The Manufacturers’ Agents National Association (MANA) celebrates its 75th or “Diamond” anniversary in 2022. And, while marking that milestone, the oft-repeated phrase, “The more things change, the more they remain the same,” comes to mind.

Charles Cohon, CPMR, came on board as MANA’s CEO and president in 2011.

It was just five years ago that Charles Cohon, CPMR, the association’s CEO and president, noted that while “digging through” the first few issues of The Agent and Representative (the predecessor to Agency Sales magazine) it was notable that while MANA has undergone major change over the years, it was remarkable “how much it has remained the same.”

As he considered some of the changes the association and the profession have undergone, he noted that in the pages of the MANA publication, “We find sentences like: ‘I know it’s customary for men who call themselves and believe themselves to be ‘practical men’ to pooh-pooh anything savoring of academic classification in salesmanship.’ No thought of women as salespeople or as customers in those earliest editions. But in today’s MANA, woman-owned firms are common, and the first woman to join MANA’s Board of Directors did so in May 2017.” (Perhaps even more interesting today is the fact that of the seven members comprising MANA’s Board, four are women independent manufacturers’ representatives. And consider that during the past year alone, four women-owned firms have appeared on the cover and been profiled in this publication’s pages.)

As Cohon continued with his discussion of change, he explained that “Another glaring change … is that, although manufacturers were invited to advertise in our magazine, the articles in that first issue focus solely on the needs of manufacturers’ representatives. Today Agency Sales strives to be relevant to both manufacturers and manufacturers’ representatives and includes articles for both audiences.”

Past vs. Present

Perhaps more remarkable than the changes MANA’s president noted were the things that have remained somewhat the same. To make that point, over the course of the association’s 70th anniversary, Agency Sales reprinted several articles that “could be reprinted today and most readers would have no hint that they were written so many years ago.

Consider for a moment a few of those articles and ask: “Did that happen then or now?”

MANA and Agency Sales have long advocated for membership in rep associations, not to mention the added benefits of belonging to more than one such organization. In an article in the Agent and Representative the following advice was offered: “The sales agency profession is just about the last to seek the advantages of group organization, and the benefits and protection inherent in such organization. It takes energy, initiative, and a great deal of unselfish devotion to a cause to found and establish a national association like MANA — an organization in which any agent, no matter how large or small, may indeed be proud to be a member. It can mean more to you, bring you more satisfaction, and increase your income to a greater extent than any group to which you as an agent could possibly belong.”

Those words were true then and couldn’t be any more true today.

Paths Reps Follow

As Agency Sales continues to profile reps in its pages, one of the first questions posed is “How/why did you become a rep?” Invariably the answer to that question is the same today as was reported in this publication years ago: “Generally speaking, new manufacturers’ agents come from the salaried ranks of industry — quite often department heads, branch managers, district managers or sales managers of important concerns. Sometimes they come from the ranks of salaried or commission salesmen.

“Why they break away and put in for themselves is anybody’s guess. Sometimes the move is long planned, which is wise. Sometimes the move is precipitate, which is usually not so good and occasionally perfect. Sometimes the move is a cooperative arrangement as a part of a manufacturer’s altering sales policy, which is often best and safest.

“But in any event, in all such cases, the new agent in the beginning must expect to face some handicaps.

“He has by long training been accustomed to having his work and duties at least partly planned for him, although he may be little conscious of this.

“He has been accustomed to receiving regularly a check that covers at least his living and his personal expense, in addition to reimbursement for items chargeable to his company.

“He seldom has had ‘small business’ training or experience. He may not yet have learned that every private undertaking has its own problems and limitations.

“But the opportunity is there, for those who can qualify!”

Sales Tips Remain Constant

It’s safe to say that over the years hundreds of books have been written on how to sell more effectively. And it’s also safe to say many of those same books have come across the desk to Agency Sales. Consider for a moment, this basic advice offered by the association years ago: “If you knew exactly what was behind every stall a prospect pulled on you, if you were sure the reason a customer gives for not buying is the real reason for not buying, this job of selling could be done by anyone.

“But the stalls that trip you are usually the hidden stalls — things your prospects say that aren’t true at all. How can a salesman smoke out these hidden stalls? First, use direct questions. Second, finesse questions; Third, use flattery. Usually, that’s all you need to smoke out a hidden stall — recognize it as hidden and go in after it with one of these techniques.”

How about this old-time advice? Is the following approach just as effective today as it was 75 years ago? “If you, as a manufacturer or supplier, have in mind increasing your sales through manufacturers’ agents or independent reps, you can avoid disappointments in finding such agents, and loss of time and business in dealing with those you select, only if you go to a little trouble, spend a penny or two.

“By all means, take the trouble to make contact with plenty of agents in the first place, to give yourself a wide range of choice. And take the trouble to make careful checks on the agent’s qualifications, facilities, and fundamental selling policy before choosing.

“There is always ‘the best agent’ in any city, and in any field. But you will generally find him ‘all sewed up’ doing a bang-up job for one of your most loathsome competitors. Usually there is no use ‘flirting’ with him. His principals, being smart, have him under firm contract, which is as it should be.

“If an agent, when he originally takes on a line or an account, is expected to introduce or pioneer and promote certain products in a certain territory, at his own time, risk and expense, he is entitled to a decent contract as soon as the principal is satisfied that he is in good hands with that agent; and, conversely, if the manufacturer is expected to lend his full cooperation and assistance to the agent in helping to accomplish that mutually profitable purpose, the manufacturer is entitled to some sensible protection against the premature loss of that agent’s future support.”

And, finally, the plight of one independent rep in 1949 revolved around him having “all his eggs in one basket.” In that case he had most of his business with two principals, unfortunately with no contact with either one. Inevitably, when one of the principals terminated the relationship, the rep belatedly learned from an attorney the importance of having a written contract. (It’s interesting that this issue of Agency Sales includes coverage of a MANAcast covering any number of legal matters that reps should be aware of in their dealing with principals.)

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