© Anthony Furgison | Dreamstime.com

Admittedly, this isn’t a move that’s entirely new. Other manufacturers have taken this step in the past with various levels of success and a mixed bag of reactions from their reps. Speaking of a “mix bag of reactions,” here’s a bit of a sample of how some reps viewed what might be considered a trend. The reactions from reps might be predicable, yet might provide some “food for thought” before making an important marketing decision.• “No way! That is a cost of doing business to him. I would not represent this guy if that is his mentality. However, we always try to use PDFs, so we can send sales literature to customers electronically. That is the way most of our customers prefer to receive the literature.”

• “It’s Sales 101!!! Give us a reason to not sell your line, move it to the bottom of the heap, or drop it altogether!!!”

• “Wow! What’s the message this principal is trying to send? They can’t afford to provide their own literature? Are they looking to sell their product or service to customers or sell their literature to reps? This move should help stall and reduce their customer list for sure.”

• “This is ridiculous! This is a cost of conducting business. Watch out! The next thing you know this principal may find a reason to get rid of their sales reps! Penny wise and pound foolish! I would start looking for another company to represent!”

• “Charged for literature? What’s next, pay for the inside customer service department? The light bill at the factory? Reps generally receive a small portion of the net income from the sales of a product line. If the company can’t afford to produce literature, there is a problem with the pricing and accounting of the company. Do they think the reps are using this literature to wallpaper their office, or to burn in the furnace? Sales aids are for promoting the principal, not the rep agency. The cost of the aids should be the responsibility of the principal.”

• “I have found it increasingly hard to get literature/catalogs from principals. What do they expect you to do, sell from an empty trunk? If we are not provided with the proper tools to perform the job, the result will be easy to predict. Short-sighted companies trying to save a dollar will probably lose sales in the long run. The responsibility to provide the basic tools (e.g., catalogs and samples) is normally part of the contract. Failure to do so is really a breach of the contract in my opinion.”

• “While I am shocked to hear this is starting to happen, I have started to see some companies be a little more stingy with literature. We do have to constantly pressure some of our lines to get literature. Unfortunately, some manufacturers see the rep as the easiest way to make back revenue for the company. It is sad to see that they strangle their sales force to save a few pennies, which is extremely counterproductive to me.”

• Heading off this problem at the pass, another rep explains that “I have declined lines that wanted us to pay for samples or literature. As a multi-line rep, the expense would be astronomical! The following has been on our commission agreement for years: ‘Sales Tools and Materials: The manufacturer agrees to provide, at its own expense, sufficient samples, brochures, price lists, order forms, and other sales aids, including displays for the showroom. Providing all printed sales material is the sole responsibility of the manufacturer.’”

• More criticism of this trend came from a consultant who maintains, “This sounds like a brilliant decision reached by a marketing genius. Not! Of course, I’m being sarcastic here.

“This is the type of action implemented by an inexperienced, incompetent sales manager/executive. Yet, let’s realize that someone placed this individual in the position to be able to enact this short-sighted plan. And they probably applauded what they felt was a great idea. It represents the erroneous thinking that the rep is an outsider and not part of ‘the family.’ This is the action of a principal that does not understand or respect the ‘rep model.’

“Your rep agreements must contain a clause similar to this: ‘(Principal) agrees to make available to Representative an adequate supply of brochures, catalogs and other promotional materials for Representatives’ use in marketing the Products in the Territory.’”

The Cost of Creation

Another view was offered by a rep who notes, “The cost of literature is also relative to the customer base you service. If your company sells consumer-related products, as we do, the literature is often geared as sales aids for the consumer, and can be requested or demanded by our customers by the case. If you are only distributing a few pieces specifically to the ‘buyer,’ then the cost to produce the literature is much smaller and may be insignificant. PDF files may also work for this application. However, if you need to provide thousands of pieces of literature a year for retail hand-outs, customer mailings by our product distributors etc., it is a different story.”

He continues, “The other expense which can be involved is in the creation of the literature and sales aids. We routinely do this for manufacturers because we want to ensure we have the tools needed to be successful. However, if your company is also acting as the marketing department for the manufacturer, there should be compensation in the form of commission or fees. If not, I would not recommend making the products available to anyone outside of your company and customer base. We know of one manufacturer using materials we made more than 12 years ago, even after firing all their rep agencies 10 years ago.

“Also, returning to the subject of contracts and what’s covered in them: We are seeing a disturbing trend from a few manufacturers lately of breaking contracts. They are not as ‘ironclad’ as you think when the manufacturer knows you must go through considerable trouble and expense to enforce them. Realistically, the expense and distraction are most often not worth putting your company through to recover. Your contract is only as good as the net return you may gain after recovering a judgment (if possible) three years, legal fees and thousands of hours of your time later.”

Not the End of the World

What might be considered a voice of moderation was heard from another rep who states: “I do not think this is as bad as most seem to indicate and certainly not the end of the world by any means.

“First of all, what seems to be forgotten in this discussion is that the rep in question already agreed to pay for the literature in his signed agreement. We live and die by these agreements and strive to ensure that the principals do not stray from what was agreed. Agreements work both ways and it is to our demise should we forget that.

“Second, a PDF file generally has significant sales follow-up advantages over a brochure in terms of good reasons to touch a customer:

• It is free and customers generally prefer them.
• After a customer visit or phone call, I send a customer a short e-mail summarizing our discussion including the action item of sending a PDF version of the brochure.
• I send the PDF, with a short description of the significant points in the brochure to emphasize its importance and relevance and why it should be read.
• I follow up to ensure the PDF was received.

“I represent a mixture of principals (foreign and domestic) and all my domestic principals use PDFs, whereas the foreign ones generally provide both. In this latter case the foreign principals also have all their brochures in stands at trade shows for people to pick up and wander off with (giving brochures out at trade shows is such a lost follow-up opportunity). I go to great pains to have only examples of literature on display so that I have the follow-up opportunity.

“Thus, I do not think this is the Armageddon that some may insinuate. Among all the problems on a rep’s plate, I do not think this should be on the top of the list, or even on the list, since in this instance it was already agreed to.”

Not accepting that argument entirely was another rep who notes, “I believe that any issue that has the potential to cut into our already slim commission percentages has the opportunity to be the ‘Armageddon’ of a particular rep group. All costs factor in to what we can actually call our profits at the end of the day. Also, I don’t find giving out brochures to be a lost opportunity — we trade brochures for a business card and 50 percent of the time, our buyers need those brochures to go back to the hotel, write their orders, and return the next day to spend money. I guess it’s all in the way you use the tools provided.”

She concludes by noting, “I’ll never pay for samples or brochures and I’ll also never send my manufacturers my receipts every time the gas prices go up; nor do I send them my hotel bills, etc.