Lisa Wilson
By the time Lisa Wilson reads this, she’ll hopefully be well into what she calls her “semi-retirement.” It’s semi-retirement — not retirement — simply because one of her long‑standing principals won’t let her go.
According to Wilson, who heads L.S. Wilson & Associates, Inc., Bristol, Wisconsin, “I’ve reached a point in my life that while I can still walk, talk and see, when I get up in the morning, I want to do what I want to do.”
L.S. Wilson & Associates, Inc., specializes in motors, stainless steel coatings, surface preparation products and industrial cleaning solutions.
Admitting that the current pandemic put a bit of a dent in any plans she might have had, she still wants to hold the course she’s set for herself. “While my husband and I are still healthy we want to travel, go out west and see friends. Because of COVID-19 I’m not going to be planning anything immediately or staying in hotels, but we just want to relax and enjoy ourselves.”
Wilson, who was profiled in the February 2019 issue of Agency Sales, explained that just as so many of her rep peers, she’s been affected by the restrictions placed on businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Business is off considerably. As you can imagine it’s very difficult to get in front of your customers who simply aren’t able to accommodate in-person visits from suppliers. As a result, this was the ideal opportunity for me to slow down.
“I don’t really have a succession plan. I spoke with one of MANA’s attorneys about that situation and the fact is that since I’m a ‘one-man band’ and business is off, my agency simply isn’t as valuable as I would like it to be. Once again, the timing was perfect for me to slow down.”
When she dropped news of that plan on one of her long-standing principals during the year, the owner of the company came back at her with a counter proposal. According to Wilson, “He extended what I thought was a very generous invitation to me. He offered to continue to pay commissions on all the work I had already developed for him. If I wanted to continue representing his company, he would also pay commissions on new orders I brought in. What this means is that I can, and will, continue to call on and service my existing customer base.”
In discussing her relationship with Solutions Plus, Inc., it’s useful to recall Wilson’s words about principals when she was interviewed for that previous issue of Agency Sales. According to the rep, “One thing that I’ve found valuable when it comes to working with manufacturers has been to make an effort to locate principals who have actually been in sales themselves. There’s any number of manufacturers that don’t really know what it takes to get a sale.”
With that agreement in place and those words in mind, when Wilson is asked what the manufacturer’s willingness to continue working with her says about her and her agency, she notes, “I’ve been working with Solutions Plus, Inc., for more than five years. They’re a family-owned business and they’re small enough that they can respond immediately whenever there’s a question or a problem. Whenever they’ve provided me with a lead, I get on it immediately. The owner of the company, Charlie Weaver, came from a background in sales so he understands what it takes to get the job done. We’ve had a connection from day one. I feel very fortunate that I was able to meet and work with him. He’s very conscientious about business and I’d have to say he and I think the same way. He trusts me 100 percent, just as I trust him. He knows what a rep faces and he’s been great at getting back to me whether it’s six in the morning or at night. It’s been an ideal relationship. He’s not only been good to me, but to all of his reps.”
Solutions Plus, Inc., Amelia, Ohio, supplies a variety of chemical cleaning products. According to Wilson, “While my business has been off with some of my other principals, I’ve been very successful with their surface and hand sanitizer products.”
Positive Rep Philosophy
When Charlie Weaver is contacted for input on his agreement with Wilson, he describes a philosophy he follows with Wilson and his other reps that should please any independent rep.
According to the company president, “My wife and I have run this company since 1996. I’ve always been involved with sales. In the past I’ve been with a company that followed a policy of getting rid of their high-earning commission personnel. That’s not what I believe in — the more they earn, the more you as a company make. I believe that if you have a salesperson who works well on full commission — without a salary or draw — then you’re very fortunate. I believe in working with those kinds of people. On top of that, I believe the home office is simply here to operate as a support system for our reps and for the customer.”
He adds that what he looks for in a rep — and obviously it’s something he found in Lisa Wilson — is the entrepreneurial drive that successful reps exhibit. “We’re always on the lookout for that local person, the so-called entrepreneur, who can locate accounts and get them up and running. We want the self-starter who has the incentive to keep working hard.
“Now when Lisa came to me with her plan to retire I let her know I was good with that, but I told her that she should look at retirement as a time to do whatever you want to do when you want to do it. My thinking was that if I have a good salesperson out there that I pay commission to and they’re doing a good job, it simply doesn’t cost me anything. Sure, I’ll have to keep any eye on things, but what do I have to lose?
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