It’s a bit of an understatement to say Marshall Maguire followed a rather circuitous path to where he finds himself today — the head of Maguire Technologies, Salisbury, Massachusetts, a veteran-owned manufacturers’ rep agency.

Here’s the outline of that path he traveled: In 1972, with the end of the Vietnam War still three years away, Maguire joined the Air Force, where he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as an aircraft hydraulics/pneumatics specialist. At that time, SAC was charged with overseeing the protection of the United States in the event the Cold War ever escalated to “hot.”

Following … Read the rest

Time management and developing relationship skills were high on the list of topics that were addressed during one of MANA’s latest teleconference chats devoted to single-person agencies.

On the one hand, many of the chat participants made the point that they’ve been able to make sales while they work remotely away from the customer. “It’s unbelievable the amount of work we’ve been able to successfully complete without personally touching base with the customers. It’s interesting that looking back you had to bang on doors over and over if you wanted to be successful. But what we’ve found today is that … Read the rest

I was cutting through an empty parking lot the other day and so was another driver coming in the opposite direction. As luck would have it, we were heading directly for each other, like a game of chicken.

I tend to yield in these situations, not because I am afraid of confrontation, but because I have learned to act with deliberation. So, I stopped, hoping that the other driver was paying attention and not looking at the screen in his hand. Thankfully, he was. But as he drove around me, he lowered his window, flipped me the bird and gave … Read the rest

Many years ago, I wrote a book that required me to conduct interviews with several professionals who had attained celebrity status. In many cases, I had to work with secretaries and administrative assistants in order to get the interviews. These “gatekeepers” played a huge role in determining whether their high-profile bosses would or would not meet with me.

While people normally think of gatekeepers as problematic obstructionists, on a couple of occasions, I landed an interview only because of the gatekeepers. I befriended the gatekeepers in both of those cases and turned them into my advocates. They became my champions. … Read the rest

This week price has been coming up a lot on my coaching calls with sales reps, but there was one comment in particular that compelled me to write this article.

In a story related to a sale he made last week, a rep said, “I told the guy, ‘Look, you just tell me where the competition is, and I’ll cut my price to match it or beat it.’” After instructing him to never utter those words ever again for the rest of his life, he came back with, “Why not? It’s an easy sale every time. All I have to … Read the rest

A significant challenge for an independent manufacturers’ representative is satisfying the needs of many different customers. Your objective is to become a preferred product representative for each of them.

These customers include architects and engineers who specify your products; general contractors, construction managers and subcontractors who purchase your products; and your manufacturers’ marketing and customer service departments that provide you with sales support. We will look at how you can work effectively with each of these customer groups to become preferred.

Architects and Engineers (A/E)

Although every customer is important, one group, for example, requires the most attention and service … Read the rest

Sometimes we get so caught up in what a leader should do, we don’t even really understand what it means. I thought I would take a quick stab at what leadership actually is.

Leadership is the art of motivating and guiding people towards a common goal. A leader must possess certain qualities such as vision, confidence, empathy and resilience to lead effectively. There is no one-size-fits-all formula for leadership, as it varies depending on the situation, context, and the individuals involved. However, there are certain principles and practices that can help leaders become more effective.

One of the most important … Read the rest

Empowerment is critical to any organization that wants to be a service leader. It is the most difficult skill to teach and get employees to use.

Empowerment means all employees have to make fast decisions on the spot in favor of the customer. The fear is that an employee may give away the store. The single goal of every company should be to have over-happy customers.

In Bolivia, I sent a lot of products via Federal Express to Marwan El Tine, VP of Service Quality Institute Bolivia.

After six weeks, he still did not have the products. I addressed the … Read the rest