When asked, independent manufacturers’ representatives are quick to offer up a litany of the challenges facing them as they toil in their respective territories. The list includes everything from pressure on commissions, wrapping their arms around an ever-evolving and growing technology, how to gain face time with customers and how to attract good lines.

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While those appear to be a few of the constant concerns they find on their plates, two authors/consultants — Mike Weinberg and John Chapin — both of whom have articles elsewhere in this issue of Agency Sales, considered some of the broader challenges that they maintain reps have to overcome if they’re going to continue to be viable forces in the marketplace.

While there appears to be some positive movement in a few areas of the economy, try to convince a rep who’s still struggling to keep his head above water that things are getting better.

According to Weinberg, author of New Sales Simplified and founder and president of The New Sales Coach, “The macro economy affects independent reps as much or more than the employed sales force. Manufacturers’ reps have always been attractive because they generally bring deep and extensive relationships with the ‘right’ buyers and solid expertise in the categories they rep. And during strong economies those attributes are sufficient to maintain and grow top-line revenue for manufacturers.”

While that’s the good news for reps, he continues that there can be some bad news. “Unfortunately, during tough economic times, when demand from existing customers shrinks, neither relationships nor category expertise are enough to generate the desired level of sales. All of us in sales are forced to proactively pursue new pieces of business, and that presents a challenge for successful veteran reps who may be victims of their own success and better times when they didn’t have to go out and acquire new clients.”

Technology / Information Age

Most practitioners of and observers of the rep profession maintain that it’s always been critical for the rep to wrap his mind and arms around the growing technological tools that have impacted the job. According to Weinberg, “Seasoned reps must not only stay abreast of new technologies and new methods for finding and interacting with buyers, but they’re also faced with the harsh reality that they no longer can control the flow of information to their accounts. Not that long ago, the sales rep was an important source of information for the buyer; people in purchasing positions relied on a steady flow of information directly from reps. Today, that has changed. Buyers have more information at their disposal than they can digest and may no longer need manufacturers’ reps to keep them ‘in the know.’ This challenge forces reps to raise their game and continually demonstrate not only that they understand their customer’s business issues, but that they have the solutions to help customers achieve improved results in their business.”

He continues that in his opinion, “Information is no longer perceived as valuable. We in sales create value by bringing ideas to our accounts that can remove their pain, solve their problems or help them achieve results. We must become more than news reporters and ‘pitchmen.’ To grow business, customers must perceive us as professional problem-solvers and value-creators.”

Gaining Face-to-Face Time with Buyers

Because of or perhaps in spite of the technological advances the profession has seen, reps are finding it more difficult to get that valuable across-the-desk selling time with purchasing decision makers. Commenting on that point, Weinberg maintains, “Most buyers used to have plenty of time available to visit with manufacturers’ reps. Today, not so much. It is harder and harder to earn a spot on a potential customer’s calendar. And in order to successfully achieve that goal, we must become more proficient on the phone. Using the phone to prospect is a lost art today. Even seasoned reps seem to freak out when faced with the proposition of having to proactively call prospects with whom they have yet to conduct business.

“But the phone is still an incredibly effective method for contacting potential customers and setting up face-to-face sales calls. I encourage reps to erase the tapes in their minds about ‘cold calling.’ In fact, I won’t even refer to it as cold calling anymore because those words create such a bad feeling among many in sales today. Along with a proper mindset about calling, I also ask reps to work on a comfortable, casual voice tone and a succinct (ultra-brief), compelling, customer-centered and differentiating ‘sales story’ to use when phoning prospects. When our attitude is right and we love our brief, powerful story, we are much more willing to call prospects and much more effective when we do!”

Facing Mergers/Consolidations

In one final area that he comments on, Weinberg notes, “We constantly see mergers on both sides of the table — the manufacturer side and the customer side — and these consolidations lead us to a chilling conclusion: Less Manufacturers + Less Customers = Less Need for Manufacturers’ Reps. Ouch! The consequences are obvious. We are all more at risk through no fault of our own. That is simply the hand we’ve been dealt and it’s our choice how we respond. Here’s my response: Hunters are more valuable than farmers. Reps who demonstrate the desire and ability to acquire new customers are infinitely more valuable to a manufacturer in this environment than those whose greatest contributions are their long-tenured relationships with companies already buying from them. A proven hunter who consistently delivers new accounts will always, always be in high demand!”

Challenges Remain the Same

As he considered what he views are some of the more important challenges facing reps today, John Chapin, author of the Sales Encyclopedia, admits that “I had to laugh to myself.

“In my more than 24 years in sales, I was a rep for 10 years. As a result, I’m very familiar with all the aspects of the job. When we speak about challenges faced by reps, there really isn’t anything that’s all that new. At the same time, there isn’t a great deal we can do about many of the variable challenges facing us. For instance, the economy is what it is. Various things affect it and reps can’t do a great deal about it. The same can be said for technology or merger/consolidation activity among manufacturers and customers.”

Always Be Prepared

What the rep can and should do, however, he continues, is be prepared. “MANA has long espoused the need for reps to be sure that they are businessmen in sales. The rep must be totally prepared and professional in everything he does. That will allow him to be prepared for any eventuality. Be creative, be smart and be prepared so you can react and respond to whatever happens.”

An integral part of being prepared, he maintains, is to be a believer in the value of personal development. “To become a true professional in whatever field you practice, you’ve got to make the decision in favor of self improvement. No one is going to put a gun to your head and tell you to improve — that’s simply something you do on your own. It all comes down to whether you want to be among the elite in your profession or do you just want to be part of the cargo that gets thrown overboard when you encounter rough seas?”

If Chapin is right that many of the challenges rep face are really nothing new under the sun, does he foresee anything drastic facing the profession in the future? “No, not really. It’s funny how we all thought something like the Internet was going to so drastically change what we do and how we do it. That really hasn’t been the case — especially for reps — since the bottom line has remained the same. “If you are up to date with how you conduct business, if you’re aware of your strengths and weaknesses and know all there is to know about your principals and customers, you’re going to do just fine. It all comes down to the relationships that the rep has established and the value he brings to principals and customers.

“Look back and all the Internet did was change things for what I call the ‘skaters.’ Those are the ones who did the minimal amount of work and never really provided any value. When business was good, they thrived, but when things got tough, they didn’t do so well. You know who I’m talking about — the reps who go into a meeting unprepared. You hit them with a question and they’re lost. What the Internet did for the true value providers was to make their jobs a little easier. But you know what? Those are the reps who were going to survive and thrive whether the Internet came along or not.”

He concludes that for the rep to be able to meet any challenge, “It’s all about relationships and value. Remember, you are the one thing your competition doesn’t have. And, the more you put into your personal development as a professional, the better you’ll do.”