© Dennis Owusu-ansah | Dreamstime.com

While the following article arrived too late for inclusion in the December issue, its message is one that has somewhat of a timeless value.

A long-time national sales manager called our office recently and asked for a sales forecast for the upcoming year. After some careful thought, I almost wanted to call back and ask the same sales manager what his company was going to do for our office to help us increase sales in the New Year. Isn’t it a two-way street anyway?

As a multi-product (more than one principal) representative, we must always be careful not to show preference for one line at the cost of another. However, the raw truth is that every rep office has a total number of “sales hours,” and their principals are actually competing with one another for that rep office’s sales hours! If you accept this premise, then the major competition in a territory for the principal might be the other lines the rep office carries and not the traditional thought that the competition is other manufacturers of the same type of products being sold into that territory.

Before we allow this to become a major point of contention in this article, let’s go back to the sales manager’s questions and look at what a sales manager can do to garner more of their reps’ time and sales.

I believe that “Bissmeyer’s Principle” applies here. Bissmeyer’s Principle simply states that the multi-product manufacturers’ representative’s office will migrate to the lines that are most profitable vs. the cost of sales. If the sales manager can assist the rep to sell his product and thereby make it easier to sell than other lines the rep has, the result will be that the rep will increase their effort and sales volume.

What are the things that a sales manager could offer to assist his reps? If the sales manager can’t make a list of what the rep offices need, then the sales manager is more of a “sales counter.” Sales “managers” increase rep office sales. Sales “counters” can give you great statistics to justify why sales are sluggish!

Let’s look at a “New Year’s Gift List” that every rep would like to receive from their sales managers:

1. A simple “Rep Evaluation Form” that includes more than just annual sales volumes. The evaluation should include the ingredients that the sales manager feels will help market his products such as trade shows, lunch-and-learns, customer demonstrations, etc. If a rep knows how his agency is being evaluated, chances are he will apply energy towards those measured areas. If the areas on the sales manager’s evaluation are truly viable in building sales, then the sales rep could not ask for more!

2. Sample “Touch Campaign” pieces: Every principal has key “sales points” that help differentiate his products from the competitors’. The principal should develop a simple touch campaign of 4-5 single-page sheets that can be easily e-mailed by the rep to their customer base. Many reps can send out the same type of Touch Campaign sheets into their territories at the same time.

3. Trade show displays: Every principal should have a simple, up-to-date trade show (or table top) type display that the reps could use for a local industry trade show. If the principal makes it easier, his reps will be more likely to display and take part in the local trade shows. The principal may also consider offering to pay for 50 percent of the cost of the trade shows. It is money well spent if the rep is working local trade shows promoting your products!

4. Monthly “Voice-inars”: We believe that through existing technologies and at a minimal cost, a principal can have a 30-minute voice conference call when they ask the reps to attend. Once they get the rep‘s attention, they should provide a “Top Shelf” product that is on time, well-organized, and delivered professionally. We would suggest that the principal takes their top 5-7 rep offices and have a monthly telephone conference call where the sales manager interviews one of the top rep offices on how they go to market, how they find leads, what markets they are selling into, etc. The other reps always listen when a good rep is sharing trade and sales secrets. One trick is to start on time and finish on time so that the reps listening will be able to plan around a Monday or Friday morning session. There can be no “technical difficulties,” so do several practice runs to make sure your final presentation to the reps goes smoothly!

5. Monthly “Case Studies”: The typical case study has been a rep tool for 1000 years, but we seem to forget this sales tool as time passes. The principal should offer a $500 award for the best “Case Study” presented by their rep firms each month, and then the principal should publish it or make it available to all the reps.

None of these ideas are new and none are truly unique. Most sales managers to whom this article may be forwarded could write this article off as being too sophomoric, but before you do so, can you say that your rep sales are high enough or that you have good sales input from all your rep offices?

Consider asking your reps what tools they would like. Serve your reps as if they were your top customers. They are!

Editor’s Note: For examples of Rep Evaluation Forms, Touch Campaign E-mails, Effective Case Studies, Monthly Sales Conference Call Scripts, etc., simply e-mail the author at [email protected] or 800-357-6845.