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At the very least, conversations with MANA members in the Rochester, New York, area indicate that there’s a beneficial marriage to be made between the products/services offered by MANA and those provided by the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).

Even before getting into what those Upstate New York business people have to say, however, it’s useful to visit both MANA’s (www.manaonline.org) and SCORE’s (www.score.org) respective websites. It’s there that visitors will see the full range of support programs that will offer reps the best path to success in the future.

While association members and regular readers of Agency Sales are more familiar with MANA’s offerings, for the uninitiated, SCORE or the SCORE Association was previously known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives, but is now recognized as SCORE, “Counselors to America’s Small Business.” The 501(c) (3) is a nonprofit organization providing free business mentoring services to entrepreneurs in the United States. The organization also presents business workshops and seminars for a fee. Business mentoring services are provided by both active and retired business executives and entrepreneurs who donate their time and expertise as mentors to assist new and established small businesses. The organization is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration and is based in Herndon, Virginia.

According to long-time MANA member Sid Ragona, Ragona Scientific, “SCORE remains one of the best-kept secrets in this country. I became aware of the organization seven or eight years ago when someone told me it was ideal for getting advice from established business people. I contacted them and before I knew it they quickly turned me into a mentor.”

He continues that his reasons for staying involved were hardly altruistic. “I wouldn’t really call it giving back, it was more like self-enlightenment. There was so much for me to gain by the people I was involved with.”

Ragona, who has appeared in the pages of Agency Sales several times, emphasizes how easy it is to access SCORE. “All you do is go to the organization’s website and type in your zip code. That will bring up a local chapter and from there you’ll find a personal mentor — someone to speak with free of charge.”

He emphasizes the major services that interested parties — including reps — can access through SCORE:

• In addition to finding a local chapter and a personal mentor, there are a variety of weekly webinars. “MANA does a great job helping reps when it comes to maximizing the use of their websites, contracts, negotiating, networking and other facets of running an agency. In these webinars SCORE fills in the other side of the equation with some of the basics for running a business.”
• Workshops — Subjects covered range from taxes, how to use social media, getting started in sales, etc. Commenting on the latter, Ragona says “We’ve helped some people involved in a business where they want to sell their materials but aren’t salespeople themselves. We’ll let them know all that’s involved in the sales process and introduce them to the value of outsourcing sales.”
• Counseling — Ragona emphasizes that since business counseling is strictly confidential, “I can’t give any anecdotal examples. But in general, we’ll help people with their business plans and let them know what they have to do to get started.”
• E-mail counseling — Not surprisingly a number of younger people will eschew the face-to-face counseling and opt for e-mail communication. “What generally happens is they’ll submit an e-mail question and it will be routed to the best individual at SCORE who can best help them.”
• Business library — Examples of what is contained in the library can be found by visiting the SCORE website.

Just as MANA benefits the established and newbie rep, Ragona notes there are tremendous benefits when it comes to accessing SCORE. “Especially when you’re just starting out as a rep, you’re alone, virtually a lone wolf. And obviously while you should be seeking advice from other reps, you should be getting a more- rounded view of all aspect of business. That’s what SCORE can provide. Perhaps my greatest realization is that I could have saved so much time and effort and eliminated a sense of isolation if I had known about SCORE.”

Valuing an Agency

Former rep and former MANA-member Frank Muto turned to SCORE when he needed assistance in valuing his agency for sale. “I ran a fairly small agency for about 25 years that I thought was worth a lot worth than it turned out to be. In determining the value, I looked at all the hard work and sweat I put into the business, but when it came time to sell it, I needed help. After a good deal of back-and-forth communication with SCORE we eventually got it done.”

And who he got it done with was also someone involved with SCORE. Jim Gleason explains when he was downsized after working for the owners of a family-owned business in 2010, “I was looking around, evaluating offers. One of the first things I did was to attend a meeting called ‘Pathways to Entrepreneurial Success.’ This was a compilation local resources (e.g., banks, advisors, consultants, etc.) all under one roof. SCORE had a presence there and from them I was put in touch with Sid Ragona. We had lunch, during which he acquainted me with what a rep was and what the rep lifestyle was like.

“I also wound up meeting Frank Muto through the Chamber of Commerce. He explained that he was in his late 50s and looking for someone to take over his business. He was struggling to find talent to come in and take it over. One of the first things he asked me was if I knew what a rep was. I didn’t know much, if anything. He explained that he had no salary and no benefits to offer me but if I was interested, he was interested.

“I didn’t even know what the basics of the business were. And to compound things, my wife — a teacher — and I had a two-year old and we were expecting twins. When I told her what I was interested in doing she thought I had gone ‘bananas.’ I made Frank buy her dinner and explain the arrangement.”

The arrangement he alludes to was “I told Frank I can’t and won’t go into debt. If I come to work I don’t expect any salary or benefits. I’ll take a flyer, do it for six months and see what happens.”

What happened is that with Muto’s and SCORE’s assistance, it worked. Armed with his background in organizational development and some common sense, “I followed my instincts, had some success and found out I could be a rep.” After learning that, the next step was the acquisition process. “We went to SCORE. I had never purchased an agency and Frank had never sold one. But with SCORE’s world-class resources, we got it done.”

SCORE’s Assistance

It’s at SCORE that the two worked with the assistance of Doug Mabon. “Doug is very familiar with the acquisition process and was very interested in helping us. He provided us with a master class in buying and brought in a mediator to assist. Mabon laid out the groundwork for us and let us know what things would look like after the purchase. He challenged us on how to think about the process and was always available to answer our questions.”

Gleason adds that while he and Muto had an idea of what they wanted to accomplish, “With SCORE and Doug’s assistance in putting us in contact with attorneys and CPAs, we saved hundreds of dollars.”

Now that he’s fully entrenched in the life of a rep, Gleason emphasizes that he’s a firm believer in what MANA preaches: “There’s a very low risk for principals to get involved with the right rep. If you do it right, principals actually make you a part of their executive team. I’ve been able to consult with the top executives of the businesses I work with. I let them know that we’re the voice of the customer and we’re the ones providing their market intelligence. As a result, they’re able to change their deliverables to the demands of the market.”

Asked for his thoughts on the contribution that SCORE made and continues to make in situations such as that described by Muto and Gleason, Doug Mabon, a Kodak Company retiree, offers that “I’d say there are some real similarities between what we and MANA provide. We’re both client-focused and if we don’t know the answers to questions, we know where to go to get the right answers.”

Two additional SCORE volunteers in the Rochester area were quick to offer their thoughts on how the organization can benefit businesses, including independent manufacturers’ representatives:

• As chapter chair of the Rochester chapter of SCORE since 2014, Frank Reynolds explains that a major benefit the organization can provide is to educate clients as to the benefits of differentiating themselves from the competition. “During my last five years of working with Kodak, I engaged in competitive intelligence, which is communicating to others what makes you different. If a rep can do that and communicate their competitive benefit, they can more easily meet objections from customers. That’s something we do with SCORE.”

• One thing long-time SCORE volunteer Art Roberts has learned over his time working with the organization sounds very familiar to MANA members. “Perhaps the biggest mistake I’ve found that people make is that they don’t thoroughly think through their business plan. Too many of them believe they’ve got to do everything themselves. What a business plan will show them is to identify exactly what they need to do and the support network they need to get the job done.
  “Additionally I’m a believer that while the majority of people don’t have a business plan, many of those who do just let it sit in the recesses of their brain and never write it down.”

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