Earlier this year when Grant Melocik, Grant Melocik Sales, notified MANA that he was not renewing his membership, that information was of the “good-news, bad-news” variety. Obviously, the bad news was he wasn’t keeping up his membership; but the good news was he was at the point in his professional career where he was looking forward to a well-earned retirement.

In his explanation for not renewing his membership, Melocik emphasized that “I did want to thank MANA for all that I have been able to learn from the organization and for the contacts that allowed me to pick up additional lines which increased my income significantly. I also appreciate the excellent articles in Agency Sales magazine.”

While the retiring rep was high in his praise for this association, in a subsequent exchange of information with Agency Sales, he described a beneficial business relationship as a sub-rep he had enjoyed for the past decade with another rep firm.

According to Melocik, “About 10 years ago I wanted to increase the number of principals that my small, single-rep agency handled. I started to look at the advertisements in MANA and Agency Sales and noticed one from McNeil Enterprises that appeared to be right up my alley. This of course was Malcolm’s (McNeil) advertisement. I interviewed with Malcolm and then joined what I found to be a unique loose consortium of sales reps. Malcolm was the primary representative but had additional reps of which I was one. We specialized in either product or market areas based upon our background and expertise. I found this team to be extremely good to work with and we already were able to support each other separately and, in my case, while also representing non-competing companies. For me personally this worked out well as I did not have ‘all my eggs in one basket,’ and McNeil Enterprises had existing customers with ongoing business for an immediate return. McNeil Enterprises also had an established structure set up, making it easy to integrate into Malcolm’s organization.”

Sub-Rep Endorsement

That endorsement of a sub-rep relationship was too good of a lead to ignore. As a result, contact with McNeil not only resulted in similar praise for the use of sub-reps, it also uncovered in interesting story of a rep firm operating in a true niche environment.

While a discussion of the benefits of working closely with sub-reps served as the opening of a conversation with McNeil, the head of the Pleasanton, California-based rep firm, he quickly turned the conversation to one describing what he considers are the practices needed to be successful. Ask him for the keys to success as an independent manufacturers’ rep — he’ll tell you a lot of stories to make his point. But when he’s all done, you’re left with a couple of real nuggets. “Strong relationships, communication, and never lie to your principals or customers — that’s what it’s all about.”

In order to get to the core of McNeil’s philosophy, it’s noteworthy to learn how he got to where he and his agency are today. First of all, McNeil Enterprises serves a true “niche” market. According to McNeil, “We work with only a very few companies that deal in specialty switches for recreational vehicles. We started with motorcycles, and those companies branched out into ATVs, snowmobiles and personal watercraft. There are only a handful of companies in the world that deal in those products.”

No Web Presence

He adds that because of the specialized world his agency works in, you won’t find his agency’s web page — because there is none. “We don’t have a web page because we only deal in OEM sales and only work with customers and principals that we choose to speak with. We’re not a boutique agency and only deal in high-volume orders.”

As to how he arrived at the position he occupies today, McNeil explained that he began his selling career more than 45 years ago working with a company that sold products for snowmobiles that had a great deal of engineering. When he was laid off from that company, armed with a knowledge of snowmobile tracks and related products, he approached a Japanese company for employment. It was only after a great deal of persistence that he obtained an audience with company management and convinced them that he was ideal for their organization. “Maybe the fact that I was young, unemployed and naïve all worked in my favor, I don’t know. But when they didn’t initially respond to my approach, I finally wrote them with a proposal stating that I knew the market well and knew how to help them achieve penetration in the market. I stressed that I knew design well and had the resources to make a relationship work.”

He added that his proposal included the fact that he’d be willing to travel to Japan — providing the manufacturer paid expenses. (“I obviously was unemployed at the time and drawing unemployment.”)

No Smoke and Mirrors

“I told them I’d put on a presentation educating them as to what it would take to penetrate the market. If after two or three days they decided I’m just blowing smoke and mirrors, then they could send me on my way and they’d only be out of the airfare. If on the other hand, they decided they liked me and my approach, then they would train me and have me available as a consultant and we could talk about a full-time job. They agreed there wasn’t that much of a risk.

“What resulted was that after two days of listening to me non-stop in front of their engineers, they said I could stop talking. ‘You’re hired.’” The two sides negotiated an arrangement and began the relationship with McNeil serving as the company’s rep in the United States.

Business Core Beliefs

It’s at this point that McNeil stresses how important one of his core beliefs became. “Never lie. I never lied to those people. My thinking is that why would I want to go into business with someone if I was going to lie to them? In dealing with principals or customers, your job is to present yourself and your products honestly. If you can’t do that, then you’re simply a ‘con’ man.”

McNeil explains that part of his job in working with the Japanese company was to explain to them what a rep was. “They didn’t really know how reps worked or that in the OEM field they were in that it would take an extended period of time — sometimes two years — in order to get an order.”

Next in the educational process was to explain the need for a draw against commission. “Since it was going to take so long to get an order(s), I needed income to work with. We went round and round on this and my job was to explain to them as politely as possible that this is the only way things were going to work.”

With that as a beginning, he explains that over a period of 10 years, “I got them 100 percent of the available market.”

Sub-Rep Success

McNeil points to being able to work with sub-reps as one of the reasons for his agency’s success. According to McNeil, who at one time worked with three sub-reps and now two, “For me the advantage of a sub-rep is identical to the advantages of any other company that uses manufacturers’ reps from the standpoint that one only has to pay when the rep produces. For me a second advantage to using a manufacturers’ rep is that they are more self-motivated. My personal feeling is that people work harder and produce better results when there is a direct correlation between their efforts and their income.”

It’s at this point that McNeil refers to a couple of his other core beliefs — the importance of communication and the need for strong relationships.

Drawing on one experience from his past, he stresses how important it is for a rep to communicate with principals whenever a change is anticipated. “I remember when I was working in the snowmobile market when I got a call from a fellow rep who was interested in retiring and selling his agency. He had contacted a number of my customers and several mentioned my name as a good possibility. The terms of the arrangement were that I would take over his agency and pay him commission on a diminishing basis as time went on. At that point, I asked him if he had contacted the manufacturer in Japan to let them know what he was planning. He responded that they knew he was interested in retiring and there shouldn’t be a problem.

“When I didn’t hear from him for a while, I contacted him and asked how things were progressing. His response was that the manufacturer didn’t go for the idea. Their thinking was that when he retired, they were going to replace him with a direct employee. I was surprised that he didn’t know that ahead of time. What this comes down to is simply a lack of communication between the rep and his principal about what the future holds.”

He continues by describing what transpired being a little bit like a husband in a marriage who wants out after 35 years. “What he says to his wife is that I’m tired of this and after 35 years and I’m going to go out and pick a replacement for me. No wonder it didn’t work.”

Correct Planning

To counter that approach and to properly plan for the future, McNeil points to how he has been able to work with his principals and his sub-reps. “Here’s the wrong way to plan. I have a sub-rep I’m going to replace and I tell the principal what I’m going to do. It wouldn’t be surprising if the manufacturer responds with ‘Wait a minute, I don’t know anything about him. Maybe we’d like to choose the replacement.’

“I can’t blame them for that, and that’s why I communicate the way I do. I already have sub-reps in place and I have them report directly to the principal. They work with the principals for a number of years so that when the time comes for me to retire, it’s easy for me to do. The sub-reps remain in place, the principal knows who they are and are familiar working with them.

“It’s all about building and maintaining relationships and communicating with your principals. There should be no surprises.”

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