From the very start, honesty is the best policy to pursue in the manufacturer’s contacts with prospective independent representation. That’s the belief of Charlie Ingram, vice president of sales and marketing for Eriez Magnetics, Erie, Pennsylvania. And, he’s not alone in following that philosophy.

Ingram and Eriez, who have been working with an outsourced sales force for years, maintains that “Honesty in all your representations is definitely on the ‘do’ list as a manufacturer solicits a prospective rep. While there will always be some guarded information about your company, there should absolutely be no misrepresentation about anything that you are presenting to a rep.”

But before the principal can even get in front of the prospective rep to show his honesty, he’s got to get the rep’s attention — and this is something that manufacturers have been bemoaning to MANA for years. A typical complaint is that “Reps don’t respond to my classified ad in Agency Sales, or they ignore my e-mail solicitation.”

Ingram’s response to that complaint is that there are usually two reasons why a rep won’t respond to an ad or e-mail solicitation. “First — and this is pretty poor — you have reps who just aren’t going to answer you. Their response is that they’re too busy. Then there is the fact that a manufacturer’s initial effort is just a poor first-stab approach.”

Research on Reps

To better guarantee a positive response, Ingram advocates conducting a little research in advance. “Look for their website; that will provide some indication how marketing savvy they are. Determine their territory and product line. This will all help determine if what you’re offering will be a good fit, or not.”

He adds, “Being honest should never be a challenge for the manufacturer. Remember that what you’re looking for here is based on a different relationship than the rep has with selling product to a customer. As the manufacturer introduces himself to the potential rep, what he’s looking to establish is a long-term relationship. It’s not something that you’re going to change every two years or so.

“As the manufacturer speaks to the rep, he must be up front concerning his previous experience with reps — whether that experience has been lengthy, or not. In addition, reps will want to know how they are going to be supported; what the manufacturer’s typical tenure is in your rep markets. How does the manufacturer perform when it comes to supplying leads? What about regional managers? Will they travel with reps in the field? When they make territory visits, how long will they be here? On top of that, it’s always good to offer references.”

Never Bad Mouth

If being up-front and honest are absolute musts in your communication with reps, Ingram puts forth something else that is an absolute don’t: “Just as important as being honest, on the flip side, you should never ‘bad mouth’ your previous representation. And, be sure not to oversell your position in the market. The knowledgeable rep will see right through that effort.”

Acknowledging agreement with Ingram’s views, MANA member Eddy Mindlin, emphasizes how important it is for the manufacturer to put forth a professional approach in its contacts with prospective independent representation. According to Mindlin, “The manufacturer must be professional in all aspects of his efforts to find representation. The process the manufacturer employs communicates to all a great deal about his organization. Keep in mind that reps talk to each other and the reputation of the manufacturer is on the line in how they deal with finding and hiring new reps.”

In its execution of this professional approach, Mindlin, a veteran rep, as well as an author and consultant, offers a few things that principals should and should not do in order to attract the type of effective representation that it should be seeking. “At the outset, the manufacturer in question should contact as many customers as it can in the territory to garner information on all the reps that they deal with. When the manufacturer contacts customers, they should be clear right up front as to why they are calling and make sure they’re prepared to ask pertinent questions. The majority of questions should be open-ended so the customer can feel free to say whatever they want. The manufacturer should tell the customer that they are looking for a top-notch rep to take great care of this customer and they want the customer’s input as to who the best reps are.”

Narrowing the Focus

From that large group of reps, the manufacturer should select several to contact. Once that selection process is completed, conduct initial “professional” conversations in an effort to narrow the field to those that merit a follow-up call. After completing that second call, the manufacturer should feel confident to conduct in-person interviews.

If that’s how Mindlin believes the initial process should be completed, here’s how he thinks the process should not be executed. “A manufacturer should not send a form letter to every rep in the territory. What this does is to show reps that they’re lazy in their approach and are not willing to do the necessary research on reps in the territory. They’re really telling a rep that they’re only seeking a warm body for the territory.

“Conversely, making a personal call to the rep does just the opposite, It lets the rep know that the manufacturer is professional and serious in its search for representation.”

On that initial call, Mindlin emphasizes that the manufacturer should simply introduce themselves and then inquire if the rep would be interested in scheduling a specific time to have a more extensive phone conversation. “This is critical as it shows the rep that the manufacturer respects their time by not trying to conduct the interview as a cold call.”

As to the content of that first call, the manufacturer should be sure to tell the rep they are one of several being contacted and the purpose of the call is to narrow down the field. Let the rep know that the manufacturer will travel to the territory to meet in person with a few of the candidates. The manufacturer should communicate, in great detail, about the company that makes the products so the rep has a thorough understanding of everything the manufacturer does and how they operate and how they work with reps. The manufacturer should give the potential reps names and phone numbers of current reps in other areas of the country so the potential reps can call their fellow reps to learn how they feel about the manufacturer.

Just as Ingram advised, Mindlin says that during that in-person interview, the manufacturer should do all it can to get to know the potential rep. “Ask the rep to tell you about themselves. Take time to tell the rep about you and everything about your company. And finally, tell the rep how your company works with reps and ask for feedback from the prospective candidate.”

Facing Tough Questions

Based on his experience of being solicited by manufacturers, Mike Gorman, Mfg. Tool Sales, Piqua, Ohio, emphasizes how important it is for him that the manufacturer be prepared to answer some tough questions. “First of all, whenever a manufacturer contacts me, I’ll be sure to ask whether he goes direct with any of his customers. If he does, I won’t work with him. Then if they go through reps like I go through underwear, that tells me that there’s a lack of loyalty to the rep way of going to market. It will show me that they’re willing to pull the plug at any time for any reason.”

Determining the Fit

And, as Gorman related in an interview elsewhere in this issue of Agency Sales, he is primarily interested in working with privately-held family-owned businesses.

Agreeing that the manufacturer’s approach to a prospective rep is very much like a sales call, Keith Cherise, director of sales and marketing for Advanced Mixing Technologies, Inc., Londonderry, New Hampshire, says, “That’s just the way we treat it. Even before approaching a prospective rep, we’ll make sure that we’ve completed our due diligence. We’ll conduct a phone interview to see if we have a chance of making a good fit. Then, we’ll move on to the face-to-face interview.” He adds that Admix goes into these interviews armed with a questionnaire that covers all the important groundwork from who the agency is, what product they represent, who are their customers, and who are the customers that have gotten away. “From there, we move on to letting them know exactly who we are and what we do. We always lay all the facts right out there on the table, and that lets both sides determine if it’s going to be a good fit or not.”

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