It wasn’t the first time — and probably won’t be the last — when a manufacturer asked the MANA community for feedback on a matter that concerned him.

According to the manufacturer in question, manufacturers are constantly on the lookout for “insight on what our reps are quoting and when they can expect to land orders.” He admitted that based on his and many of his peers’ experience, “reps like to keep their cards close to their vest.” The importance of having such information available to principals, he continued is that “From a manufacturing standpoint, it helps us better forecast our products and improves our purchasing powers.” Those facts, notwithstanding, “…reps still are hesitant to share those details. We try to request information by asking for simple details twice a month on what new opportunities they are working on and what they expect to close on during the current month, but reps are still hesitant to share details.”

He ended his request for information by saying “I’m curious as to what ways have worked with other principals that offer a win-win solution.”

Right out of the box, a fellow manufacturer offered, “Speaking as a manufacturer, we have struggled to get quote follow-up to be accomplished by the reps — even though that appears in their rep agreement. Even good quarterly information is a struggle for us. When we do some spot checking, we are finding — more times than not — that our reps have never reached out to follow up on a quote with their customer. It is discouraging and more common than not to find a lack of follow-up.”

After hearing the thoughts of two manufacturers, several independent manufacturers’ representatives were quick to offer their thoughts.

“Asking for this information too often and requiring that we use our principals’ format just takes more of our critical sales time away. Quarterly is the ticket and being flexible to use the data generated by our CRM is also important.”

“All too often status reports are a guessing game on all three ends: customer, rep and supplier. Certainly, there needs to be an information flow but at what expense? For more than 30 years, I have been a commission-only rep, and I can assure you some report that may not even be read does not motivate me. A good line of communication — whether by phone, e-mail or letter — between the three interested participants is much more valuable. I am motivated by a smooth, cohesive team and commission checks. And finally, using a principal’s format for reporting is a time-consuming pain.”

“I really appreciate the need to know what’s in the pipeline for so many reasons. It’s important that you and many other departments both internal and external have information to achieve efficient and outstanding performance. However, twice monthly may be burdensome. Even if it’s only a verbal request, asking every other week ‘what’s new or what’s next’ is exhausting.

“Representatives always want to respond positively. But today not much is likely to have happened with existing opportunities in between every other week requests. Also, most of us cringe at the mention of a forecast. Perhaps if you re-labeled the task as a funnel report and request it quarterly, you would get higher participation with more meaningful feedback. Preparing this type of reporting is extremely time-consuming: to do twice monthly reports — even verbal — is likely to be viewed as burdensome rather than beneficial. If for whatever reason quarterly is not acceptable, consider monthly at most.”

Echoing the previous comments, another rep says, “Having to forecast is extremely time-consuming, and it is more of hope and guesswork than anything else. In addition, if we are wrong in our assertions, then we get our feet held to the flame. If that’s not enough, then we get a phone call and are told to add more.

“Most salespeople, if they are truly interested in your line, will be excited to tell you about a big opportunity that’s coming up. You should know about that fairly quickly if they get excited enough to share that kind of opportunity. If your reps are not sharing big opportunities coming up, you have to question if you have the correct reps. Another reason why reps hold their cards so close to their vest is because of comments about knocking down their commission rates based on non-communication. That is never helpful and it seriously damages any relationship between manufacturer and representative.

“I always tell my manufacturers that if you are not hearing from me, then there is a problem. We speak to our manufacturers over the phone and though e-mail daily. If you are not hearing from your reps except when making field visits or because you have a question, you may need to seriously question if you have the correct reps.”

“Reps make their money by establishing and farming relationships with our customers. That takes time on the road face-to-face with customers. If every manufacturer I represented required reports every other week, I would lose two days of road time, which is 10 percent of the work days in a month. Would a 10 percent reduction in my sales forecast justify the twice monthly reports?”

“Expect regular communication at least once a month and be certain the ‘quote-status’ form requires no more than 30 minutes to complete. Therefore, the professional rep can spend the other 30 minutes following up with the customer prior to his updated response to the principal. It will then serve as a very beneficial tool for both parties.”

The Need for Principals’ Synergy

It’s no secret that the successful independent manufacturers’ representative had better exhibit a synergistic philosophy when it comes to crafting their offerings to customers. It’s critical for the rep to show that he’s present to meet a variety of the customers’ needs.

The importance of “synergy” should not be reserved solely for the rep, however. But when attributed to the manufacturer, it takes on a slightly different meaning; at least that’s how one manufacturer described his thinking. According to the manufacturer, “For manufacturers it’s really all about doing many things well in their relationships with their outsourced rep sales force.

“Here’s how I’ve always tried to inject synergy into my relationships. I’ve always been a practitioner of going slowly, operating deliberately and firmly building on my network and reputation with reps. Time has shown me that if I do all those things well, then I’ll have reps standing in line looking to work with me.”

Among the practices this particular manufacturer advocates are these:

• “Going the extra mile to empathize with and understand what my reps are facing.”
• “Doing all I can to properly communicate with them on matters of importance.”
• “Trusting my reps to make the right decisions and offering them the support they need to get the job done.”
• “Regularly provide them with new products.”
• “On-time and accurate compensation.”

He concludes by noting, “In my experience it’s been the manufacturers that provide the proper support for their reps that are the ones that will be able to consistently attract and keep high-quality representation.”

What’s There to Fear?

When a manufacturer who had no experience working with reps shared his fears about losing control over the selling process with two sales consultants, the consultants were quick to respond.

The first consultant asked “Why do you have any fear at all? You’re the one who creates and manufactures a quality product or service. You’re the one who establishes the marketing and sales strategy. You establish the level of support and develop the tools and policies. You set the pricing and you’re the one who chooses and manages the reps. Tell me, where did you lose control?”

If that wasn’t enough, the second consultant offered: “The manufacturer is always in control. The manufacturer calls all the shots and offers a contract that is agreeable to both sides. That contract gives you a specific time frame in which a rep can be terminated without the legal gymnastics that surround terminating a direct employee.”

What the Manufacturer Looks For

Elsewhere in this issue of Agency Sales a manufacturer is asked about his company’s long-time commitment to working exclusively with independent manufacturers’ representatives.

One of the questions about principal-rep relationships was, “What attributes do you look for in a potential rep?” His answer brought to mind a similar question-and-answer exchange that appeared in this publication about 10 years ago. At that time a manufacturer responding to a very similar question said:

• “Any rep firm that we partner with has to make a habit of showing an innovative approach to situations that occur in the marketplace. For our relationship to be successful, he’s got to be much more than an order-taker. He’s got to provide those value-added services that make him unique and allow him to stand out from the competition.”
• “From top to bottom, the firm’s personnel have to be aware of the rep’s changing role in the marketplace. They’ve got to recognize the fact that the rep has to constantly add to his skill sets and capabilities in order to service manufacturers and customers.”
• “We won’t even consider a rep firm if they don’t have an established succession plan in place. If they don’t have such a plan or fail to share the details of it with us, that’s a deal breaker.”
• “When we look at a prospective rep firm we have to see that they have a strategic plan in place showing that they have a history of operating on the same track as their principals. Such a plan indicates whether any adjustments are needed and whether the rep’s and principal’s efforts are in sync with each other.”

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].