other businesses — are looking for ways to control expenses while increasing our market share, causes us to depend upon our network of reps more than ever.”

While the manufacturer is not one that has to fill many holes in his rep network, he does admit that there have been occasions when he’s had to replace a rep or find one to cover a territory that hasn’t previously been covered. “When that happens, one of the first things we do is determine whether the rep is a member of a rep association, and it helps if we find he belongs to MANA and an industry-specific association.”

If that provides a positive start to what hopefully will be a long-standing relationship, he continues that he and his company look for more. “Does the rep have a marketing plan? Is he able to share it with me? If he has such a plan, does he effectively execute it? All of these questions have to be answered before we can move ahead.”

Uncovering the Real Problem

When a rep expressed to one of his principals some frustration with a recent promotion, the manufacturer was wise enough to first let him cool off, and then pry a bit in order to find the real reason for his unhappiness. According to the manufacturer, “What I found out was that he wasn’t really displeased with our promotional effort, rather his problem stemmed from the fact that he was being inundated with similar programs and other forms of communication clutter from all of his principals. Realizing he had a good point, we decided to take a close look at all of our communication to all of our reps. Our goal was to determine if what we were sending them was necessary, or were we just adding to the flood of material they’re being sent. I’d say that within a 90-day period we revamped our communication efforts. Our rep council especially helped us to determine what was clutter and what was material reps could really use from us.”

Relationships Achieved With Communication

The joint subjects of communication and relationships took center stage during a manufacturer roundtable at a recent industry meeting attended by both manufacturers and reps. One manufacturer, especially, noted the challenging path that has to be followed in order to establish and maintain strong relationships between principals and their reps.

According to the manufacturer, “Achieving the close relationships that are needed is hardly an easy task. Not surprisingly, just as in most relationships, the biggest challenge is communication. The most successful manufacturer/representative relationships are those where there is a stated mutual commitment and where there is a great deal of candor in terms of communication. Making sure that both sides have realistic expectations is a critical component to the success of the relationship.”

Attesting to his belief in the efficiencies of working with reps, he continued: “One of the most obvious benefits to a manufacturer in aligning with an independent manufacturers’ rep is that they can quickly and efficiently help the manufacturer grow their revenue. By having a mutual plan, with clear expectations, the right combination can grow sales. The obvious key is for the manufacturer to take advantage of the local rep’s product knowledge and local market intelligence. The multi-line selling model enables the representative to accumulate a valuable amount of local market knowledge that may be shared with the manufacturer based on their close working relationship.”

Time Is Currency

“Time is the rep’s currency,” repeated one manufacturer after attending one of MANA’s Manufacturers’ Seminars. “That’s great, and I agree, however, time is just as important to me as it is to the rep. That’s one of the major reasons I’ve gone from a factory-direct to an outsourced sales force.”

According to the manufacturer, “Believe me, I know firsthand how long it takes to:

• Design in products.
• Qualify and prospect leads.
• Develop and learn all about new products.
• Initiate, establish and maintain relationships with customer decision-makers and other executives in the buying process.
• Supervise a sales force in the field — not to mention support and pay for them.

“It’s for all the above reasons and more that I depend upon reps. Those responsibilities are taken from my shoulders, and all I have to do is concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing — making products to meet the demands of the marketplace.”

Appointing the Rep “Champion”

Kudos to one sales manager for taking action immediately when he heard something in the field that didn’t sit right with his reps. New to his position, the manufacturing executive immediately scheduled visits with his reps in the field. Luckily in the course of his second trip out of the office, he spent two days with a veteran rep who was hardly reticent about letting his opinions/complaints out of the bag. According to the sales manager, “This rep had been with our company for years, so he was hardly uninformed. He let me know how much he valued the line and he let me know our company enjoyed a great reputation in the field. However, he had a major beef in that there wasn’t always someone at headquarters to lend an ear to his problems, concerns, questions. He went on to let me know that he regularly had to wait for answers to questions that his customers had, and as a result, he felt he was at a real disadvantage to his competitors.”

Wasting no time to rectify the situation, the sales manager identified himself as his reps’ “champion” at the headquarters location. In that position, he made himself available to the entire rep sales force and instructed his inside people to communicate with him concerning anything the reps needed.

The Value of Taking — and Keeping — Notes

When he began hearing some comments from one of his principals that his commission checks were getting awfully large, a rep’s antennae went up. Rather than go quietly into the night, however, the rep fell back on one of his oldest habits — note-taking. It seems that all the way back in college, this rep made it a habit to take notes whenever he was in a meeting. Once taken, he’d file them away — never knowing when something useful or important might be there.

When his regional sales manager finally mentioned something to him about his commission checks, he pulled out notes from his initial meeting with the company president 12 years before. Here’s what the president had to say about commissions at that time: “I’ve never had a problem with large checks. If the rep is even making more than I do, then I know I’m making more than enough. Anyway, have you ever heard of a manufacturer going broke because the commissions he paid are too high?”

The rep’s approach worked, since the president then is the president now. The regional manager wasn’t about to change company policy.

No Need for Call Reports

“My good reps keep me so busy, I couldn’t even dream of them submitting call reports.” That’s how one manufacturer responded to a question from his peers on having reps regularly submit written call reports. “The top performers keep me so busy handling proposals, quotes and orders that even if they submitted something in writing, I’d never have time to read them. I can barely keep up with the workload as it is. If I asked them for reports, it would just be a useless exercise. Maybe this plays right into their hands, since I know they hate to write them anyway.”