When considering what type of rep — whether a generalist or a specialist — is best for you, what it comes down to is determining from the outset what works best for you and your company.

For instance, one manufacturer that is firmly in favor of the generalist maintained that “although agents do need a certain level of technical sophistication in order to sell our products, that level is not as high as you might imagine. I look for agents who have a wide range of competencies; who can move quickly from one sales situation to another.”

On the other hand, another manufacturer of fairly sophisticated technical products offered the following: “For the future, I think it’s the rep specialist who is going to be the one who is successful — especially for us. It’s that specialist who has carved a niche for himself in the marketplace and has set himself up as the individual for customers to go to when they have a problem that needs solving. While I tend to favor the specialist, I would still emphasize that whatever rep you go to market with had better possess finely honed selling skills — skills that no rep can do without.”

Pay Attention to Complaints

An article on dealing with complainers came our way that we thought provided a perfect rationale for why manufacturers ought to consider implementing a rep council.

Put together by a California-based author, the article maintained that “The complainer is actually doing you a favor. They are the extension of your research, testing and quality assurance departments…they’re providing you with invaluable, often real-time feedback on what isn’t working in your business or your relationships with them.”

Providing feedback — doesn’t that sound much like what manufacturers’ representatives do for their principals?

The author of the article maintained that complainers ought to be celebrated. “The information they provide makes improvement possible. Their feedback provides end-user validation of your processes and procedures, your product lines and your service levels.”

And, what better place or venue to receive that feedback than within the parameters of a rep council?

While the gist of the article focused on customer feedback, it is easy to extrapolate the author’s message to the world of principals and reps when he maintained:

• Be open to their feedback.
• See the long-term value of fixing a problem they have experienced.
• For each complainer, many more may have already moved away from you — or will soon if you don’t fix your problem.

The author continued that the task for the manufacturer is to make it easy for these people in the field to provide them with feedback. “Listen generously when they do come forth.” Telling them that “nobody else has complained’ misses the point. Consider the following action steps when complainers do their thing:

• Thank them for taking the time to let you know of their less-than-stellar experiences.
• Honor their courage in speaking up.
• Reward their input in meaningful ways — e.g., future preferential treatment.
• “When you act on their complaint, let them know you’ve done so. As a result, they’ll feel their power, and your responsiveness will strengthen the bond between you and them.”
• “In its own way a complaint is a compliment — they cared enough to let you fix the problem. They think you’re capable of doing so and will be delighted when you do.”

Moving to Reps

Prior to the switch from a direct to an outsourced sales staff, a manufacturer should have trained its inside staff on how better to work effectively with reps. That’s the conclusion reached by one manufacturer — unfortunately, he realized it after the fact.

As the manufacturer related his company’s experience, their initial efforts were focused on the area of educating and training the reps on the product line and the products’ applications. “What we failed to do, however, was to let our inside people know what it was going to be like working with reps. The greatest problem we faced was they didn’t really appreciate the fact that reps were multi-line salespeople. As a result, the reps were hardly able to drop everything they were involved with and do the bidding of our inside people. Since that faulty start, we’ve rectified the situation, but if we had provided training prior to the switch, the transition would have gone a great deal smoother.

“Once the inside people understood the differences and what would be expected of them, there’s not a great deal of corrective training that has to be undertaken”

Making Reps More Successful

When a panel of manufacturers was asked the following question, a lively discussion followed: “Is there anything I would want my reps to do that would make us more successful?”

Communication — A manufacturer advised that he was well aware of the general aversion that reps have for submitting sales reports, but he offered, “It’s the reps who communicate proactively and regularly in whom I have the greatest amount of confidence. It’s those reps who don’t communicate who tend to struggle with a line — and I’m sure mine isn’t the only line they have to struggle with.”

Agency branding — “When the rep has established his brand on his agency, then he’s the one we want to work with. By understanding every product he represents, the rep, in fact, becomes the factory expert in the field. If a customer exclaims ‘I want to see someone from the factory,’ that’s a red flag. Reps who have branded themselves never have customers react that way.”

Professionalism — Another manufacturer asked: “Do your reps have goals that mirror my own? Do they have a business/strategic plan? Is it a plan that we can go over together annually and make adjustments as needed? If they do, then I know we’re maximizing our relationship.”

Educating the customer — “Has the rep educated the customer concerning the ‘rep model’ for going to market? Does the customer know the rep is not a ‘middle man’ but is truly the manufacturers’ representative in the field? If not, then he’s failed in his job.”

Serving as a solution provider — “Neither I nor the customer place a great deal of confidence in the rep who just drops off a brochure or wants to know what I thought about the ballgame last night. It’s those reps who demonstrate that they’re the solution provider who are the ones we want to work with. For instance, if the rep solves a clutch problem, then he’s my ‘go-to’ guy. He anticipates problems, knows how to solve them and will always be there for me.”

Adding personnel — On this subject one manufacturer offered: “I actually approached one of my reps on this subject. Here’s what I said to him: ‘I’ve done an analysis of your territory and I’d like you to prove me wrong. I know the amount of business we have right now, and I know how much potential there is in the territory. I’ve concluded that if you added another person in the territory, we’d both be more successful. Here, in black-and-white is the value you presently provide. There’s a gap between that and how much business we could conceivably capture. What do you think?’

“In response, the rep didn’t take issue with what I had to say. Instead, he agreed but then came up with a bit of a twist to what I said. ‘How about I make a commitment to getting that additional person? Not only will I hire someone, but I’ll also have them work on your line exclusively because I also know how much business is out there. However, if I’m making that level of commitment, I need some assistance from you in terms of helping pay the person’s salary.’

“We spoke for a while, negotiated and agreed that we’d both participate in hiring that new person. At the time it sounded like a winning proposition, and during the six months that the new person has been with the firm, I’ve been proven correct.”

Making the Most of Communication

A manufacturer let us know how much he appreciated the attitude of one of his reps when it came to communication. “Like any other manufacturer, we want to be kept informed regarding anything important that’s going on in the field. At the same time, we’ve heard, listened to and appreciated the feedback most of our reps have provided us when it comes to letting us know that keeping us in the loop can sometimes detract from their ‘face-time’ with customers. But we’ve got one rep who simply put his arms around the problem and has done a good job with it. Here’s how the rep describes his attitude: ‘I constantly remind myself that without texting, email and other technological tools, we could never do the volume of business we do today. The moves we’ve made — and the moves our principals have made — toward embracing technology, have helped us do more volume at less cost than anything else we’ve done for our company. That’s why we’re happy to use those tools to keep in touch with our principals.’

“That’s the type of attitude I truly value in my reps, and I find it’s growing among our outsourced sales force.”

Supply Sales Lit

Complaints that many manufacturers have heard concerning their new product literature have hardly fallen on deaf ears of one manufacturer. “I know where they’re coming from when they complain about not getting up-to-date supplies of new literature. I also appreciate the fact that many reps want us to supply literature to them. We’ve followed two courses of action,” he explained. “First, we have printed literature available ahead of time and provide it to the reps well in advance so there’s no shortage when they’re calling on customers. On the other hand, we let them know where to find new product information online. So, it’s their option. If they want to download it and print it out for occasional use, they can do that. If they’re in the habit of handing out literature with frequency, all they have to do is let us know, and they’ve got all they need.

“The bottom line here is that we asked our reps what they wanted and did whatever they requested. They’re our feet on the street and it’s our goal to make their lives easier. By doing that, it just comes back to help us.”

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