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A small manufacturer was extremely realistic when he contacted Agency Sales to describe what he did to get more of his reps’ attention. According to the manufacturer, “We’re hardly big enough or bring in enough business to rank high on our reps’ line cards. Our relative small size is one of the major reasons we’ve followed the rep business model for taking our product line national. We’d never be able to afford the investment it would take to have a direct sales force. On top of that, I don’t think we’d get the coverage we need with direct salespeople. Here’s some of what we’ve done to get and keep our reps’ attention:

• Marketing guide — “Annually we’ll send our reps an updated marketing guide. This guide can be easily updated during the year. It contains all company policies, new product information, warranties, and marketing programs that we have planned for the year.”
• Annual schedule — “Accompanying the guide is an annual schedule that shows when reps will be brought into our headquarters’ location for product training marketing updates and general networking opportunities with company personnel.”
• Sales support — “Whatever our reps tell us that they need in terms of sales support, that’s what they get. Whether it’s product literature, company catalogs, directions on how to find pertinent information on our website, they have it immediately.”

Never Just Settle

A manufacturer looking to find representatives in a challenging territory offered some advice on how to do the job of finding the right agency. “I won’t bore you with all the details of how to conduct a search. You can learn about that by reading past issues of Agency Sales or contacting MANA headquarters. But two of the most important things we’ve learned are the value of checking references and never settling for less than the best.

“When it comes to checking references, make sure you do that before conducting any interviews. It’s not all that difficult to look over a list of major customers and principals and contact several of them. Keep in mind that the process of checking references isn’t because you don’t trust someone. It’s just to be sure you’re on the right track. Checking references frequently will show strengths that an agency may take for granted and not have mentioned, but their references find to be invaluable.”

He continued that it’s extremely important to never settle for anything less than the best. “It’s hardly unusual for a company to hire someone or take on agents without really taking the needed time to choose the best of the pack. If a company finds itself in the position of having to settle, then they are probably better off not making a choice and should begin the search process all over again.”

Communication Stops the Impatience

Credit is due one manufacturer who instead of dwelling on his sense of impatience with reps who failed to (in his opinion) hit the ground running, decided to look for a solution. And the solution he decided upon was to improve the flow of information to his independent manufacturers’ representatives.

Here’s what happened: “Let me explain why we were so impatient. In one important territory, especially, we were looking for an immediate uptick in orders from one of our more important customers. When that didn’t result, the obvious target of our attention was the new rep. When we went for a joint visit in the territory, something we should have noticed earlier was brought to our attention. That customer had been forced to work their way through four different salespeople over the course of the last five years. Those changes were brought about because the salespeople moved up our corporate ladder, were transferred to other territories, or otherwise moved on. Our mistaken perception was that the new independent rep could solve all those problems immediately.

“Instead of getting impatient and putting unrealistic expectations on the rep, here’s what we should have done — the rep should have been told that we were aware of the upheaval in customer relations. Furthermore, the rep should have been empowered to let the customer know that we recognized this as a problem, and that was why we made the move to a rep sales force. Emphasizing the point that reps stay in the territory far longer than any direct salesperson ever did could have diffused the customer’s concerns and assured him that his contact would remain the same for many years to come.

“Luckily, we quickly changed course, kept in close communication with the rep, and agreed upon joint expectations in time to right the ship. Looking back, I’d have to say the rep has done an exceptional job and the results have surpassed anything we did with direct sales.”

Promoting the Team Effort

“I’ve got to admit that when we worked with a mostly direct sales team, we always had a bit of an us-against-them work environment. Our sales managers were always putting pressure on the guys to perform and that pressure resulted in negative feelings. Unfortunately when we made the move to an independent sales’ force, we initially continued the same philosophy. A contributing factor to that was our organization’s lack of openness and communication. Thankfully one of our reps told me that he felt this approach just wasn’t going to work and we’d be better off parting company. Thanks to his openness and honesty, our eyes were opened and we’ve taken several steps to change our approach. That rep who was so honest with me is still with us and he’s made it a point to let me know he’s aware of our efforts to change and appreciates it.”

Manufacturer Promotes Association Membership

Elsewhere in this issue of Agency Sales appears an article describing some of the benefits agents accrue by belonging to more than one rep association. Commenting on that subject one manufacturer offered his two cents as to the value of rep associations: “Granted, I’ve got a certain amount of bias on this subject because before joining my present company I was an independent rep for 15 years. It’s during that time that I got a keen appreciation for what those organizations provide. Now that I’m a manufacturer I appreciate the fact that the rep who has taken the time, effort and expense to join and participate in a rep association is a true professional. From my own experience, I know what happens when reps interact at their industry meetings. Naturally they have time dedicated to seminars and other learning programs where they learn how to run their businesses more profitably. On top of that, they have the social, networking, business meeting time with manufacturers like us. It’s during these sessions that we’re able to conduct our planning for the year and address any problem areas.

“In addition, whenever we have the need to find representation in a specific geographic area, the first place we’re going to look is among the membership of the rep association. The connections we’ve been able to make with rep associations certainly shorten the time that we have to spend locating reps and it also ensures that our efforts have a much better chance of being rewarded with success.”

Telling the Rep Story — To the Customer

“We’re not the first manufacturer to have a customer tell us they don’t want to work with reps. The typical argument is that they feel by removing the rep from the process, they will then realize a cost savings by removing the rep’s commission. When presented with that argument, we’re quick to dispel their thinking not the least because we’re committed to going to market with reps.”

That’s how one manufacturer at an industry roundtable this fall described how he communicates the rep story to reluctant customers. “Here’s just some of what we tell those customers. By telling us you’d rather deal with direct salespeople, you’ve increased your workload, and cut into your productive buying time. Just as in every other profession, buyers today have seen their staffs cut and their responsibilities increased. As a result, you’re being forced to do more with less — welcome to the real world. The buyer hardly maximizes his time by putting time aside for a factory direct salesman for each of the product categories he deals in. If he did that, he’d be doing nothing but seeing a steady stream of salespeople parading in and out of the office. Why not enjoy the benefits of synergistic sales by seeing just one salesman representing several different lines? And to compound the benefit, why not see that rep who is doubling as a solution provider and consultant?”

More Appreciation for Training

Last month Agency Sales published an article devoted to the benefits of agent training programs. After reading the article, one manufacturer offered the following: “After years of working with reps, it’s been my experience that whenever we place a new direct salesman in the field, more than half of our work with him is concentrated on sales training and what’s left to the specific products that he would be selling in the field. I know someone who’s been working with reps for a long time will take this for granted, but it came somewhat as a surprise that the majority of our time was spent on product training with reps. Maybe just about 10 percent was devoted to acquainting them with the way we conduct business. This allows us to really get a good start in the territory with a minimum amount of time spent on training.”

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