One of the themes in this month’s Agency Sales is principal territory visits to the rep. It is important that representatives are visited by the principal from time to time in order to conduct sales meetings, product training, or just to meet with new employees who have joined the agency. Look at these visits as a positive experience, a learning experience and a way to maintain and strengthen relationships with principals.

A principal’s visit to the territory can be one of the most important events in the selling process. However, in today’s challenging economy principals and reps report such visits are less frequent as the result of pressure on time and expenses. Everyone today is wearing more than one hat — forcing reps and principals to do more with less.  Keep in mind that it’s important to maintain these relationships, however, and selling together during a territory visit is an excellent way to do this. To do this productively there has to be some planning before a visit occurs.

An itinerary that has well-defined goals and objectives by the principal and agency is mandatory for the success of such a visit. The itinerary should include:

• A daily schedule—have a back-up if the customer cancels at the last minute.
• A clear vision of the goals and objectives for each customer visit.
• Discuss strategies before the visit. This is a must do!
• Determine who is paying expenses. That includes meals, gas, hotel, extras.
• One of the most important things to do is to conduct a call review. The principal and representative should determine who is responsible for taking action after the call. Jointly make sure that follow-up responsibilities are clearly understood. To create a satisfied customer, the principal and his rep must work together as a team to make the selling process as efficient and effective as possible.

In-between calls, discuss any changes that might be on the horizon for the company and the agency. The principal’s goal should be to do things that will help reps work with them. By definition, the joint goal is to get an order. There will be no order, however, until the customer is satisfied.

For sales managers inexperienced with the rep way of going to market, there are plenty of resources available that will show them the way. There are guidelines out there for manufacturers. Consider what MANA and its sister associations have available in terms of advice, counsel and special reports.

Remember, if those sales aren’t developing for you, you might as well be spending your time on a nearby golf course.