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Communication is the major topic in this issue of Agency Sales. Discussion of that subject encouraged one manufacturer to offer: “There’s never any end to my frustration when I learn one or two of my agencies are struggling for any variety of reasons. It takes a lot of time and effort to get agencies to replace them. As a result, we always prefer to learn about problems as early as possible in the process. We like that because that way we can usually fix problems. Honestly, I wish more of my reps would call me regularly and update me on their own instead of me having to chase them down for information that can affect our long-term relationship!”

Two reps who were engaged in conversation with this manufacturer concurred when they said:

“A large part of my time and effort every month is spent on speaking with our principals. By staying in touch we know where we stand and don’t have to rely on reports and quotas.”

“I have a few lines about which I communicate with my principals on a weekly or bi-weekly basis via phone or e-mail. Granted, it’s an informal approach, but by these means we address issues, projects and major accounts. This only takes me about five minutes a week and I don’t have to fill out any call reports. Believe me, it’s time well spent.”

Parting on the Best of Terms

“I can’t say I was overly happy recently when one of our reps told us they had to resign the line,” begins one manufacturer. “What happened was that one of their other lines had been acquired by another company that was our competitor. For a variety of reasons the rep felt they should stick with the other company. What happened next, however, proved to me how valuable this rep was. Instead of us just parting ways and moving on, they went out of their way to find us another excellent rep, despite the fact they would be facing this rep in a competitive arena in the territory. As a result of them going the extra mile, I can’t say enough positive about them. This just reaffirms my philosophy of teaming up with real pros (reps) and establishing good, solid relationships with them. I really hope I can work with them again in the future.”

Reps — Just Right For the Single-Product Manufacturer

Several manufacturers offer their thoughts on working with reps and the importance of communications in this issue of Agency Sales. One manufacturer that we spoke with was fairly new to taking their products to market via an outsourced sales force. This relatively small, single-product manufacturer had a fairly well-thought-out rationale for working with reps: “We’re a relatively new (10-year-old) company and already we’ve been able to grow at about a 5–6 percent rate annually. Now, however, we’re looking to move to the national stage and our thinking was that it would be cost prohibitive to accomplish that with a direct sales force. How would we ever be able to devote the funds necessary to provide in-the-field support to a network of full-time salespeople? On top of that, my experience has shown me if I was able to get at least 5–10 minutes of a purchasing agent’s time, I’d be lucky. We need more than that to make a dent in the market.

“With that thinking as our starting point, we contacted three independent rep firms to explore what they could do for us. Right out of the box these firms provided us with the market intelligence and relationships with buyers and potential buyers that we know would take months for us to develop on our own.”

He continues, “We knew ahead of time that a direct salesperson would only get minimal time with purchasing decision makers. From day one, the reps we were working with reported to us that they were gaining plenty of face time — certainly enough to fully present our product — to customers and prospects. I have to assume that their ability to garner as much time as they do is owing to the fact that they represent several lines and because of their contacts they have plenty of opportunities to meet customers’ needs.”

The manufacturer admits that it’s still a bit too early for him to claim unlimited success with his reps, but at the same time, “Just based on the number of questions we’re fielding on our reps’ behalf, we’re certainly getting a lot more exposure than we would have with any other means of going to market.”

Why Synergistic Selling Works

Piggybacking on the previous item where the manufacturer emphasized how reps were getting more of customers’ time than a direct salesperson would, there was a brief discussion in the MANA LinkedIn discussion group that made an excellent complementary point on the subject of the value of synergistic selling. The discussion began with the following question: “How do you get 20 percent of a manufacturers’ rep’s time even though you are only 10 percent of their income?”

A rep offered an answer should ring true for many manufacturers:

“Some of our lines are catalysts for creating business for our other lines. They get a disproportionate share of our time when we are in an early selling phase or a marketing mode. Some products are not only good lines, but they are also fun, and when the principal is also rep-friendly, we naturally give their products extra time and attention. But the overall objective is to make money, and the best way to do that is to give priority to the product lines that create the best sales opportunities. More than anything else, when an order is on the line, the product we can sell today gets all the attention. The lines that make the most commissions, or that have the best potential for future commissions, get the highest priority.”

The Rep as Athlete

As he was complimenting reps as the way to go to market, one manufacturer recently made an interesting comparison between reps and professional athletes. He said: “Independent manufacturers’ reps are the way to go. Sales cost is based on performance. No sales, no cost. Direct salespeople are based on expected sales. No sales still have sales cost. The best analogy is baseball, football, and basketball players are paid to be on the team in hopes that they perform (like direct salespeople). Professional golfers are not paid until after they perform (the same as independent manufacturers’ reps).”

The View From the Field

A vice president of sales was bemoaning the annual task of having to perform appraisals of his staff, including his inside staff that works primarily with reps. He took particular interest when one of his non-competitive fellow manufacturers offered the following: “When I have to evaluate my staff I always make it a point to get input from all of my reps. I make sure to ask them all the same questions about each of my people who have direct contact with reps. Then I use this information to encourage improvement in certain areas that might be less than desirable. I also put it into the file to use when justifying rewards such as promotions for those who are doing outstanding work. My goal is to find out what’s working best and to see that all of my people perform outstanding work with reps.

“When I first started this program a couple of years ago, my staff was a bit wary of it. They feared the worst. They quickly realized, however, that the goal was simply to build the team — not tear it down. Now, they actually look forward to the input we receive from reps. As a part of our overall compensation program, all of our marketing people get bonuses based on the total productivity of all the people. Also, they have a vested interest in the process and really work well as a team.”

How Much is Enough?

When a manufacturer started getting complaints from reps about the volume of material they were receiving, he was a bit confused. “All I read about in Agency Sales is how much reps appreciate being kept informed by their manufacturers. I didn’t know if this was something all of them felt or just relatively few.”

To remedy the situation, or at least to come to some sort of a conclusion, the manufacturer explained, “What I did was to stop calling and sending as much material as I usually did. That way I figured I could determine if this was just a vocal minority that would complain about everything I did no matter what — or if I really had a problem. Thankfully, or at least I think I’m thankful, I got an even larger number of complaints from people who maintained they wanted and needed what I was sending them.

“I then went back to the original complainers and asked them how they wanted me to communicate with them. As a result, I think I’ve made the greatest number of people happy while still keeping the pipeline of information full.”