It was just a couple of years ago that R/B Sales, Marion, Iowa, put a van on the road to deliver its marketing message to the distributors it works with. That was hardly the last innovative plan the firm put into action to meet the needs of the manufacturers and customers it works with.
Their latest effort is seen in the creation of the position of a “Merchandising Specialist,” who travels the rep firm’s territory and works with distributor counter sales teams to increase the visibility, appeal, and mix of products in the counter areas of their partnering distributors.
According to R/B’s president, Bill Devereaux, CPMR, “R/B Sales is always actively pursuing new and different avenues to separate us from the competition. The merchandising specialist is just another example of that ongoing effort. Previously, we had our mobile showroom that made a great impact over the course of several years. Ultimately, we sold the trailer in order to pursue new opportunities, specifically marketing opportunities. It all came together when one of our manufacturers shared their vision of the merchandising specialist and the intended focus of their time.
“This position is a responsibility we never felt we were able to support fully with the other time requirements of our traditional salesperson. To become the most effective agency possible, it’s our feeling that we must touch multiple levels of the electrical market place every day. Our outside salesmen are challenged with end-user assistance, trade school and apprenticeship training, engineering calls, manufacturer management visits, and all kinds of other daily tasks. Add to that the multiple layers of the distributor infrastructure (owners and administrators, managers, outside sales, inside sales, purchasing, warehousing, counters, etc.) and you have a customer base too broad and diverse to competently handle each function. By creating the merchandising specialist, we are able to re-focus a few of those layers to a specialist dedicated to marketing initiatives.”
Devereaux continues, “As the position develops our specialist also will work to increase market awareness of promotions and associate with inside sales and support personnel and all managers for these employees at each distributorship. This position covers the whole of our market and is truly a dedicated sales position.”
If creating the merchandising specialist position was a novel idea, the way R/B filled it was even more innovative. Instead of following the tried-and-true method of looking for an industry veteran to fill the slot, R/B went the college recruiting route and located a recent college graduate anxious to find her spot in the business world.
Following a Different Path
As to why the rep firm followed that recruitment path, Devereaux explains: “The most important benefit in hiring a recent college graduate was that we hired an individual with no preconceived notions of what the industry was and should be. To a recent graduate each new meeting brought the promise of a new opportunity. Also, the individual we chose would have new ideas from other industries that we have yet to explore; ideas that can change the way we see ourselves as an independent small business in a much bigger industry.”
Once the rep firm decided the logistics of how it would find this new person, the steps it would take to get the job done were quite simple. “At the same time that we were debating this position,” says Devereaux, “I learned of a college job fair at Iowa State University. To us, Central Iowa is the center of our customer and population base. We registered for the job fair that was widely attended by current and past ISU students and alums. After the initial meeting and review of resumes, we were able to conduct a deeper interview with several students the following day. At the end of a three-week process, Melissa Delaney’s interviews, experience, and personality separated her from the other applicants. It was one of the most rewarding new-hire processes our management team has experienced.”
Once on board, it fell to Delaney to devote her efforts to de-clutter products at distributor counter areas. According to Devereaux, “Her efforts and focus assist us in gaining shelf space where it makes sense for each customer and market. The biggest thing she is doing though is providing us with an outside employee whose number-one objective that day is what has (unfortunately) been the number three-seven objective in the mind of our traditional outside salesperson.”
Measuring Results
It’s wonderful to have all these great merchandising/marketing plans, but how has it really worked out thus far for R/B? According to Devereaux, “Reviews have been very favorable. Distribution seems to appreciate our value-add and understands the fact that we are offering them a more expansive service model which can and will increase the profitability of our products at their counter. Still, we are early in this process and time will better indicate the impact. One of Melissa’s challenges has been the number of distributors we serve and the miles between them. R/B Sales has more than 115 electrical distributor locations we serve with travel time being five hours from the north to the south and 17 hours from our east border to our westernmost outposts.”
He adds: “We have had more than a couple of distributors give Melissa carte blanche authority to do what she wants with their counter area. In many branches, we have been able to move our product from the back or side of an aisle to the premium locations at the front and ends. She also has been welcomed and appreciated by our distributors who have a full-time marketing department. These people seem to enjoy having ‘one of their own’ on the representative/manufacturer side of the picture.”
The positive picture painted by the president of R/B Sales concerning this innovative approach to serving an important segment of its customer base is matched by Delaney even as she continues to get comfortable in her first job out of college.
According to Delaney, “As I progressed through the interview process with R/B, I found it interesting because it was like no other job for which I had ever applied. Right out of college, I knew I didn’t want a desk job; rather, I wanted to be able to work with people. As the people at R/B explained things in more detail, I became even more interested. I knew I had so much to learn about the products and how the industry works, but it was a challenge and I was willing take the challenge because the career sounded so gratifying.”
Meeting the Challenge
Part of that challenge obviously was learning all about a career and an industry that she wasn’t all that familiar with. “Prior to the interview process with R/B, I didn’t have any knowledge of how a manufacturers’ representative firm operated. While I have quite a few friends in sales for various companies, they sell mostly for distribution, not rep firms. This is a whole new world for me—one that is dynamic and one that I very much enjoy.”
If she knew little about the rep business, her learning curve was made a bit steeper as a result of the fact “I had no background in the electrical industry. There are so many things to learn. From what I have been hearing, while visiting our distributors and contractors, the learning never stops. Although it can be overwhelming at times, all I can do is take things day-by-day and expose myself to as many learning opportunities as possible.”
An integral part of navigating those learning opportunities comes with meeting the challenges that greet her on a daily basis. According to Devereaux, the “Major challenges I’ve seen her encounter stem from her never previously working for a rep firm or in this industry. We knew there would be a learning curve to understand this industry, but it’s one that we experience each time we hire someone from outside the industry. From a company perspective, our biggest challenge so far has been getting Melissa introduced to our customer base since our geography is just so large. We are still learning what tools she needs to do her job. R/B Sales has also implemented a comprehensive product and electrical training program to shorten the learning curve in regards to our line card.”
Delaney concurs when she explains “The most challenging part of what I do is definitely gaining product knowledge. I am able to apply marketing theories effectively, but learning my product lines has proven to be the challenge. It certainly helps that I have access to an enormous number of resources: my management and the office staff, product training and videos, manufacturer training and field demonstrations among other things. I find that the more exposure I get to each product helps me jump another hurdle and move forward.”
She notes, however, that “the most gratifying part of my job is spending time with our distributors. They have been patient and helpful in teaching me about the industry and products. Many of them can relate to how intimidating it is being brand new and are very open to lending a helping hand.”
