MANA-member H. Clay Moore & Associates can trace its roots all the way back to the end of the 19th century when the agency represented a chimney construction company. Today, more than a century later, the Atlanta, Georgia-based agency continues to serve a variety of customers in the Southeast including electric utilities, pulp and paper mills, municipal waste water treatment plants and general industry.
The team at H. Clay Moore & Associates. Back row, left to right: Todd Hunt, Clay Milner, Mandy Hart, Chris Carr, Dirk Servine, Sam Harman and Karen Still. Front row, left to right: Nancy Manning, Floyd Harris, Diana Bowers, Gary Muth and Krista Wilhite.
In addition to its rich history and lengthy tenure in Atlanta, Agency Sales was urged by one of the firm’s manufacturers to follow up on a 2001 visit because in the words of the manufacturer “This is truly an agency that ‘gets it.’”
When asked to respond to that compliment, company president Sam Harman offered an explanation which sheds some light on the agency’s business philosophy. According to Harman, “We recognize what our role is as independent manufacturers’ representatives. I think one reason why we ‘get it’ is that we truly understand the wants and needs of the customer. In addition to serving our principals, we act as advocates for our customers. Perhaps one of the greatest services we provide is that we assist our principals in learning what the customer point of view is. This is important because so many manufacturers don’t have personnel who have ever been customers for their products. That’s why they need someone to provide the customer mentality. And, that’s what we do. We view our role as a long-term function and our goal is to meet our customer needs and help our principals get better at what they do. We want to be successful at the same time that we help them become successful.”
Making the Move to Sales
That’s a philosophy that the agency has obviously practiced for years and one that Harman has enthusiastically adopted since he joined the agency in 1999. Having served as a plant engineer with the Tennessee Valley Authority and Carolina Power & Light, Harman explains that “In my capacity as plant engineer I worked with a number of Salespeople. Whenever we had a problem related to sales, we’d generally hire an outside consultant to help us. After a while I found that by the time I had gathered all the information the consultant needed to get their job done, I probably didn’t need their help. I began to view sales as a job that I could do. Eventually I was encouraged to move into a sales career by a good friend, who also happened to be a sales representative. I was also interested in advancing my career into something that could potentially be more rewarding, both financially and intellectually. That’s when I was approached by H. Clay Moore. After I joined the agency, I quickly realized how naïve I had been. It took me a good nine months before things smoothed out and I was comfortable.” Harman assumed the role of agency president in 2015.
Relationships Win Jobs
Just as independent agents in other fields, Harman notes that during the course of his more than 17-year career, he’s seen any number of changes in how business is conducted owing primarily to technology. “Obviously, I’ve seen some substantial changes in how business is conducted — but not necessarily won. The biggest changes have resulted from the growth of computers, the Internet, e-mail and use of cell phones. These tools have made us vastly more productive. However, I think they have done little to help us win work. Winning projects is still very much a relationship-driven activity. Salespeople must still earn the trust of their customers in order to earn their business.”
Major contributors to assisting salespeople when it comes to building those relationships have been the agency’s hiring and training practices. Harman explains that “Most of the outside people we’ve hired have been hired just as I was. We’re technical people who at one time were customers. Our philosophy when selecting people has been that we look for those with a technical background and then provide them with the sales training that is needed. We’ve found this to be much more productive than the other way around.”
Given that the outside staff come with the technical background, he continues that “We recently contracted with an outside sales consultant with the goal of identifying what our weaknesses might be and what skills are needed to be successful. We’re beginning an ongoing training process here. We’re not looking for the typical two-to three-day sales training program where we forget most of what we’ve learned as soon as it’s over. We’ve made our objectives clear to all of our people and so far I’d say we’ve had a lot of buy-in from them.
“Everyone has undergone an hour-and-a-half interview with the consultant. So far I don’t know if this will be a one-, five- or 10-year program. What we do know is that we’re working with a consultant who’s leading us on the right path.”
Hiring and training/coaching sales personnel aren’t the only areas that keep Harman busy as the president of H. Clay Moore. These are some of the other subjects that keep him busy:
- Company Line Card
When asked how the agency locates prospective principals when the need arises, Harman explained that “We primarily count on recommendations from existing principals, customers and other reps to guide them to us. Frequently, principals also find us through our association with MANA. It’s not unusual for us to receive one or two solicitations a month from manufacturers who are interested in us. We also have an updated website (www.hclaymoore.com) where a prospective principal can obtain some basic information about our business.”
He continues that compared to other reps, the agency probably has a fairly short line card. “We don’t make changes too often and when we do, we do so slowly and deliberately. Our thinking is that we’d like to have fewer principals that we know we’ll do a great job for rather than have too many.”
A testament to the agency’s reluctance to make change might be seen in the tenure it enjoys with several of its principals, one of which it has been representing since 1925.
- Major Concerns
When he’s asked if there are any industry trends or developments that cause him concern, Harman says that the things that get most of his attention are “Mostly the things that are out of my control, such as shifts in the marketplace like we are seeing from coal to gas. Also, changes within the organizations of the companies that we represent, such as acquisitions or consolidations that can suddenly land us in a product conflict situation that needs to be resolved.”
- Technology
Returning to the subject of technology that has so seriously affected H. Clay Moore — and other agencies — Harman cites the importance of the company’s website that is managed by an outside provider. “This arrangement has worked well for us. It allows companies to find us and if we have any changes that are needed, they are made immediately.” In the area of social media use, the company also has a presence on Linkedin.
- MANA Membership
Harman explains that the agency has been a MANA member “for as long as I have been working here, which will be 17 years this year. MANA has excellent service and Agency Sales is a very good publication. The articles on salesmanship are terrific and there are always good examples to back up the advice that is shared. This provides us with continuous reminders of the fundamental as well as new approaches to sales.
“When we take on a new principal, we always ask if they are members of MANA. If they are not, we offer to buy them a subscription to Agency Sales.
“Overall MANA stresses the importance of the rep-principal relationship, the importance of aligning joint expectations and the need for open, honest communication.”
- The Future
H. Clay Moore obviously underwent numerous changes among its personnel and operations during the course of the 15 years since Agency Sales last visited. When Harman is asked what he thinks the agency will be like in another 10 years, he responds by saying, “Honestly, I don’t know. In the last 15 years, we’ve certainly had a few new faces. But we still operate the same way and deal with similar principals. Moving forward, obviously we’ll change with how the market is changing. Right now there are major changes taking place as power generation moves away from coal. But whatever we do to remain successful, we’ll identify those changes and move with them.”
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