Response to the January 2020 “MANA Minute”

Hello Charles,

I had a great time reading the Agency Sales magazine and your article about manufacturers’ reps selling software. I wanted to take a minute to answer your question: “Has the time come for reps to embrace selling intangible products, or does the rep business model require physical products?”

I think selling intangibles will continue to grow in everyone’s business as a direct result of Industry 4.0. Take for instance connected devices (IoT) – so a sales rep selling connected products may somehow find the opportunity to sell the connectivity/IoT features tied to a product or piece of equipment. Another intangible is SaaS applications connected to globally sourced products. For instance selling SaaS solutions tied to supply chain optimization and SaaS platforms to ensure the compliance/safety attributes of those products. With Industry 4.0 connections/collaboration takes place all the time. The sales reps can certainly (with some basic training about the software) sell these applications. It starts with of course selling a tangible product but there is the opportunity to sell SaaS as well since the flow of products is affected by other industries running on software (e-commerce platform connection, supply chain, compliance/quality,
accounting, etc.…).

Guillermo Rodriguez is the founder of Terra Products Consulting, a firm specializing in sales representation of globally sourced products sold at home improvement and office supplies stores. Visit www.TerraProductsConsulting.com for more details.

Guillermo Rodriguez
Founder & Chief Consultant
Terra Products Consulting, LLC