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While he’s unabashedly an Apple advocate, Rick Ramsowr urges his fellow reps to follow a slow, steady, well-studied course as they navigate their way through the high-tech tools they’ll need to properly serve their principals and customers — not to mention themselves. Ramsowr, who heads Genesis Fusion Marketing, Houston, Texas, advises reps to “Take it slow. Make sure you conduct your research up front. Do that as you consider what your needs are and weigh what you hope to accomplish. Finally, spend time with the suppliers of these tech tools to see to it that your needs can be met now and in the future.”

That’s the course he’s followed in establishing Genesis Fusion, a full-service independent manufacturers’ representative agency. Ramsowr explains that he arrived as a rep after spending 35 years in the corporate world. “I sold high-end security systems until I retired. Wanting to get back into the world of selling, I decided upon opening a small rep firm. Right now it’s just me, myself and I focusing on homeland and urban security and basically solving problems related to those areas.”

Emphasis on Security

The markets and businesses that Genesis Fusion serves couldn’t be any timelier. A look at the agency website (www.genesis-fusion.biz) points to aviation and airports; correctional facilities; maritime facilities and ports; public transportation; venues and organized events as areas the agency works with. And, speaking of the latter and timeliness, at the time Ramsowr was interviewed by Agency Sales, the City of Boston was in the midst of its high-tech aided search for the two men who were ultimately identified as the Boston Marathon bombers. Ramsowr notes that he, just as everyone else in the country, was glued to his television as the search continued. “It monopolized my weekend,” he explains, but he was confident that technology and the use of many of the security products he was familiar with would ultimately help apprehend the perpetrators. “Since I’m familiar with security cameras, I’d love to know the brands that were in use around the marathon site.”

His and the agency’s expertise encompasses critical infrastructure, urban security, electronic security and physical security solutions.

Visitors will quickly learn that one of the leading tech tools Ramsowr uses to get his marketing message across to principals and customers is the agency website. It’s there that visitors will learn that the agency is dedicated to “providing superior products and services that create high value for our clients and a substantial growth environment for the companies we represent.” The agency offers a complete suite of services including consultation, spec writing and expertise in code compliance for architects and engineers, distributors, contractors and end users.

Any question about where Ramsowr’s tech-tool product loyalty resides are quickly put to rest when his comments that appeared in MANA’s LinkedIn discussion group are read. When another rep asked his peers whether they were using a tablet or iPad and what were the benefits of one over the other, Ramsowr was quick to respond that “Apple has a great site designed just for business users and would-be users, and in that section is a sub-section on iPad and business. So check it out at www.apple.com/ipad/business.”

He continued that “I for one, use a MacMini with OS X Mountain Lion to run my small business with a Mac Mimi server using OS X Mountain Lion Server and just ordered an iPad to go with my iPhone 5. Bottom line — this makes work a whole lot easier.”

Those words certainly position him firmly in the Apple camp. When he was asked to expound a bit on how exactly he uses technology to his advantage, Ramsowr explains, “The tools we’re talking about here are basically used for communication. The number-one tool I start with is the agency website. Principals and customers can refer to it and learn immediately what my agency does.”

Friendly Tools

He continues that “In order to communicate well with my principals and customers, I’ve always picked products that act friendly. For me, once again that means Apple and I start with a Mac. As secondary accessories, I have an iPad and iPhone.” He continues, “I basically run my agency off the Apple mini-computer. The model I use is more potent and less expensive than the iMAC.”

He notes that the iPad is “Ideal when making sales calls. I hook up to the web and can immediately have any number of presentations available.”

If he’s enthusiastic about the various tools that allow him to do his job better, he’s not quite there yet with social media. “While I occasionally comment on the MANA LinkedIn website, I’m not so sure about the rest of it. I’ve got room for a blog on my website but it’s only got a 50-50 chance of surviving.”

It’s not just the Apple hardware that Ramsowr maintains is beneficial for reps — it’s the company’s support and training. “You can actually go to the Apple store on a given day that is devoted to business people like myself. You let them know what your business is, what your needs are, and they will cater a presentation to meet your needs. I’ve even found that if someone in the store can’t address your needs, there’s somewhere deep in the bowels of the Apple website where you can find a consultant available to help.”

It’s these tools that allow Ramsowr to efficiently and productively cover the territory (Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana), even as a one-man operation — and he maintains that operating as a one-man agency has hardly been a disadvantage for him. “One of the key benefits I can offer manufacturers is that I never bury a line. They can go to a much larger agency and not receive nearly the attention they will have from me. I maintain that each of the 10 lines I represent get equal time in front of prospects and customers.”

While Ramsowr obviously has the high-tech communication tools in place that work well for him, he adds that he complements them by employing a philosophy that keeps the communication doors wide open between himself and his principals. “I maintain that the more a principal communicates with me, the more I’m going to communicate with him. Once they let me know they’re interested in me and the territory, anytime something important is going on, I’ll be sure to let them know about it.” Then, the actual process of communicating is easy. “Just like other reps I rely on the telephone, e-mail, joint sales calls and factory visits.”