A visit to Coastal Technology Group’s website has an interesting notation under memberships. The agency’s owner, John Ahlering, is not only a long-standing member of MANA, he’s also active with the Association of Professional Futurists. A conversation with Ahlering quickly shows that membership in that organization is hardly an afterthought. Thinking about the future is an integral part of what he does for a living.

Established in 1999 by Ahlering, Coastal Technology Group (www.coastal-technology-group.com) is a technical sales and business development organization located in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina, with a virtual office in London.

Ahlering maintains that “If anything, that’s exactly what I am — a futurist. I’ll take the time to sit around and just think about what might be the next big thing. In my chosen field, that includes electronics, field engineering, aviation, railways and more, there are always new developments that I should be aware of.”

As if any proof was needed to the words Ahlering speaks about the future, shortly after his conversation with Agency Sales magazine, he was on his way to a marketing meeting to learn all he could about the future of hospital beds. “If the time comes that I’m earning less from the petroleum business than I should, then I want to know what’s the next thing coming.” That next thing that he was referring to was hospital beds equipped with electronic circuit boards that monitor all patient activities and vital signs and automatically send that information to central nursing stations.

Planning for the Future

He continues to emphasize the importance of thinking of and planning for the future when he says, “If I had any advice for others, it would be to plan for the future. If you don’t have a plan for moving forward, then, in fact, that’s your plan. I have to admit that even short-term I’m uncomfortable if I am not making entries in my day timer, taking notes on what to do next or creating to-do lists. I operate with a three- and a five-year plan and I’m constantly looking at notes I’ve made on a big white board.”

His penchant for planning regularly makes an appearance, he says, when he’s speaking with principals. “Do they have any business in my areas? If not, would they be interested in partnering with me for six months to a year in order to give us time to develop business?

“As you look to the future, it’s important to ask these questions and get answers. It saves a lot of wasted time if you do this at the beginning of a relationship. I’ll admit that many times these conversations go nowhere, but when I speak with principals, I’m always asking about their plans for the future.”

Ahlering got to the position he’s in today where he’s able to think about the future in a rather circuitous route. “I started college but left because I found I was more interested in women, cars and motorcycles than studying.” A stint in the Navy pointed him in the right direction. “It was there that I got electronics training and learned how to manage people.” After serving his time in the Navy, college proved a lot more attractive. After obtaining his degree, time with IBM and Johnson Controls served as a solid foundation for his career as an independent manufacturers’ representative.

“I started working as a rep with another gentleman who dropped out of the business due to ill health. When that happened I went to one of the lines we had been repping and convinced them that I knew the product line and the people in the territory. That gave me the start I needed.”

Small is Better

When he’s asked if he would do anything differently if he was starting all over in the business today, Ahlering is adamant that staying small was one of the best decisions he made. “I have a few good lines — I don’t have 20. I maintain that having fewer lines is better for me and I’m very picky when it comes to taking on new lines. Sure, I’m always looking through MANA and others’ sources, but most of the lines I find aren’t for me. There’s nothing wrong with them, but it’s just not a great fit.”

He continues that “I’m always examining ways of operating the business differently. For instance, I know of other reps that have taken on a distribution role where they stock the principal’s products. I haven’t chosen to follow that path. My relationships with my principals are very clean, i.e., no inventory. I meet with customers, determine their needs, meet those needs and I don’t have to ship or invoice anything. This allows me to market myself to customers as a business professional and not just a salesperson.”

He adds, “If I could do anything different, I think from the beginning I would have been a lot more stringent when it came to insisting on getting joint marketing fees from principals. Looking back I’ve done a lot of missionary work early on that came to nothing.

“I was fortunate with my first line in that I could take over an excellent product line with existing income. That gave me the monthly income that was necessary for me to survive and grow. I don’t know how someone else today operating with the traditional business model of getting paid only when they sell something, can survive — if there’s no business in the territory. If anything, I’d like to see a better understanding between principals and reps concerning the subject of being paid for pioneering work.”

As he presently thinks about what the future holds for him and his agency, Ahlering adds, “Right now at 76, I don’t have any plans on retiring. I’ve got strategic and tactical plans in place and plan on just taking it one step at a time. As long as I’m healthy and love what I’m doing, I’ll continue in the business.”

He adds that over the years that he’s been in business, membership in another organization — MANA — has been a great help in his planning for the future. “The independent rep that I was originally in business with was a MANA member. That’s how I got to know about the association. Once I went out on my own I joined. In addition to working with MANA staff, I’ve also learned a lot from Agency Sales. I like any magazine that’s devoted to what I do for a living. I’ve also learned a great deal about planning and executing campaigns, how to approach joint marketing fees and how to better educate manufacturers about what reps do for them.”

According to the Coastal Technology Group website, the agency assists its clients in the following areas:

Field Maintenance Parts Sales — We source, rebuild and sell the best new or rebuilt OEM electronics technology products to authorized petroleum equipment distributors and service providers and forecourt and convenience store maintenance repair organizations. Featured products include: petroleum electronics, food service equipment electronics, automatic car wash controls and modules, and other technology applications.

Business Development / Market Expansion — Our expert and experienced staff act as an intermediary marketing resource to building, managing and leveraging relationships that facilitate long-term opportunities for growth between high quality providers of services and organizations that have a need for these products or services.

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