The following is reprinted with permission from the Winter 2014 issue of The Representor magazine, published by the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA).

Now it’s our principals’ turn! In my column in the last (fall) issue of The Representor, we asked reps to complete this sentence: “I really love it when principals….” The responses were widely varied and thought-provoking, so I hope they were valuable to our principals (and to reps).

For this column, we asked a group of manufacturing executives to fill in this blank: “I really love it when reps….” Just as we did with the reps, we urged the manufacturers to think beyond the almost-automatic answers, such as “exceeds quotas” or “brings in a huge new order.” And just as we found with the reps’ replies, there were many different priorities expressed or implied. My thanks to the manufacturers — here’s what they had to say.

One principal outlined what may be a profile of the ideal rep. He said, “I really love it when a rep — through his or her follow-up, timeliness of communication, level of involvement, attention to detail and desire to win — makes me forget that I am working with an independent sales professional representing multiple companies and not a direct employee representing only mine.”

Another respondent had seven specific points in his answer. He noted, “I really love it when reps: uncover a new opportunity at an existing account; get total information on an opportunity; provide feedback on a quote or proposal (without five phone calls); identify the competitors who are going after an opportunity; maintain customer relationships; know applications; and understand what we want (which is not always easy because we are not sure).”

Several additional responses were brief but very specific. Said one manufacturer, “I really love it when reps prepare major accounts’ sales plans to grow our sales to them, discuss [the plans] with me [and] then act on the plans.”

Another replied that he loves it when reps “send me unsolicited updates with firm action items.” And yet another loves it “when reps share their success stories, not only with principals but also with fellow reps who can benefit from the new application or the new market opportunity.”

In a similar vein, one respondent said, “I love it when reps share best practices from other principals, rep friends and customers.” And then he added, “Our rep council has been invaluable — we’ve received very good advice at minimal cost.”

Still another principal loves it when “reps are able to effectively communicate the features and benefits of my company’s products to their customers, specifiers, etc. I also love it when reps provide timely quote follow-up, field intelligence on competitive products and manufacturers, project updates, both near term and planned, as well as their assessment of the territory activity [and how it is trending] across all lines.”

Reps who run their firms “like a real business — not just a few people with phones” — are highly valued by a principal who said, “Many of the best I deal with have invested in training programs and events, such as CPMR and CSP as well as the ERA conference. They also bring a sizeable contingent to EDS and our national sales meetings.”

Finally, one reply that stood out was this: “I really love it when reps create so much value that our customers (and my staff) tell me they can’t imagine success without the reps.”

Since we reps are constantly looking for new ways to bring value to the marketplace, don’t we all wish our principals could say this about us? Of course! But what I found most enlightening from this principal is what he went on to say:

“I can count on one hand the number of reps who are viewed in this light today by our customers and staff. What I find troubling about this small number is that rep owners seldom take steps to develop other members of their firms…For firms [that] compensate…on strictly a commission basis, I suppose I understand development is expected to be self-driven by earnings. (One of Zig Ziglar’s quotes I like to butcher goes, ‘Sales is the highest paying hard work and also the lowest paying easy work.’)

“But for firms [that] compensate…on any salary basis, I cannot understand why rep owners appear to not make staff development a critical part of their business. I would argue that manufacturers would see the entire rep industry elevated by experienced rep owners actively developing their firm members.”

Fellow reps: There’s a vital message here. We should all be examining our commitment to the continuing education of our personnel. ERA offers many resources we can tap almost any time. So let’s be sure we are doing whatever we can to help our salespeople to keep growing. That’s how all of us can best serve our principals.