“You hired us to increase sales, not to be your travel agents or ‘yes men.’” That’s how one rep described his reaction to a principal’s request that they make all the necessary arrangements for a visit to the territory, including getting plane tickets, making hotel reservations, not to mention setting up appointments with customers.

According to the rep, “When the principal’s new sales manager came on board for one of our lines one of the first things he asked was that we prepare for his visit in the field. Let me emphasize that there was no particular reason for the visit other than he was new to the position. There was no new product or program to introduce to customers, nor was there any training needed in the field.”

The rep held nothing back when he continued by saying, “I don’t need any manufacturer to make a field appearance in our territory just to make an appearance. Sure, if something important has to be covered, that’s great; but let’s limit these visits to one or two a year — at most. If you want to come in and spend time with us occasionally, we’ll consider it, but it’s not high on our list of things that we really want to do.”

Drawing the Line

He emphasized that the principal in question was his biggest line and “We get along very well. But when it comes to us having to make all the arrangements, renting cars for them, etc., I have to draw the line.”

In addition, “How about all the time this takes away from us being in front of the customer? They want to fly in around four in the afternoon. That means I, or someone else from the agency, has to leave the territory around two, pick them up and then drive back during rush hour traffic. This turns into a four- or five-hour deal, and there’s a dollar figure I can put on that because we’re not working out there in the field in front of our customers. Where’s the value in that?

“It’s easy to do the math on this. It’s not appropriate for us to drop two or three days for any manufacturer. We’ve only got five days a week, eight or nine hours a day in order to see customers. We want to use that time efficiently and effectively. We can’t spend time on non-productive activities. And, let me add that we’re not being paid anything extra for this. Now, on the other hand, if you want to pay us for that — that’s fine, we’ll willingly do it, but that’s not the case.”

As candid as this rep was with Agency Sales, he says that he doesn’t hesitate to let his principals know his thinking on this subject. “When I do so, they get put off. I don’t drop the matter, however, and I let them know that if they’ll pay for that extra service, then we’ll willingly provide it. Otherwise, we just can’t do it.”

This isn’t the first time a discussion on how to effectively make use of principals’ visits in the field has appeared on in these pages. To follow are some of the important points that have been emphasized in the past.

Reps look forward to and appreciate well-planned and executed calls on customers with their principals.

When he’s contacted by a principal for the purpose of participating in a joint customer call, the first thing one rep who is located in the southeast asks is, “What is it for? What are we trying to accomplish here?”

He continues, “For the call to be truly beneficial, there has to be a clear purpose and agenda. Otherwise, all we’re going to be doing together is traveling over the countryside accomplishing very little. To ensure that there is a purpose, I’d maintain that we’ve got to devote time before the call for planning and discussions we’re going to have with the customer.”

Strategic Planning

He continues that he’s been fairly lucky with his principals in this regard. “The joint calls I make with my principals work because such calls have always been a part of our strategic planning, and they’ve always been clear on why they want to visit. Generally they’re here in pursuit of a specific job. I’d have to say that any rep would be eager for them to visit the territory for that purpose.”

They view such calls as opportunities to enhance their relationships with both customers and principals.

One New York State rep commented, “I’m lucky in that I don’t really remember any joint calls on customers that weren’t productive. For instance, just recently the vice president of sales for one of my major principals accompanied me to one of my major accounts. The visit developed when there were some changes at the account. My previous long-term contact left and my principal accompanied me to firm up the new contact. While that was a special one-day, one-time call, there are others that occur when the principal wanted to spend two or three days in the field. To ensure that his time, my time and all of my customers’ time is well spent, I’ll work out a detailed itinerary well in advance.”

Reps would rather avoid any visit that’s put together at the last moment with no clear purpose in mind.

One rep who is hardly into spontaneous field visits emphasizes the need to plan ahead. “Here’s what I’m referring to when I mention advance planning. I’m on a business trip that will take me through the rest of the week and I get an e-mail from a regional manager letting me know that he wants to work with one of my customers next week. There’s not an awful lot I can do with that type of short notice. I’m asking myself ‘Where did this need come from — out of left field?’ If he truly wants a quality day, he’s got to build in some time to make it worthwhile.”

This rep explains that when he’s provided enough time, here’s the type of checklist or itinerary he’ll come up with. “Prior to a visit we’ll communicate with the principal regarding the following:

• The time he arrives at the airport.
• Whether he needs to be picked up.
• His preference for the hotel he stays at.
• Does he have to meet with inside/outside sales staff?
• What customer(s) does he want to meet with?
• A complete list of his objectives during the visit.

Valuing Time

“When I do this and if the regional manager doesn’t go over the form and sign off on it, then he really can’t expect us to even meet him at the airport. It’s not unheard of that he’s failed to get back to us until the last minute and by then we’ve already gone ahead and planned any number of activities. We do this because our regional managers are very important to us, their time is important to us and we don’t want to waste it.”

They don’t necessarily want such joint calls to serve as in-the-field training for new principals’ personnel.

According to one rep, “Since we’re the manufacturer’s local presence in the territory, what we’re looking for when it comes to a field visit is someone who is supportive of our efforts with customers — someone who reinforces our legitimacy in front of them. Hopefully the factory person brings some technical and commercial expertise that adds value to the sales calls.”

Something this rep doesn’t especially enjoy doing on such calls, however, is training the ever-changing personnel from the manufacturer. “We get frustrated with the constant turnover of regional managers. Before we know it there’s another fresh face sent out into the field for us to train. Sometimes it looks like they just send people to keep them out of the factory and out of trouble. We wind up babysitting for them.”

In conclusion, it’s worthwhile to review some of MANA’s and Agency Sales’ reminders on the value of field visits. For instance, keep uppermost in mind that visits to the field can serve as an excellent way for reps to promote their firm and to demonstrate to principals’ personnel that they are the true experts in the territory. However, it’s just as important that there be a true reason or purpose for the visit. In general, principals should schedule visits for some or all of the following reasons:

• To introduce a new line or new marketing program.
• Conduct orientation/training on new products.
• Solve problems in the field.
• Negotiate a new contract.
• Evaluate the representative.
• Conduct annual or quarterly reviews.
• Conduct technical seminars.

Additional resources on the subject of visits in the field may be found in step 7, “Set Up Territory Visits for Maximum Benefit” of MANA’s “Steps to Becoming a Quality Principal” program in the member area of the website, www.MANAonline.org.

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