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It’s not completely unusual that a manufacturer that is new to working with reps will contact Agency Sales in an effort to get advice on how to smooth the water in the new relationship.

When that happens, one suggestion that is made is to consider the experience of one manufacturer who developed a formalized plan for working with his reps. Here’s how he explained it: “After getting as much information as I could from MANA, I then approached the first rep that we had begun working with to act as a sort of consultant for us. This could have been a mistake if the rep hadn’t turned out as well as he did, but as things evolved, we hit the jackpot.

“This rep alerted us to the fact that we needed to have in place some sort of a consistent plan for working with reps. He then proceeded to help us develop the plan. Looking back over our experience, I’d advise other manufacturers to follow a similar course of action. What this has done for us is to point to several elements in the relationship where we needed to strengthen our efforts.”

Looking for the Perfect Rep

A manufacturer patiently listened as two of his peers detailed their lack of success in locating reps they were 100 percent satisfied with. Finally, an opportunity presented itself for him to break into the conversation and he offered a description of what he’s done to increase his chances of success when it comes to lining up reps.

“Just as others, we have suffered through a few bad decisions,” he explained. “What we eventually did was to sit down with one of our best reps and ask them what they were looking for when it comes to contracting with a new principal. Here’s what they told us:

• “When a prospective principal approaches us, we’ll only respond to them after we’ve closely looked at their company philosophy and determined what their expectations are of us.
• “Right out of the box, we’ll ask for a list of their customers that they presently sell to, and we’ll check throughout our territory to determine if there’s any real potential for them there.
• “We would never take on a principal without carefully looking at their facilities and getting acquainted with the management team. Our belief is that it’s really difficult to call on a customer and let them know we’re taking on a new principal if we haven’t been there, seen what they do and learned how they do it.
• “Finally, since we already have a group of high-quality principals, it makes no sense for us to be anything less than selective in taking on a new line. A poor performer can damage the credibility we’ve worked hard to establish.”

The manufacturer continued that he has been proactive in taking this approach with prospective reps. If the prospective rep doesn’t ask for all the information the aforementioned rep does, then the manufacturer offers it up front and asks the rep for a response. “Thus far, it’s worked well for us and our rate of success after we’ve signed up new reps has increased appreciably.”

Rep Council Feedback

During the course of a MANAcast devoted to rep councils earlier this year, one manufacturer described his rep council experience as being nothing more than an “opportunity for reps to jump all over me.” In response, another manufacturer who was participating in the session came back with some sound advice:

• “Be careful of overpopulating the council with ‘negative’ influences. Not every one of your reps is unhappy. Find the happy ones and place some of them on the council.”
• “Don’t be afraid or shy away from what might appear to be a negative conversation. If someone is offering constructive criticism, often a workable and acceptable solution to a problem can be agreed upon.”
• “Make sure that council members know you’re in charge of the meeting — not them. You as the manufacturer must take it upon yourself to set and follow the agenda and prevent them from veering off course.”

Manufacturer Training Programs

The phrase “No one shoe fits all” surfaced in a conversation with a manufacturer when the subject of manufacturer-supplied training programs for reps was introduced. According to the manufacturer — who boasts of a long track record working with reps — “When we institute a training module, we keep in mind that no two of our reps are the same in terms of what they know and how they operate in the field. As a result, when we have a training message that’s important to communicate, we try our best to work with some level of generic knowledge and then move on from there.”

To identify that “generic knowledge” level, he explained that he regularly surveys his rep sales force. “We put together a written test for every agency that sells our products. We were very careful to let the test takers know that the results would be kept anonymous. Following the administration and review of the test results, we felt we were provided with a very clear picture of how and what our reps needed to better represent us. And, just as important, the test allowed them to let us know what they wanted from us in terms of training. We’ve tailored our training efforts to those test results, and we’ve been very pleased with the result we’ve experienced in the field”

The Value of Rep Training

In the middle of a conversation with a rep on the concerted effort he’s made to keep his staff well trained on both sales and product matters, the rep offered this opinion on manufacturers and the training they make available to their salespeople: “Training had better be as important to them as it is to us. From the vantage point of my more than 30 years working as a rep, I can say that it’s the manufacturers who truly value the importance of training that are the easiest to work with. They learn what we’re up against and they can anticipate problems and solve them before they grow larger than they should.”

Finding Time for Reps

While the Covid-19 pandemic largely shut down in-person meetings and conferences, one manufacturer reported a side benefit from his previous practice when it came to dealing with his reps. “Over the years when we’ve conducted our annual rep council meeting, we have made it a practice to put time aside for our reps to meet with each other in order to exchange problems, solutions to problems or simply to share some of their best practices. It didn’t take us long to realize the benefits that came out of these sessions. Following up on that practice, we’ve suggested to our entire rep network that they make an effort to stay in touch with each other. We provided each of our reps with everyone’s name and contact points. As a result, they’ve picked up the ball and run with it during the pandemic shutdown. They’ve stayed in touch with each other via text, email, conference calls and Zoom meetings. Many potential problems have been headed off and many of our reps report they’ve been able to employ new business practices that prevent them from having to ‘reinvent the wheel.’ Bottom line is that there’s never too much communication.”

Reps Are the Answer

A manufacturer recently communicated a problem it faced — and solved — when it had experienced a fairly major makeover as the result of a series of mergers and acquisitions. Now, instead of just manufacturing one line of products sold by a direct sales force, the new, larger company was faced with the task of taking several different — yet synergistic — products to market via those same direct salespeople and a relatively smaller network of independent manufacturers’ representatives who sold the other product lines. If there were any questions concerning how this job was going to be efficiently completed, his customers provided the answer. What they didn’t want was to be called upon by more than one salesperson. A resolution to this problem came with the following proposal to the direct sales force. Leave the employ of the company and create your own independent agency and have the manufacturer serve as their first product line. After implementing this plan, the manufacturer explains that everything has gone smoothly and the manufacturer has even helped the newly formed agencies get some additional product lines. Most are making more money than ever before and most important, the customers got what they wanted and are being well served.

A Look at Loyalty

Loyalty, or the lack of it, is always a popular subject when manufacturers and their reps put their heads together. An insightful view of the subject was offered by a manufacturer when he was considering his relationships with reps: “Loyalty in business is only valid as long as each part is adding value to the relationship. This might sound harsher than it is intended, but value is relative to each relationship. It doesn’t — and shouldn’t — come down to the adage of ‘What have you done for me lately?’ Realistically by knowing what each party expects from the other, the guesswork of today’s value can be put to bed and we can concentrate on programs that generate long-term profitable results for each team member. The loyalty that we’re all searching for will just naturally occur.”

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