When members of “A League of Their Own” (ALOTO), MANA’s Special Interest Group for women manufacturers’ representatives, virtually got together late last year, several of their shared areas of concern clearly mirrored those that are heard from the association’s general population. Interestingly, in response to the question, “Is there anything different about being a female vs. a male manufacturers’ rep?” one of the most common observations made by members of the group was, “I don’t notice any difference in being a female agency owner. There are no situations where we are treated any differently, and I have no problems getting new principals or customers.”

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Putting that question to rest at the outset, high among the participants’ list of other shared concerns were the following.

Working in a Post-Covid Environment

Lost business and dealing with uncertainty were the most common answers to the question of what it’s been like to work with principals and customers as Covid was winding down. “I don’t think problems faced in this environment are any different for women vs. male-owned agencies,” was the response of one female ALOTO member. “Going into Covid I knew it was going to be difficult. Having said that I was lucky that no one dropped me, and as a matter of fact I’ve even been able to sign on a couple of new principals. The major problem we faced, however, was losing business. Another major problem was the inability to establish new contacts. Unless you had some sort of an ‘in’ or contact with a company, it’s been very difficult.”

The Difficulty in Getting Face-to-Face Contact With Customers

As an offshoot of the problems related to Covid, several ALOTO members noted how difficult it was to simply get in touch with people. “There were so many people working out of their homes, it was very difficult simply finding them. While things have opened up a bit, the same situation exists today. There are still many companies that while they’ve opened up, they don’t let reps in yet. Unless you have a specific reason to see someone who can make buying decisions, you’re not getting in. Compounding the problem for me is that my pipeline isn’t nearly full right now. Once I get an order in the pipeline it can take a year or more before the commission comes through.”

Another participant on the call related that “We made every effort to stay in touch with principals and customers via phone and email. Communicating was tough, although things did get better in the second year of Covid. We found that unless you had a contact’s cell phone number, you just weren’t getting to them. You’d call their general number at the office and leave a message, but chances are they weren’t getting back to you. Here’s the problem in a nutshell: first you have to find the customer, and once you’ve done that, you’ve got to sell them. It was just more difficult during Covid.”

She added that there was less of a problem getting together with customers with whom you had a relationship, although even with them, there was very little if any face-to-face contact.

There was general agreement that a higher level of creativity has to be employed in this “new” sales environment. For instance, one member explained, “In the industry in which I work, I’ve turned for help to other non-competitive salespeople who sell to common customers. I’m frank with them and let them know I’m having difficulty getting in touch with people and ask them if they can put me in touch with some of their contacts. In return, I’ll do the same for them.”

Another member offered, “I’ve begun to tell my customers that in the course of finally conducting more business trips, I’m in their town next week and ask if they’re available to meet whenever/wherever. My entertainment in the form of business meals has increased a bit, but this approach seems to be working for me. Offering food helps.”

Then, there’s the time-honored practice of gift-giving during the holidays. One rep admitted that she’s begun a practice of gift-giving prior to the Christmas season. “If you walk into a business where you usually sell during the holiday season, you’ll find that the lunchroom and cupboards are covered with food gifts from their suppliers. I focus on Thanksgiving time when I send cards and gifts in the hope that I beat the rush from all the other suppliers. Then Christmas comes, and it’s all done, and I can sit back and enjoy my holiday. I’m not rushing around or worrying about whether I’m going to get all the cards and gifts out.”

Principals Terminating Reps

If there is a single situation where female agency owners find themselves in the same situation are their male counterparts, it’s in the area of dealing with manufacturers that seem to be all too willing to terminate them. When the discussion turned to that subject, one of the ALOTO members related the following anecdote: “When one of my long-standing principals with whom I had a great relationship was bought out, the owner cautioned me to make sure I got a contract with the new owner. I didn’t, but shortly after the purchase, I received an email from the new vice president of marketing and sales, alerting me that part of their new initiative called for them to hire a new marketing firm. As a result, they were taking certain accounts away from me. My response was, ‘Wow, he doesn’t even have the decency to discuss this over the phone.’ And I began wondering if they were going to take my commission money to pay for the expense of the new marketing firm.

“As a rep, I’ve experienced things like this several times in my career. It’s really just a little like someone cheating on you in your marriage.

“My next step was to contact a MANA attorney and explain my situation. After receiving a letter from my attorney, the company CEO contacted me and explained that everything was his fault, and I should disregard the original email. Following that I got a great new written contract that called for 90-day notification before termination. That convinced me how important it was to have a clearly written contract.”

Another ALOTO member explained, “So many times, it all comes down to the quality of the relationship you have with your principals. I have found that the good principals will always treat you well. There are others, however, who simply don’t want to negotiate or agree on shared expectations. Those are the ones you want to stay away from.”

Dealing With Increased Pricing

There was a consensus that “We’re all facing the fact that manufacturers are increasing their pricing — for all sorts of reasons.” The question remains are customers accepting those price increases, or are they attempting to negotiate prices. In general, according to participants on the call, “If customers feel that they’re not going to be able to turn a profit with what they purchase, then they’ll simply postpone the purchase to see if the future brings a decrease in price. But mostly I find that they’re accepting the increased price because they realize the whole world is in the same situation.”

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

This meeting was the latest gathering of ALOTO members. More information about this group that focuses on connecting, networking, education and mentoring in the community of women manufacturers’ representatives can be found on the MANA website (www.MANAonline.org) under the heading of “Personal Development Resources.” Included there are articles featuring ALOTO members that have appeared in Agency Sales magazine, and audio recordings of sessions devoted to the subjects of “Knowing When to Lead the Dance,” “Issues a Young Rep Firm Faces” and “Women-Owned Business Certification.”