Careful consideration on the part of a principal when search­ing for new reps ensures the right fit, beneficial synergy, and future success for both rep and manufacturer.

Rob Stohlman has been the vice president of sales for Service Stampings for about three years. When asked for his thoughts on working with independent manufacturers’ representatives, he good- naturedly admits, “Before I took on this job, I can safely say I never met a rep in captivity… in my life.” During his relatively short tenure with Service Stampings, how­ever, he has only worked with reps. Since he’s now met and worked with numerous reps, he admits he wouldn’t have it any other way.

According to Stohlman, reps are absolutely ideal for taking his company’s products to market. In busi­ness since 1957, Service Stampings has been a lead­ing supplier of short- and medium-run metal stamp­ing services used within the electrical, transportation, and many other industries worldwide. The Willoughby, Ohio-based manufacturer has been a partner with in­dependent reps since it first opened its doors.

“It couldn’t work any better for us and our reps,” he says. “We view ourselves as the 39 cent part in the $10,000 assembly. We know that, our reps know that, and we work well together with that joint vision.”

“With a short-run stamping company like ours,” explains Stohlman, “diversity is everything. With about $5 million in business annually, our average order is maybe $1,500. That type of business model dictates that you need a constant flow of new customers, not to men­tion a constant flow of parts to existing customers. Reps provide both of those elements for us. We fit very well with the synergistic model that reps possess. Our prod­ucts are a good fit for every sales call the rep completes. It’s all about synergism.

“In addition, reps fit well with our short sales cycle. Right now that cycle is about 42 days from quote to order. We’ve found that with just about each sales call they make, reps can pull in business for us.”

Achieving the Best Fit

Ensuring a continuously good fit between principal and reps is not necessarily an easy task, Stohlman says. That’s something I’ve worked on from day one on this job and continue to this day.”

He explains that when he joined Service Stampings in 2007, “One of the first things I did was hit the road and talk to our reps. I took a list of questions with me with the goal of learning what reps thought of our opera­tion.”

He notes that his first two questions were: “What does Service Stampings do correctly? Where do we need improve­ment?”

Predictably, the answers to those questions included items such as paying commissions on time, providing quality products, delivering product on time and responding promptly when reps ask for information. “It was when I got to my last ques­tion, however, that a light bulb went on in my head. When I asked one of our reps in New Hampshire what we could do for him that would allow him to make more money, the simple answer was ‘Make it easy.’

“That’s certainly a simple answer to a simple ques­tion, but it really makes sense. Isn’t it a little like a nurse in an operating room? When the surgeon asks for a scalpel, she gives it to him and then gets out of the way. So too is it with us and our reps. Our job is to welcome their feedback, eliminate communication barriers, fa­cilitate the process and generally stay out of the way. We’ve done everything we can to take that advice to heart.”

In a perfect world, all of this sounds great, but the perfect scenario will never play out if Service Stamp­ings does not have the right reps working with them in the field. And, that’s something that Stohlman is con­stantly on top of. “Since I took on the position in 2007, I brought on five agencies, of which we’re still working with three. Right now I’m in the process of locating ad­ditional reps to conduct business with. To accomplish that task I am constantly refining my search tools, which include my own database and our company’s membership in MANA.

“With the former — our database — I’ve got to be sure we know our territory and the reps who work there. When I look at a potential rep, I’ve got to be sure that I’m familiar with everything on their line card. Are their other lines synergistic with ours? Are they the right size agency for us? Do they call on the customer we want…? If they fill all those criteria, then I contact them with a personal — not a form — letter. After that I’ll follow up with a personal contact.”

Refining the Process

That’s a fairly typical approach, and Stohlman is quick to note that sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. “I’m getting better at this, but it’s still a work in progress,” he admits. “For instance, if a rep shows a reluctance to visit us and see our facility, that’s a red flag to me. Or, if a rep starts raising questions about territo­rial issues, even before he’s got the line, that’s another matter of concern.”

If those are issues that will turn off Stohlman’s inter­est in a rep, what turns him on? “A rep who shows that he’s interested in us. A rep who will ask us tough ques­tions. Here’s an example: I recently dealt with a poten­tial rep who asked how wide our product offering was. What types of customers were we interested in?

“When you get right down to it, I wasn’t interview­ing him, he was interviewing me. And, that’s fine. We got to the end of the conversation and he volunteered that he didn’t think we were a large enough operation for him and his agency. Ultimately, we decided we weren’t a good fit for each other, but I haven’t met that many reps who were as professional or well prepared to conduct business as he was. What he showed me was that he was a businessperson who was making a busi­ness decision. We parted as friends.”

MANA Membership

Then there’s the company’s membership in MANA. Stohlman notes he makes generous use of MANA’s On­line Directory, and he has attended the association’s manufacturer seminars conducted by Paul Pease. Not only did he attend the MANA Seminar, he emphasizes, “I listened to what was said. The presentation itself was great, but just as valuable was what I heard from other principals during various networking opportunities. I also listened when the audience was primarily reps, and while what I heard wasn’t surprising, it was certainly interesting to learn what principals and reps think of each other.

“While I say I wasn’t surprised with what I heard, it was interesting how many principals adopt an adver­sarial position with their reps. There was an attitude among several that was more ‘us against them’ than anything else. Maybe I’m not as smart as some of the other principals, but I just don’t get that. If you’re going to operate in that adversarial manner, then why con­tinue?

“My view is that the rep is not employee, rather he’s a business partner. It’s the principal’s job to sell them just as much as he sells his product to the end customer. We need the rep’s buy-in on reaching joint goals if we are to succeed. And, one way to achieve that buy-in is by being so successful that we have to write huge checks for our reps. If we’re writing them huge checks, then we’re making plenty of money for ourselves.”

Overcoming Stereotypes

When he’s asked why Service Stampings seems to work so well with its network of reps, Stohlman says, “It pains me to say this, but unfortunately, I think that reps — regardless of whether they’re inside sales or out in the field — are measured against the stereotypical salesman, whether it’s the one who sells used cars, insurance or anything else. Too many times salespeople are viewed as hucksters. That’s not the way we look at them. I’ve found that reps, in general, have adopted a lifestyle that uniquely fits them. I haven’t encountered a rep whose commitment to their profession and their lifestyle isn’t greater than anyone who punches a clock.”

Then there’s that adversarial position that some manufacturers insist on adopting with their reps, which is a position that Stohlman refuses to accept. To further describe this adversarial mindset, he recalled an as­sociation get-together in preparation for a roundtable discussion the next day.

“When this group of manufacturers began speak­ing, typically they covered the need for opening new markets, diversifying the product mix, etc. That was all well and good until one of the manufacturers brought up the subject of reps. I recall his one comment that re­ally got my attention: ‘My customers have told me that they don’t want to pay for the work the rep performs. It’s just an added cost and they want to save money.’

“ . . . I let him know that any day of the week, I would put up any one of my five best reps against his best di­rect salesman. Here we are in the midst of an economy that has gone completely south, and that manufacturer is still paying top dollar to a direct employee who is working in an under-performing economy. That just doesn’t make any sense.”

He continued that the latest figures he could find indicated that a typical sales call costs in excess of $500. “I’m getting all the sales calls that I need for the variable cost of the commissions that I pay my reps. It doesn’t get any better than that.”