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When tracing the career paths that have brought MANA members to where they are today, it’s not unheard of to find individuals who have begun as educators, law enforcement professionals, and even former professional athletes. Closer to the point, however, is the fact that the majority of independent agency owners began their careers on one of the lower rungs of the sales ladder.
So too with George Murphy, who heads G. Murphy Sales, LLC, St. Paul, Minnesota. Murphy readily explains that “Just as so many professional salespeople, I sort of fell into it. I had previously worked in the advertising department of a heavy equipment manufacturer in St. Paul and was offered a regional sales manager position as a result of my ability to communicate to the sales department staff on the benefits of the products we sold. That opportunity to sell to the inside sales force was determined to be of value since I was selling the sellers.”
If his rise to a sales manager position can be owed to “being in the right place at the right time,” so too can his entrée to the agency business. According to Murphy, “I had just left a retail equipment dealership after more than 28 years wearing a variety of ‘hats’ in sales and marketing. There came a point when I realized my time was up and it was best if I moved on.” That timely decision resulted in the creation of G. Murphy Sales.
“Two weeks after I resigned from that organization I was contacted by one of the manufacturers I had worked with in the previous company. They invited me to work for them as an independent manufacturers’ representative serving as a direct contact to a major account in St. Paul. I accepted that position since this major customer also wanted me to continue the relationship we both had enjoyed for nearly 15 years.” He adds that he accepted the position “Without knowing this major account called this principal and requested that I stay on. That’s how I find myself where I am today.” Where he finds himself is the head of an agency that deals in custom designed/specialty application lift trucks, tuggers/automated guided vehicles, very narrow aisle lift trucks, mobile scissor lifts, fork extensions/racks.
Forklift Specialty
Even the quickest search of MANA’s membership records indicates there aren’t a ton of agencies focused on forklifts. According to Murphy, “I’d maintain that the specialty forklift business demands a great deal of creativity and innovativeness. Generally speaking, during the last two decades the forklift truck business has turned into a commodity market. My success in the business has always been ‘educating’ my customers in why the lift trucks I represent were better, not from an initial investment, but from a value-added perspective. As the comptroller for one of my principals told me ‘You are the only salesperson in this company who is professional enough to make a profit.’” He adds that while not trying to be boastful, “That statement confirmed that what I was doing and how I was doing it was tangible and made sense/cents. Today, I have made an effort to represent companies that are not ‘me too’ companies. When I use that term I mean those who that are just interested in order taking. I mean no offense here, but that approach simply isn’t for me.”
Staying on the subject of value vs. low-cost product for a moment, Murphy continues that “Since I’ve been a rep, there has been an influx of ‘off-shore’ products that has permitted many in the industry to make use of the term ‘global’ market. While I agree that we benefit from global technology, manufacturing processes and other progressions, simply making something at a lower cost is not necessarily the answer. In the material handling business, for instance, we have seen poor designs which have been coupled with less-than-adequate product support. It has been — and still is to a degree — a poor measuring stick in my opinion. The focus on unit sales and quotas has made many forklift truck dealerships a revolving door. The last statistic I saw on this subject was that the typical term of employment in a forklift truck dealership is approximately 19 months. In my mind, that translates to a job rather than a career of problem solving and nurturing relationships. (Isn’t that what independent manufacturers’ representatives do for a living?) I will admit, however, that in recent months I have experienced a trend of ‘reshoring’ of even the most basic mechanical, electrical and other products; and that’s a positive trend.”
Meeting Challenges
Since opening his agency doors more than a decade ago, Murphy explains how he has faced and met the challenge of locating new principals when needed. “Basically I’ve followed two paths,” he says, “MANA and word-of-mouth. Comparing these approaches to what others have done has shown me this is the best approach. Keep in mind — at least for the industry I serve — with some exceptions, there were not and typically are not many companies who employ independent representatives. Most are direct hires with a safety net. Realistically, the material handling companies I represent have very little or no presence in the Midwest. Obviously, I have and continue to do a fair amount of ‘pioneering’ work which is not all bad.”
Expanding on the subject of “pioneering,” Murphy notes, “The material handling industry is very ‘tuned-in’ to the direct sales employee. Most of those folks establish a dealer network in a specific territory. There are very few independent reps in this industry.
“When I first started using the term ‘pioneering’ to dealers, they were not familiar with it. There was and still is a lot of education involved, which turns out to be a good thing in the sense that I have the opportunity to discuss what I considered were the expectations from the ‘ideal’ principal. It also took longer for them to digest the fact that they now had lost control of my work model and there was a trust ‘piece’ that needed to be put in place.”
Pioneering Costs
“I’d have to say that principals were not enthused at all about sharing pioneering costs. Therefore it was up to me to find other relationship benefits for my firm in order to offset the costs of branding the products. After educating myself, I traded lead services, Hoovers lead lists, ‘give-aways’, and whatever else I could use as trade bait to make the account equitable. The only items that were off limits were my sales results and the IP of my business.”
Murphy could hardly call himself an independent manufacturers’ representative if there weren’t some things that still caused him some concern. High on his list of concerns or subjects that might keep him up at night are everything from “cash flow, merchandising/branding, being 60+ years old and not being as computer ‘savvy’ as I would like, keeping my focus on being a businessman in sales rather than the other way around. My list is an ever-changing one.”
MANA Benefits
If he’s got concerns, he’s found a way to address those concerns in his MANA membership. Murphy recalls that “A good friend referred me to MANA in 2006. He and I were having lunch and we spoke about his company. His grandfather started a plumbing supply rep agency, and three generations of this company have been successful. They continue to be to this day even though they lost (for a while) one of their major principals some years back. Their reputation has carried them. I subscribe to that mode of operation. I have made it a point to surround myself with long-time customers and quality mentors like Jerry Leth, MANA’s vice president and general manager, for guidance and advice. I also pray a lot.”
He adds, “MANA is always there at the other end of the phone or the computer. With the touch of a couple of keystrokes, I can make contact with individuals I’ve met at MANA-sponsored events. MANA and these contacts breed honesty, integrity, professionalism and confidence in the manufacturers’ representative career track. Agency Sales, the MANA iToolbox e-newsletter, special reports and the Operations Manual for Manufacturers’ Representative Firms have proven to be reliable sources for me. The culture of MANA also is one that teaches and is wise enough to tell me who to reach out to if I can’t find an immediate answer to one of my questions. I trust the organization.”
In closing Murphy notes that his years in sales and in working as an agent have provided him with a great deal of insight as to what it takes to be a successful independent manufacturers’ representative. Armed with that insight, he explained that if he possessed the ability to travel back in time to when he was first opening his agency doors, he would have done a couple of things differently.
“Perhaps one of the first things I’d do is to take a bit more time investigating the concept of the manufacturers’ representative. As I have learned and mentioned to many, my career is as a businessman in sales; and not the other way around. There is a whole lot more to this job than I perceived. It is a good life and I value it; however, it is not without its pitfalls and a steep uphill learning curve to becoming a successful rep.”
He continues that “Next, I’d plan, plan, plan. And after planning, then I’d speak with a MANA mentor, if available, in the same commodity field. Then I’d plan, plan, plan some more. I would work with Jerry Leth and the rest of the MANA professionals and absorb the very basics of being in the rep business before entering into programs that are for a more experienced rep. (When I was 57 I attended a week long CSP training seminar and continue to use today what I learned then. I have even acquired new principals as a result of that experience.)
“Finally, I’d review how to manage my time and territory better. There are so many ‘hats to wear’ being a one-man rep firm like me. A key element of the time management is to take some time off to ‘unwind’ and live your life.”
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