Joint Sales Calls

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As a Northerner suffering through a long winter of snow and frigid conditions, I look forward to the signs of spring. The buds on the trees, convertibles with the tops down, waiters polishing the patio tables and of course e-mails from my principals in the South, wanting to come up and make some joint calls on my territory now that the snow has gone.

Most reps these days have to manage a number of product lines on their line cards to make a decent living. Many factors go into the choice of lines a particular rep decides to handle. Factors such as these:

• Is there a demand in my territory?

• Do we have the resources to do a good job for this principal?

• Does the principal pay good commissions and pay on time?

• Are the products we represent synergistic and non-competing with each other? These are‑ all vital questions. Here are some other factors we should consider:

• What level of support is available from the factory?

• How much training is required?

• How much ongoing training is required over the life of the association between the two parties?

• What type of training do we want and expect?

• What level of involvement does the factory expect to play in closing deals?

• Do they see us as their total marketing and sales operation or are we just an opportunity finder for them, and then they send in the cavalry to close the deal?

This article deals with one aspect of the relationship between principals and their representatives, namely the joint sales call or factory field visits, not the training process per se, but what both sides expect to gain from this activity.

In most cases independent manufacturers’ reps, especially MANA members, are full-service sales and marketing agencies, with multiple synergistic product lines, owned and operated by veteran sales professionals. I don’t presume to speak for everybody, but I certainly do not believe we need sales personnel to come with us on joint calls. The only people I really want to see are technical support and service people. Also, it has been my experience that the higher up the chain of command the visitor, the less effective they are on sales calls. Those last two statements are pretty strong, so let me explain further.

Avoiding Damage on the Call

Senior managers at the vice president and president level can inadvertently do a lot of damage while on joint calls, especially if they have an unrealistic view of their company’s own standing in the marketplace and if they don’t have a thorough idea of their own capabilities and internal systems.

As a general rule, the rep should do the talking particularly as it pertains to current potential transactions.

My agency used to handle a large, multi-divisional industrial tooling and machinery line. The president was a mercurial character who loved to get out into the field and make sales calls. The problem was he would inevitably take over the conversation with the customer and make unrealistic promises such as delivery and technical specifications, and then return to his office and leave us to deal with the fallout. He was under the impression that, for instance, if he decided that his company would turn warranty claims around in 48 hours, he just had to send a memo to his middle management and it would be instantly so. He would decide on these policies on the fly in front of the customer. The customer, upon hearing it in person from no lesser a party than the president of the manufacturer, would naturally believe it be true and so expected the promise to be strictly adhered to.

This is not an unusual experience. Paradoxically it has been my experience over many years in the profession that the more senior the factory visitor, the more out of touch they are with their own company’s capabilities. Obviously they do not have to deal with their company from the outside every day as the rep does and consequently may not be fully aware of the customer service bottlenecks in their own organization.

As a general rule, the rep should do the talking particularly as it pertains to current potential transactions. There is no need for the visitor to spend 30 minutes bragging about how good his company is. The customer already knows that or you would not be sitting in front of him in the first place.

These days more than ever the customer has little time to spare and the conversation should be very focused on the matter at hand. Under no circumstances should the customer get the impression that it is just a “howdy” call. There should be a clear and focused need for the visit.

Value in Peer Communications

In the technical sales field many of the customers we are talking to are engineers and technical people. My observation over the years is that these people would much rather visit with other engineers and technical support people from the manufacturer. Often times they are uncomfortable with other salespeople and senior managers and appreciate the chance to talk to their peers in the design and technical end of the business process. When the transaction shifts to purchasing, the rep is paid to do the selling, and it is redundant to have the factory person in on that process. Let’s face it, if the rep needs the factory guy to close the sale, then the factory probably needs to get new reps.

Many times the customer, especially if he is a regular customer of the rep, will ask questions about other transactions from other principals for whom the rep sells. There has to be a clear understanding before the call is made how this situation is to be handled. Most reps do handle multiple lines, and so unless the principal has a strong pre-stated objection to this, the rep should answer the question quickly and then turn the conversation back to business of the principal present.

There are certain other courtesies that need to be taken into consideration. Practical things bear mentioning, such as giving the rep plenty of notice to set up calls, and not over staying the welcome. Generally two days is plenty, a week is pushing it. If the principal requires picking up at the airport, arrange a reasonable schedule for both parties. Most reps are happy to entertain their out-of-town guests, and I personally have made life-long friendships with some of my principals. However, a principal wishing to roam the night clubs till the early hours or play golf all day shouldn’t get upset if a rep excuses himself to go home to his family.

One of my personal pet peeves about factory visitors, especially in the machinery and manufacturing business, is when a visitor shows up to visit a steel mill or a chemical plant looking like he is going to the Masters golf tournament or to a board meeting. Suits and other office attire look great in the board room but the Gucci loafers will not get you past plant security where I hang out, and would get pretty messed up if they did.

Anybody contemplating visiting construction sites, manufacturing, steel mills and the like should arrive appropriately attired. I have disciplined my own salespeople for not having safety shoes, safety glasses, hard hats and basic safety equipment in their possession for field visits. It is as much part of your gig as a cell phone and a business card. A machinist cannot work on a machine without his safety equipment, so why would you think it is appropriate to walk around a plant without yours? I have lost count of the times I have witnessed a customer having to scramble around to find safety equipment for visitors who should know better than to show up without it. It is a waste of time and highly unprofessional behavior.

The Rep’s Responsibility

So far we have only looked at the principal’s responsibilities, but as we have stated over and over, marketing products is a joint activity with equal responsibility on both sides to make visits a pleasant and productive activity. As a veteran sales manager who has hired both contract and employee salespeople, I am very aware of the principal’s expectations and comfort level with joint sales calls. Some principals understandably get very frustrated with the behavior and lack of professionalism of some of their reps. The principal is giving his time and effort and no matter who is visiting, whether it is the president or the service representative, the principal committed time and resources for the benefit of the rep, consequently he has the right for certain expectations to be met.

In-person sales calls cost both the rep and the principal time and money, so it is imperative for the rep to be completely organized. In preparation for these visits the rep should ask himself the following questions and make the appropriate arrangements:

• Have I organized a useful day’s work, with an appropriate number of quality appointments and correct timing and travel distance between each call?

• Is the person we are seeing a decision-maker or at least able to influence the decision-making process?

• Do I have his or her correct title and contact information?

• What is the specific purpose of the call and how does it relate to the prospects application and business?

• Do you know what this company does, how many employees and their current financial position?

• Do they currently use our products? If so, do you know the service history and level of satisfaction with these products?

• Do they use competitive products to ours? What is their level of satisfaction or otherwise with these products?

• If they are a new prospect, where did they hear about us?

• Do you have a third-party reference from a satisfied customer in their industry or area?

• What is the total annual potential for your products at this account?

• Are your sales materials and copies of quotations and literature in pristine condition, well-organized and easily retrievable for this call?

• Can you talk knowledgeably about your principal’s products, policies and services especially as it applies to this particular prospect and situation?

• Are you communicating effectively with all colleagues and other support services of your own and your principal who can help you with your sales efforts?

If you can answer yes to the above questions, then go ahead and schedule the joint trip. If not, you may want to cancel the trip until you get better organized and use your principal’s time to better effect.

The sales process is mainly about two things:

1) Good territory management to enable you to spend maximum face-to-face quality selling time with qualified buyers.

2) What you say and do when you are in front of said prospect.

Most of the above should be obvious and second nature to true professionals. Yet in more than 30 years of sales and sales management I am still frequently surprised by lack of planning and organization by reps and principals alike when contemplating these joint visits.

We are not professional visitors, nor should we be doing howdy calls with our principals. We are there to solve prospects’ problems and turn them into life-long customers through our joint efforts to market our excellent products and services.

As with most things in life, mutual respect and good planning are the foundation of good relations between rep and principal. As business professionals we should leverage these joint calls to maximum advantage in the pursuit of our common goals.

End of article

Robert Jamieson is the owner/president of Robert Jamieson & Associates, Toronto Ontario. He has been in the industry 35 years, 20 years as manufacturers’ representative. He was educated in mechanical engineering at Staffordshire University in the United Kingdom and apprenticed in aerospace industry as a tool maker and design draughtsman on special ceramic components for production of turbo fan blades in Rolls Royce aero engines. He has several years of experience in capital equipment and tooling sales and process design for automotive and aerospace industries in Canadian and United States markets. Website: www.forwardprecision.ca.