Comparing and contrasting the beginnings of a career as an independent manufacturers’ representative with the experiences of an established agent illustrate the fact that while challenges are plenty for both, opportunities remain abundant. To conduct that comparison let’s consider the respective careers of Rachel Hack and Rosanne Brunello.

Taking Hack first: A little over a year ago, Rachel Hack, followed up her graduation from the University of Wisconsin (Whitewater) with a move to the East Coast where she had accepted a position in technical sales with Matrix Technology, Inc. According to Hack, her entrance into a sales career was the first step in a lifetime plan to carve out a future as a businesswoman.

“My grandfather and father are both very successful in their sales careers and their hard work has been very inspirational. As a result, when the opportunity to accept a job with a manufacturers’ representative firm arose, I gladly accepted — even though it was 1,000 miles away from everything that I called home.”

On January 1 of last year she left Wisconsin with all of her personal possessions loaded into the back of her car for a 14-hour drive to the East Coast.

Hack notes that she’s very thankful for the opportunity to begin a sales career right out of college. “While I believe that a higher education is very beneficial, I’ve learned over the past several months that a sales career is a lot more than what you have learned in a university. My grandfather has told me many times that your sales reputation starts immediately. Right away you’re faced with the questions: Are you going to be dependable? Are you going to be honest? Are you going to work hard? I learned early on that building relationships and earning respect start from day one. That part of sales has been fun for me. I enjoy meeting people and gaining new acquaintances.”

The Importance of Organizing

Overall, Hack emphasizes that the East Coast has been a great place to work and live. “I quickly learned, however, that I needed to schedule extra commuting time into my daily agenda. Traffic is a lot more hectic on the East Coast than it is in Wisconsin! So, along with making sure I had extra driving time came the key practice of organizing activities. One of my mentors, Greg Pellot, a sales representative for MANA-member Hile Associates, has mastered organization. He’s helped me significantly when it comes to using online calendars and reminders. I always thought I was a fairly organized person, but when you are working with many different customers, you need to be very organized. This is something I will always be improving upon, especially with technology ever changing and new tools being available to us. I am appreciative for having the technology that we currently have — everything from computers, GPS, and cell phones. In comparison my grandfather told me how sales was for him at my age (Wow, what a difference!). In addition, I use a lot of online lead generators such as Hoovers and Salesforce, but I’ve quickly learned that you can’t just rely on sending out e-mails. Cold calling has been very effective for me.”

Epic Resins is one of the companies that Hack represents. Epic formulates epoxies and polyurethanes. She explains, “My favorite part of representing this manufacturer is that they serve many different industries. In just one day of sales calls, I can be calling on an electronics manufacturer, a filter manufacturer, or a brush manufacturer, and this is only naming a few of the markets that Epic serves. Every day of work is different and it keeps the job very exciting. With that being said, selling epoxies and polyurethanes is not something that happens overnight. As a result, I have been learning the virtue of patience. This is a very technical line of sales, and some projects can take months, or years to complete. I am fortunate to have many mentors who work in this line of sales who have been coaching and cheering me along the way. I hope to give the same encouragement to other young professionals in the future.”

As she considers her still-new sales career, Hack points out that the most unexpected part of sales is something that her brother Matt, who is also in sales, calls the “highs and lows.” “I remember the feeling I got when I received my first purchase order or the feeling of helping customers find a material that will ultimately improve their product — they are wonderful feelings! Then you have days where things are moving slowly, or you are feeling impatient. These are the lows of sales. I’ve learned that it’s critical to stay positive and to be politely persistent.”

She adds, “I have been asked several times if it has been a challenge to be a female in a profession that is largely male. My answer right away is ‘No.’ This might be because I grew up with two brothers, but I feel very comfortable working in a male-dominated profession. I believe that if you walk into a sales call with confidence, which comes from properly preparing for the meeting, whether it be educating yourself on the company you are calling on, or knowing the technical language, it does not matter if you are a male or female. I believe that I have been given a fair chance so far in my career.

“I am enthusiastic to continue learning whether it be in acquiring new product lines, keeping up with technology, or prospecting customers. My father has told me since I was little that if you have a career that you love, you will never work a day in your life. This has proven to be true thus far and I am eager to see what my future in sales holds.”

Making the Move East

Now for the restart — consider the experiences of Rosanne Brunello who has appeared in the pages of Agency Sales in the past. When she last appeared in Agency Sales, Brunello was headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. She has since relocated her agency, Mountain Rep (www.mtnrep.com), to Ohio.

According to Brunello, “Mountain Rep began representing a few subcontract manufacturers in Denver, Colorado, in late 1983. In 1986 we opened a second office in Phoenix, Arizona. It wasn’t until 2013 that I moved Mountain Rep and my children to Cleveland, Ohio. As soon as I relocated to the Midwest I registered my company and hit the streets. That is when I was approached by a prominent subcontract manufacturer of 350 employees, who made me an offer I couldn’t say no to. For 50 days I was directly employed and hated it. Being self-employed has a lot of benefits and a lot of hurdles. Raising two school-aged girls is a handful and I’m just not going to miss their band concerts, so my short stint in being a direct employee was just that — short-lived. Long story short, I’ve been doing this repping thing for about 31 years, less 50 days.”

As to why she moved the agency from sunny Arizona to industrial Ohio, Brunello explains, “I always said I was going to ‘move home’ when my oldest daughter finished high school. I did just that. Cleveland, Ohio is my home.”

Principals Don’t Follow

One miscalculation she made along the way, however, was in believing her principals would follow her to Cleveland. “I thought I could move my office anywhere so long as I could keep my principals happy. Ohio is very well-known as a manufacturing state and aerospace spending just happens to be within the top few industries in the country. I figured the move would be seamless and life would continue as I had known it for the past few decades — making a six-figure income working for myself.

“Within two months all five principals I had under contract dropped me. I’m the one who offered them an out (of our contract). I never thought they would take me up on it. I had represented one of them for 30 years. I figured the move was my idea and if they did not want to go along with it, so be it, I wasn’t going to hold them to my contract and I wasn’t going to move back to Arizona — not for a while anyhow.”

She continues that “having made the move, comparing Ohio to Arizona is like night and day for a sales representative. Ohio companies are old. The buildings are old. People have worked their jobs for years and aren’t going to change. I have found that sales is an internal thing. Direct sales seems to be more popular than using reps. (I have noticed the job shops that do use reps are primarily MANA members.)

“Arizona, on the other hand is new. The buildings are new, the floors are freshly painted. The quality certifications are in place where the Ohio companies seem to be ‘grandfather claused’ in. AS9100, an aerospace standard for manufacturing components and assemblies, is held by only a few. In Arizona most are certified or pending certification and need to be, for the Honeywells and Boeings will not consider you to be a supplier if you are not. In Ohio most shops are industrial and automotive, and don’t think they need these newly required certifications. That might be permissible for a while but competition is so strong in the United States these days that anything you can do to dodge being put off will help position yourselves for the boom in American manufacturing — which I think is right around the corner.”

Locating New Lines

Since her five principals opted out of their contracts with Mountain Rep, Brunello obviously has been tasked with finding new lines. She explains: “My experience getting new lines has been harder than when I first began selling the service of machine shops back in 1983. The main reason for the decrease is my terms have changed and companies’ budgets have tightened. I personally will not represent a company for a flat five percent commission. For every time I mention a supplier’s name to a potential customer, I am increasing the company’s chance for obtaining new business. We all know it takes a year to establish yourself with a new line. Why should the sales rep not be compensated for such efforts? I do; or I won’t. We as sales reps are a true value to these small to medium-size shops. Many of them cannot afford a direct salesperson so contracting with a rep firm seems to be a less expensive way to go. Reps, on the other hand, are not making the kind of money they once did. In the old days, a contract could run for years, today is a different story. Global pricing has substantially decreased parts’ prices which directly affects the commission paid to the rep — if they get paid at all. I believe the rep should be compensated for the hunt. Pioneering costs money with no guarantees. I wish more sales reps would start charging some type of monthly retainer. Attorneys do, why won’t we? The retainer makes the relationship dual-sided. I have found when the principal makes an investment in the rep they are less likely to cancel the contract. When a principal believes in you to the point they will pay some money to compensate for your efforts and expenses, I find you do a much better job representing them.”

Hand in hand with signing new principals is the need for Brunello to establish a foothold in her new territory. When asked about that she explains, “My experience in getting a foothold in a new territory lends itself to two things and both have to do with relationships. I am asking my current customers for referrals and I am asking for other reps to help me out. Sub-reps are great when trying to generate new business for current principals. I offer a great compensation package when working with sub-reps. Most of the commission (80 percent) and some expenses when justified is my offer to any of my MANA colleagues if you place work with one of my principals. Sheet metal fabrication, wire forming, screw machining, five-axis milling and multi-axis turning is kind of our thing.”

Finally, just as Hack, Brunello described what it’s like to be a woman in a male–dominated profession and her challenges as she begins a sales career, She notes that even with her veteran rep status there are any number of challenges that she must meet.

Brunello adds, “Since business transactions are made between the customer and the supplier, my woman-owned agency status does not really gain special consideration. The reason I said ‘not really’ is because my being a woman does cause some interest in a male-dominated industry.”

When it comes to some of the challenges that accompany re-starting her agency, Brunello says, “The challenges my rep firm has faced in the last year and a half, trying to restart in a new location, with new suppliers, have been many. Reps are not looked so favorably upon. Being a veteran in this industry, I didn’t think it would apply to me. In the West I was pretty well known, my footprint was rather large. I was welcomed into places that today I’m having a hard time getting into. The companies I represented were certified to the most recent certifications and here in the Midwest the companies I am representing do not have the certifications necessary to sell to my former customers. I’ve also noticed that if you are not ‘referred’ by someone, you will not get the consideration you need to capture the interest of a new potential customer. Being that I am new to selling in this market, my referrals are slim. Social media seems to help and the MANA website and LinkedIn are my two favorite places to post.” She adds, “If it wasn’t for MANA, I’m just not sure I would be doing this anymore. It is the association and Agency Sales that provide stability to us as reps in an industry that is so tight on the dollar.”

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