Some manufacturers’ representatives have acted as though they were the sharecroppers of our industrial system. Like sharecroppers needing someone else’s land to work, the rep needs someone else’s product to sell. Like sharecroppers whose survival is dependent on weather, insects, and other things beyond their control, the rep faces the ups and downs of its market, manufacturers that allow the products it sells to become obsolete, backorder problems that reflect badly on the rep and other factors beyond its control.

And too often, reps, like sharecroppers, take what is handed to them without questioning. Too many sign agency contracts without reading them. One who signs a contract that allows the manufacturer to, at will, change the commission rate, change the territory, add house accounts or terminate without cause or notice, is indicating how little he values his own worth.

I have seen too many examples of a rep devoting months or years to a major project, finally have that project come to fruition, and being terminated in order for the manufacturer to pocket the amount of the commission. I have seen reps terminated because the VP of sales doesn’t like the rep. I have seen reps find a customer, develop the relationship into a major client, and then have that customer named as a house account.

How can the rep, who in the best of circumstances cannot be self-sufficient, deal with these problems so that he does not appear to anyone, including himself, as a sharecropper?

Competence and Attitude

I suggest that there are two things that stand out in those sales agencies that are successful and command respect, competence and attitude.

Whether the agency is a one-person operation or a fully-staffed organization, competence is key. From the first call until the post-sale follow-up, the principal, customer or potential customer must know that he is valued and is dealing with an agent who knows the product, knows the marketplace, knows the customer’s needs, and can enhance the profitability of its customer and its principal.

The competent agency has state-of-the-art equipment. Even a one-man agency, if owned by one who is available 24-7, can be constantly available to customers and principals. Promises made are promises kept. The agency is not afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I will find out,” and finds out quickly. The agency has made thorough preparations for each sales call. The objective of the call is clear. The needs of the client are known and the customer’s time is not wasted. Later, a note, preferably handwritten, is sent thanking one for the opportunity of meeting or for the order placed.

Devote Time and Resources

You can draw your own list by studying the people that you deal with who you admire. By devoting the necessary time and resources one can build an agency that is and is perceived of as competent.

Attitude requires a certain mindset. You make it clear that you are not willing to be treated like a sharecropper. You know what you need and why you need it in your agency contracts. You will negotiate such contracts but walk away from a potential principal that will not recognize and meet your needs. You will insist on a commission rate that fairly compensates you for the work required to be done. You will deal with customers that recognize your value and treat you as a valued adjunct to their businesses.

Such an attitude begins with the agent’s own feeling of self-worth. We know that nobody actually beats a path to the maker of a better mousetrap. Someone has to sell that trap.

Your attitude shows in your dress, your website, your brochures, your business card, and your line card.

If you are close to one of your customers, perhaps he will allow you to introduce a prospective principal to him while you are negotiating contract terms. You might have a pro forma spreadsheet listing the investment you will make in order to penetrate the market for your prospective principal.

Once you represent a principal you should communicate with it, offering ideas, opportunities, market analysis, and updates on your operations. But all communications with principals and customers must be short (one page at most) and punchy. You should visit the factory to get to know the people you deal with and to see the nature of its operation, and you should listen to your customers and your principals. Silence is often golden.

I will add a third prescription for the agency that wants to be sought after and appreciated —responsiveness. We have all called airlines or stores or manufacturers and been sent on a long road of computer-generated questions to an eternity on hold while being told, by recording, how important our call is. We have all been promised return calls that never come, shipments that arrive late, billings that are mistaken.

Amaze all that you deal with by being instantly responsive to their needs. The word will quickly circulate in your industry that you are different.

I have seen manufacturers pay substantial signing bonuses to outstanding rep agencies. I have had existing principals up the ante when their agent threatened not to renew its contract because of an offer from a competitor.

If you wish that kind of negotiation, make sure never to sign post- termination non-compete agreements. They can make you a sharecropper tied to the farm. If you must sign such non-competes make sure you can afford to sit on the sidelines for the length of the restriction.

In short, to control your own destiny you must be different, you must become what you’d like all of those you deal with to be like, competent, sure of yourself without cockiness and responsive.

Then the land will be yours and you will reap its fruit and prosper.