A full 10 years ago, Agency Sales magazine reported on a study covering the growing trend among reps to adopt the tenets of consultative selling. According to an article in the magazine, making the transition from product to consultative selling was the most frequent challenge faced by sales professionals — including manufacturers and their reps. Moving from a product sell to a “solution-type sell” was identified by 69% of 134 sales managers responding to the survey.

The study report continued, “The findings suggest today’s sales organization has a more sophisticated focus than a few years ago. While more than half of the study respondents still cite frustration with basic sales techniques, such as prospecting and closing, more encounter trouble at the higher end of the sales process, specifically consultative and value selling. This reflects a shift in emphasis as much as the complexity of the tasks involved.”

The challenge reps were encountering was described this way: “The accepted dogma is don’t push product on the customer, address his or her business problem and show value. Frequently, however, sellers have to deal with customers who need to be in control, want to define what they need and seek the best price. And when all else fails, the seller falls into old habits and ends up shaving the price to win the deal. A mistake made by management is to view consultative selling just as a technique. Effective solution selling requires a culture change, top-to-bottom engagement and an organization-wide commitment. Otherwise, the organization doesn’t speak a common language and sends out different messages.”

Detailing An Appreciation For Reps

When a national sales manager left one company and quickly resurfaced at another, he pulled no punches as to why he left his former employer. “Plain and simple, it was a difference in business philosophy, specifically as it applied to our use of independent reps.

“When we were purchased by a larger company, their management very quickly let us know they didn’t share our positive view of working with reps. As a result, they quickly established a pattern of treatment for our reps that I just couldn’t live with.”

In a nutshell, the company didn’t do much right by their reps, including:

• Implementing a policy whereby their established reps had to undergo mandatory sales training — “That goes against everything I believe in when it comes to working with reps. I’d maintain that reps, especially the experienced ones, already have the sales ability. What they’re constantly demanding is product training and it’s our responsibility to provide it.”

• Mandating too many reports and too much paperwork — “I’ve never believed that call reports for the sake of making call reports were a good idea. Add to that my belief that the majority of the reports are never read — I know I rarely did. What I believe in is communication. When something of importance happens in the field, let me know about it. Aside from that, I’ll let the rep’s bottom-line performance speak for itself.”

• Working one agency against another — “Here’s how this goes: behind the scenes you tell one agency what another is doing and suggest that it might be a good idea if another agency does the same. That’s the beginning of the end when it comes to your relationships. This just doesn’t work.”

• Constantly late with commission checks — “You want a group of unhappy campers? Don’t get their checks to them on time. Live up to your agreements with your reps and make sure the payments are accurate.”

• Getting out of touch with the needs of the market — “I’ve seen this happen more than once. A manufacturer will begin marketing a product that they’ve never determined the market has a need for. In fact, the only testing that occurs is when the product is out there. Then when the reception is less that mild, inevitably, the rep gets the blame.”

• Relegating the rep to the back seat on a big sale — “I saw this happening with regularity — the sales manager would put himself front and center when making joint sales calls. When that’s done to meet the sales manager’s own agenda or otherwise satisfy his ego, your relationship is doomed.”

This manufacturer went on to explain that with his new company, he’s making sure none of these events happen. As a result, he and his reps couldn’t be happier.

Joint Sales Call Protocol

The advice of an industry consultant came to mind in relation to the item concerning relegating the rep to the back seat during a joint sales call. According to the consultant, “The manufacturer should be careful that the customer knows that the rep is the one handling the sales call, not the manufacturer. Be sure to let the salesperson take care of all introductions and do most if not all of the talking. As a result, the customer will follow up with the salesperson, not the manufacturer. In addition, the rep should stay in control of the call. If the sales manager does most of the talking, then the customer is actually receiving a mixed signal and he really won’t know who’s in charge. If the meeting with the customer reaches a point where a close is called for, the manufacturer should make sure the rep takes care of the closing. Once more, it’s a matter of letting the customer know who’s really in charge.”

The First Year is the Most Important

Most manufacturers and reps with a few years under their belts will agree with the axiom that first impressions are the most important. That’s why it’s so important that manufacturers and their reps take pains to make their first-year experiences fruitful ones. Any look back at these relationships will indicate that when principals and their outsourced sales force part ways it’s usually early in the relationship. Agreeing with these points, one manufacturer recently emphasized that “From the very beginning the relationship has to work for both of you. There are many times when a rep wants your line badly and the manufacturer is able to dictate terms that are overly favorable to you but not to him. When the manufacturer makes money from the customer and not from the rep partner, then both sides of the partnership have crafted a beneficial relationship. You both have to plan for the short and long term and monitor the progress of your joint planning. You’ve got to be prepared to admit when you’re wrong and at the same time, not be punitive when your rep partner makes an error. Never take shortcuts; they always lead to problems in the relationship. In addition, never do things that you don’t have to do. Don’t foreclose on potential opportunities with your reps. Leave all the doors open until they absolutely have to be closed. In conclusion, be flexible and play the events of your first year experience by ear. Don’t be rigid, and the relationships with grow and thrive.”

Thumbs-Up to Communication From a
Rep Council

“Boy, did I learn something important from members of my rep council.” Those were the opening words in a conversation with a manufacturer concerning why some of his reps weren’t performing as well as he thought they should.

According to the manufacturer, “There was a fall-off in the performance of some of my reps. Admittedly, I should have been smart enough to put two and two together since the drop in business occurred at the same time I put someone new in as the inside contact for these reps. Things were going from bad to worse about the time when we had one of our two annual rep council meetings. Thankfully, my reps were forthcoming in letting me know that this new person wasn’t providing the support they had grown used to. In all fairness, it wasn’t necessarily all his fault. Quite honestly, he was put into a position that didn’t exactly suit his talents. I made an immediate change and got things back on track in a hurry. The change brought business back to where it should be and my reps are performing at or above their expected levels.”

In addition to moving the inside person to a position in the company where his talents were more suited, this manufacturer continued his discussion with his reps and learned from them characteristics that were highly undesirable for an inside person to have when working with reps:

• “A person who always makes a big deal out of errors reps may have made but is slow to publicly acknowledge when reps go the extra mile for an order.”

• “Be wary of someone who is reluctant to delegate responsibilities that should rest with an agency. These control freaks are usually the ones who undermine the relationship faster than anyone else.”

• “The inside person who is a big believer in regular communication, but when he calls us, it’s usually about nothing important.”

• “Stay away from the manufacturer who regularly gossips about other agencies. That kind of behavior diminishes him in all of our eyes.”