Knowledgeable manufacturers will attest to the fact that there’s no shortcut when it comes to finding the right rep for their product line and managing that relationship for peak sales results. But manufacturers striving to complete that task in the most efficient manner will welcome the guidance they’ll receive in MANA’s Manufacturer Seminar.

© Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com

The day-and-a-half seminar will be conducted in Chicago by industry veterans Hank Bergson and Kris Hefley.

•   With more than a 40-year career in the electrical industry as both a manufacturer and the CEO of the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA), Bergson currently works as a consultant helping manufacturers enter the marketplace using independent manufacturers’ representatives. He also provides expert witness testimony on rep matters and speaks about the value provided by going to market with reps. He was one of the founders of the Manufacturers’ Representatives Educational Research Foundation (MRERF) and in 2008 was honored by that organization for his contributions.

•   Kris Hefley has more than 25 years of consulting experience working with manufacturers’ reps and manufacturers that work with reps to go to market. He has worked with and conducted seminars for NEMRA, Electronics Representatives Association (ERA), Manufacturers’ Agents Association for the Food Service Industry (MAFSI), Power-Motion Technology Representatives Association (PTRA) and MRERF. He also is an associate professor of marketing at Johnson & Wales University, Denver, Colorado, where he specializes in B2B marketing and sales management.

According to Bergson, “It’s important for manufacturers who are making the move to an outsourced sales force to be able to change their mindset about how to go to market. It’s no longer a top-down money-driven approach to sales and marketing. It’s now a partnership with an independent sales force that serves as their eyes and ears in the territory. This is part of what we’ll focus on in the MANA seminar.”

Aimed at All Manufacturers

Hefley adds: “This seminar is the ideal opportunity for all manufacturers to learn about working with reps. In the past, a seminar such as this might have been more beneficial for manufacturers new to reps. Now, however, the information contained in it will be especially beneficial to all manufacturers — and their sales managers — whether they’re just beginning with an outsourced sales staff or have a few years under their belts. There’s no better way to learn how to maximize their relationships with reps.”

Bergson continues that a typical scenario for a manufacturer that has decided to outsource field sales by teaming with reps is one that “has created many benefits such as cost savings and local market access. However, the question remains, will this partnership maximize the benefits for your company and your reps?” He adds that the “MANA seminar will assist the manufacturer by developing a better understanding of their field sales force, how it functions and provide techniques for better management of that sales force. The end result is that your sales team will become much more efficient and productive.”

Specifically, the day-and-a-half seminar, which is scheduled for October 18 at the American Management Association Executive Conference Center, 8655 West Higgins Road, Chicago, Illinois, will offer manufacturers:

• Solid sales and marketing tactics to use with reps.
• Tips for leveraging synergistic products.
• Time-tested techniques for selecting, recruiting and hiring the right rep for your organization.
• Explanations of partnerships and expectations.
• Information on how to motivate reps.
• Tips for implementing effective communications with reps.
• Directions for planning, pioneering and achieving top performance.
• Directions to avoid multiple-line conflicts.

Hefley explains that the seminar is ideal for all manufacturers seeking to achieve a better understanding of reps. “Those that ought to attend include manufacturers desiring quick access to new markets via reps and those needing to restructure their rep sales force. But that’s not all. Important information also will be of value to small manufacturing businesses that are just starting a rep sales force, manufacturers moving from a direct sales force to a rep sales force and especially foreign manufacturers that are interested in developing a North American sales force.”

Both men admit that there’s a great deal manufacturers ought to know about reps before entering into a business relationship — and it’s the seminar’s job to provide that information.

Finding the “Right” Rep

“For instance,” notes Bergson, “too many manufacturers make the assumption that all they have to do to make an impact in the territory is to sign on with the top rep firm in the territory. That’s hardly the case. What they’ve really got to do is to sign on with the ‘right’ rep for them. That way they’ll both be on the same page and be working in the same direction. That’s one of the things we’ll cover in the seminar.”

Hefley adds that another misconception some manufacturers have when it comes to working with reps is the issue of controlling the rep and getting all of the reps’ time. “Manufacturers don’t control their reps. Reps are independent businesses and that’s something that must be understood. Keep in mind that a typical rep carries a number of synergistic lines. It’s that synergism that’s especially effective when it comes to selling a given manufacturer’s products.”

Other important considerations that manufacturers must be made aware of include:

• Reps work on a commission-only basis — they get paid when they sell.
• Reps don’t look to get promoted out of their territories — they’re there for the long haul.
• Reps provide manufacturers with “feet on the street” and an immediate presence and impact in the territory.
• Reps already have a reputation or an established “brand” in the territory — something that would take a manufacturer years to establish on his own.

Commenting on the upcoming seminar, Charley Cohon, MANA’s President and CEO, notes, “Sure the rep himself carries much of the responsibility to educate their prospective and new principals on the value of going to market with reps. But in the real world reps are busy working with existing principals and serving their customers. As a result, there’s not always the time necessary to educate principals. That’s why it’s incumbent upon MANA to provide the necessary education in this seminar format.

“MANA’s job here is to build a firm foundation for the rep-principal relationship. Once established, this foundation will serve as the basis for long-standing and profitable relationships that benefit the rep, the principal and their mutual customers.”

For more detailed information concerning the October 2012 Manufacturers’ Seminar in Chicago, contact MANA Headquarters or visit the association’s website (www.MANAonline.org.)