When he opened his agency doors 20 years ago, Steve VanDenBerg was hardly a stranger to the world of reps. As he recalls, “For several years, I was involved in inside sales for electronic distribution. I regularly met with reps and knew several older people who were reps. What was intriguing about what they did for a living was the fact they could go out there with complete freedom and do something they were interested in. I found that the reps I dealt with were free spirits who built their own customer base.”

Following that initial attraction, today VanDenBerg finds … Read the rest

At the outset of his presentation during a MANAcast devoted to the subject of Line Card Profitability Analysis, MANA President/CEO Charley Cohon used the analogy of Olympic rowers to make a point.

According to Cohon, “Manufacturers’ representative firms have a lot in common with Olympic rowers. Just to qualify to compete we have to be fast, agile and impressive performers.

“But when it comes to line card profitability analysis, some of us forget what Olympic rowers know: To be winners, you have to take the boat out of the water regularly to clean and wax the bottom. And before the … Read the rest

There are so many things that can cause trouble for a rep firm — there is no way to list all of them or to be smart enough to provide solutions. This article points out a few major threats and suggests solutions.

The Goal — Build a Fortress Rep Firm

From the answering of the phone at a rep firm to the communications with each principal, every single person working for the rep firm must be a part of the fortress.

Nothing is more important than making sure everyone — receptionist, janitor, lowest person on the customer service team — … Read the rest

This talk will be a little different than the talk about the birds and the bees. This talk is for young adults entering the world on their own. It might also be a good reset for adults struggling to find their place in the world. I have often reflected on my life in an effort to better understand how I arrived at my current station.

Financial Intelligence

There is no secret to becoming wealthy and there is no magic to it either. However, there is a trillion-dollar industry focused on convincing us otherwise. The financial industry wants your money to … Read the rest

Question: How do you make inroads with a prospect who is happy with another supplier who is providing a similar product at a lower price? The product is of lower quality but is perceived as the same.

Answer: Sounds like a tough nut to crack. Let’s think about this together. The first question I have is this: Is the potential of the account worth the large expenditure of time and effort that it will probably take to make progress in it?

Some accounts just aren’t worth it. It’s okay to make a cold-blooded business decision not to pursue some accounts … Read the rest

This is not the time of year to boil the ocean.

Really, there’s no time of the year to boil the ocean. It’s time to keep your activities and processes simple. So what works best if simplicity is the name of the game? Check out these eight strategies.

1. Sell Urgency

Urgency works. Your customers have situations and things they need to accomplish this year. Make it easy for them to do business with you.

They may have money that they need to spend. Help them spend it! They may need to put what you offer in place before moving … Read the rest

A successful sales representative must be an efficient manager of time, whether they are a direct hire or an independent manufacturers’ representative. Time is a sales representative’s major asset, so they must optimize their time to be a sales leader. Efficient time management requires planning.

An efficient time management system begins with an Annual Marketing Plan that includes broad objectives that are in tune and coordinated with a corporate plan. Using this broad plan, the time management system then incorporates prioritized daily, weekly and monthly planning lists. Each list has a similar format with the daily list having the most … Read the rest

If you’ve read past articles I’ve written, you know I cannot tolerate laziness from staff or leaders. Nope, nah, nada! Well recently I was told that low sales performance on the job is okay for new team members.

Huh? Let me just start off by saying being new is not an excuse for lazy sales performance! Let’s unpack why newness should never ever be tied to lowering your ability to make sales. Grab your coffee mug, I promise, my case story is a whopper.

The Event That Led to the Excuse

Once upon a time, in a recent sales session, … Read the rest

Even though we’re into the month of March, there’s still time to think about the months to come this year.

We will likely experience some economic adversity in 2023, but there’s a good chance you’ll thrive if you have the right approach. It’s time to start planning for your production this year. Today I have some best practices for you.

Before we get into the particulars, please know that goals must sit upon a solid foundation. In other words, your goals should move you closer to your dreams while honoring your core values and synthesizing them with your mission and … Read the rest