Establishing a representative council can be a fantastic way to harness the powerful experience and knowledge of your sales force — creating an environment that allows for your most important and influential channels to provide you with insight and ideas. This, in turn, will allow you to better understand the market, as well as create the structure, tools and energy needed to engage your sales force, and direct your efforts to what really matters (and motivates) them to help you grow sales together.

Background — Standing Up Channel Management

Alfa Laval’s Process Technology Division, whose U.S. operations are based in Richmond, Virginia, is a world leader in heat transfer, separation, and fluid handling equipment. The company has used independent manufacturers’ sales representatives as the primary channel for heat transfer products in the United States for approximately 40 years. Some of their existing representative agencies have had the line for decades, so for many years Alfa Laval had a good pulse and level of familiarity with the sales reps, and the partnerships were very strong.

Over time, however, like anything in life and business, changes occur. Representatives retire or merge with other agencies, new faces appear at the factory, acquisitions occur, and organizational structures change. In the Alfa Laval Process Technology Division, while the performance and importance of the representatives remained intact, the focus on representative management and engagement had been absorbed within other activities. Formal channel management had become a side-of-desk activity belonging to a number of people that also had numerous other priorities to manage.

In late 2014, the division leadership made what they felt was a critical investment in managing their representative sales force by dedicating two full-time resources to channel management. The core responsibility of this team was to develop, grow and manage the representative sales force so that it would continue to be the best and most effective team in the industry. I was brought on to take one of these roles alongside another employee.

Why a Rep Council?

With strong support from leadership, one of the first key steps that our new team agreed upon was that it was vitally important to harness the collective experience and input from our representative force. This would be done in a number of ways, including regular performance conversations, trip reports, and surveys. What the team decided right away, however, was that it needed to use one of the most effective ways to obtain honest and valuable information — the rep council. With a very aggressive agenda for growth, it was critical that the representatives and the manufacturer worked as closely as possible to build the strategy and remove barriers. Honest conversation and engagement from the representatives were going to be key to help Alfa Laval make the best decisions to continue to succeed.

The division had established rep councils in the past, but it had been a number of years since the last operational council was in place. The experience within the team related to effectively establishing and conducting a representative council was limited. What was realized though was that this absolutely needed to be done right, and no member’s time could be wasted. Our team started internally by having a conversation with another business unit of Alfa Laval. The Sanitary Equipment Segment of the company had effectively been conducting what they called Distributor Vision Councils for a number of years. They had also developed a survey for their distributors that provided some interesting thoughts on what information we might want to collect to help inform our council on areas requiring attention. While the topics were a bit different for a distributor population, the general framework was a good place to draw some initial ideas. Our team now had some guidance, but it was still a little unsure about the details of how to set up and manage an effective council meeting.

While doing some research on resources available for representative management, I discovered MANA. After a quick look at the materials and a test run of the tools, we joined the association right away. Within its tools available for manufacturers, I discovered articles, a sample operating charter for a rep council, and a fantastic special report on building an effective rep council. We were able to both verify what we thought we knew, and to gain new insight and ideas to consider when building the rep council that we wanted.

Building the Foundation

Once we had committed to having a rep council, the real work began. Our channel management team pulled together a high-level plan and kicked off a planning meeting with the leadership of our division. From that meeting we made some critical decisions that laid a foundation for our planning.

• Creating Focus on the Goal

When you peel away all of the meetings and presentations and conversations, the purpose of having a representative council was really only about one core objective: Find ways to grow profitably together. Yes, we would talk about issues, ideas, commissions, communication and a number of other topics, but if our activities don’t lead to growth and profit for all parties, then it probably wasn’t worth the time spent together. Hence, we created our first guideline for the meeting — whatever recommendations came from the meeting had to tie back to helping us grow profitable business. When you think about it, it’s not that hard to do. What this focus does, however, is make you think about how you execute on a plan and what you focus on. Placing a focus on a core objective or mission can set the tone for the meeting and really help you set an impactful agenda.

• Calling the Event a Rep Vision Council

Right out of the gate, we wanted to create a sense of partnership and importance to this team. The representatives that we were selecting for the council would be part of advising on important decisions that helped influence our go-to-market strategy. Taking a good idea from our Sanitary Equipment colleagues, we chose to call our meeting a Representative Vision Council, or RVC for short. We expected the members of the RVC to be part of the vision we have for the division, and putting that in the meeting name highlighted the importance of their involvement. Labels can matter when you want to convey importance.

• Establishing Internal Commitment

Making this RVC a success was going to require a lot of work, but it was going to require something even more important — commitment of time from our top leaders. A meeting with the channel management team and the rep council members, but with little participation from senior leaders would make the meeting a failure. With the leadership of the division, we obtained commitments from the president of Alfa Laval USA, along with the heads of operations and our service division. We took great care to keep the manufacturer-to-rep ratios low, and the discussion intimate. Be very careful about not overwhelming the rep members with too many factory people.

• Selecting Membership

The team spent a good amount of time discussing who should be the representative members on the council. Since this was the first meeting in many years, we felt that the initial membership should be mostly experienced reps with some geographic diversity. We ended up selecting four of our long-time reps, and offered them terms ranging from two to four years. Each RVC member has six to eight rep agencies for which they are responsible. It is a possibility that we will add a fifth member, depending on the number of channels we have in total. This fifth member, or when we roll off our first inaugural member, is when we would consider a newer or less-seasoned rep for the council. Having reps with good experience and rapport with your company, as well as an open and honest attitude can be valuable for a first rep council, but don’t be afraid to mix it up as time goes on.

• Setting Expectations for Members

Once we had selected our members, we made sure that we had personal conversations (along with invitation letters) with each of them. The goal of the conversations was to ensure that they knew that their selection and participation were important to the organization. It was also to discuss the expectations and commitment from their end. They would be expected to engage in several conference calls to work with channel management on setting the agenda, as well as conduct sessions leading up to RVC with the representatives for which they were responsible. They were also expected to arrive the evening prior to the combined rep council session to prepare a presentation of their combined findings as well as recommendations. It is important for the representative to have a stake in the outcome, and be prepared to work on solutions.

• Adding Data to the Conversation

A quote to rely on when gathering information is “Trust, but verify.” I trust our representatives to bring good issues and information to the table, but I also know we are all human, and our biases and personal agendas can sometimes cloud the message. We wanted to make sure that we had the thoughts and opinions of all of our representatives on a wide variety of issues. Our team created a survey that could be taken electronically (and anonymously!) touching on a number of areas we were curious about. Working closely with the RVC to review the content, we launched the survey and collected some fantastic data that helped shape the agenda. We shared the results with the RVC members who used the information to guide conversations they had with their constituents. Data helps steer the conversation toward the most pressing issues.

• Structuring the Meeting

The importance of building a strong agenda with plenty of time for dialogue can’t be emphasized enough. Right away, we set the rule that “presentations” would be very limited, and most of the time would be spent with the representatives presenting findings from their meetings, and in working together to develop recommendations. Only a couple hours of the day-and-one-half together would be Alfa Laval leaders sharing information about strategy or new products. Much of the time would be spent engaging in dialogue on the topics, in working groups to generate recommendations, and just listening to what they had to say. The rep council was to do a lot of the initial talking, Alfa Laval the listening. Then together we would develop ideas and recommendations that the reps would present to our senior leadership team. Trust the rep to bring ideas that will make a difference in your mutual success.

Coming Together

• Logistics

As we learned throughout the process, there is a lot more than just the meeting agenda to consider when setting up a rep council meeting. We started planning several months before the actual meeting and were glad we did. Getting on a senior executive’s calendar can sometimes require a very long notice. Since Alfa Laval covered all of the expenses for the meeting, planning, hotels, reimbursements, meals, the special event, and just keeping everyone on track in preparation of the meeting took many hours of work. Even just remembering simple items like easel pads and markers for the meeting was another to-do that can easily be missed. Many things “popped up” last minute, but because we had planned well we were able to pull off a very smooth meeting logistically. Also, don’t forget to speak to your leadership the year prior to your meeting so that you can plan a budget for the event, as the dollars can add up quickly. Prepare early, and thoroughly, so that logistics are never an issue.

• Executing the Meeting

The RVC meeting occurred in early October 2015. We kicked off with some opening remarks from our leadership and then set up what is key to any good meeting — setting ground rules. The agenda was our guide for the rest of the RVC and we did everything possible to stick to it. An individual was assigned to take notes, and we established a “parking lot” for items that were maybe off topic, but we wanted to address at a later date. We handed out “yellow cards” to everyone in the room that could be held up if they felt that the conversation was going off topic. While they were used infrequently, they got the point across in a respectful (non-interrupting) way when necessary. To maximize the time we had together, once we established topics, they were prioritized, and two separate breakout groups were formed. There was a mix of reps, operations, and salespeople in each group (but not executive leadership), and a channel manager was assigned to each group to help facilitate discussions. Each group took two or three topics, and then worked for a couple of hours on recommendations. Then the whole group came together and agreed upon a joint set of overall ideas. On the last day, the reps presented the recommendations to the executive leadership, who provided feedback to the ideas as they were given. We finished the RVC with a “what worked and what didn’t” session so that we can continuously improve, and then there were closing remarks from the leadership team. Structure, rules, and sticking to the agenda led to productive outcomes.

• Fun, Appreciation and Memories

As the adage goes “All work and no play….well, kinda stinks.” While we wanted the majority of the time to be about working together toward profitable growth, we also wanted to make sure we all had the opportunity to bond around something other than work. Since we are all salespeople, we decided some friendly competition was in order, so we teamed with a local cooking school — Mise en Place — to create an “Iron Chef” like cooking challenge. It was a fun and engaging way to let loose and have a good laugh, along with some great food. Also, we provided everyone involved in the RVC branded shirts which we all wore for a group photo. We provided copies of the photos for everyone in a frame with the event name. Having fun makes work feel easy.

Results, Alignment and Follow-Through

Everyone in attendance considered the first annual RVC event a great success. They were encouraged by the great dialogue, high productivity, and commitment to the process. Everything went well, but we weren’t done yet! All of the hard work that goes into a rep council can be undone if you fail to do the most important thing — follow through. After the RVC, the Alfa Laval team formalized a series of projects to evaluate the recommendations and take actions with those we felt we could tackle with our available resources. Six projects in total have been launched, and as of March 2016 we have delivered results on most of them. Two are actually ready to be closed out already because all recommendations have been acted upon. We regularly engage the rep council members, and report project progress in a quarterly newsletter to all channels. We are planning our next meeting for later this year, and are excited about what it will bring. Always, always, always follow through.

We can conclude the story of our rep council journey by summing up the key takeaways from this article. We consider our first rep council meeting a great success, and we hope that this story helps you step up and harness the value from your most important source.

Keys to a Great Rep Council

• Use various resources, such as those provided from MANA, for ideas and frameworks.
• Placing a focus on a core objective or mission can set the tone for the meeting and really help you set an impactful agenda.
• Labels can matter when you want to convey importance.
• Be very careful about not overwhelming the rep members with too many factory people.
• Having reps with good experience and rapport with your company, as well as an open and honest attitude can be valuable for a first rep council, but don’t be afraid to mix it up as time goes on.
• It is important for the representative to have a stake in the outcome, and come prepared to work on solutions.
• Data helps steer the conversation toward the most pressing issues.
• Trust the rep to bring ideas that will make a difference in your mutual success.
• Prepare early, and thoroughly, so that logistics are never an issue.
• Structure, rules, and sticking to the agenda lead to productive outcomes.
• Having fun makes work feel easy.
• Always, always, always follow through.

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