More than three decades ago, Frank King took to heart some rather out-of-the-ordinary encouragement and began what has been a 34-year career as an independent manufacturers’ representative.
As Frank King (left) winds down his career as a manufacturers’ rep, he points to long-standing manufacturer relationships as a reason for his lengthy success. Here he meets with George Rogers, who with his brother Jim, run Kehr-Buffalo Wire Frame Co., Inc./Rogers Industrial Springs in Buffalo, New York.
According to King, FLK Assocs. Inc., Orchard Park, New York, “MANA member Joe Cook, Eastern Technologies Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina, and I were living the same apartment complex when he said to me that I was in the wrong business. He explained that I was never going to make a lot of money unless I owned the company I was working for. He said that as a rep I could make as much as I wanted — depending upon how hard I wanted to work.
“Then he said ‘You’re the kind of guy that if you got your head cut off, you’d grow another one and keep on working. That’s just how you have to be in order to be a successful rep.’”
Well King neither had his head cut off, nor did he grow another one, but he did pay attention to what he was told. Those words of encouragement put King on the path to eventually opening his own agency. “I was fortunate to get together as a sub-rep with an agency in the Rochester, New York, area that was expanding. We sold a variety of commodities including castings, spring and wire forms, and metal fabrication. I was able to develop a good bit of business on my own in the Buffalo area.”
When the owner of the agency decided to leave the business, fortune smiled on King. “The owner didn’t feel there was enough business to make a big deal of it. He simply gave the agency to me at no cost.”
Looking back at how he started in the rep business, King admits that he wished he had started earlier. “The agency I worked for certainly created a path for me to follow, but I know I would have been better off if I had gone off on my own at the very beginning.”
Sole Proprietor Challenges
As a sole proprietor of his agency, King acknowledges he was faced with the same challenges as anyone in his position including the need to find principals and establish and maintain relationships with principals and customers. Interestingly, with the former task he admits that today, “Principals are locating me through MANA at a rate I wished I had when I was looking to expand the agency business. Now, as I’m looking to exit the business, I’m going in the opposite direction and whittling down the number of principals I work with.”
Staying on the subject of principals he’s worked with over the years, King explains that while there have certainly been some who seemed to place a value in having a factory-direct sales force, “The companies I’ve had the most success with are those that understand the true value of working with an independent rep. They know that even if I’m not making a call solely on their behalf, there is a chance that an opportunity will present itself because of the other products I represent.”
If any single factor has remained a constant over the years for King, it’s the importance of relationships. “Relationships remain critically important. I’ve been fortunate in having many excellent principals and customers over the years. But one thing that has changed immensely is that there’s really no time to ‘schmooze’ any more. I can’t tell you the last time I had lunch with a principal or customer.”
MANA Benefits
King is quick to point to his membership in MANA as being a major asset to his agency’s success. “It was the rep I originally worked for that introduced me to the association. I went to MANA seminars in Rochester, have attended seminars by John Haskell (“Dr. Revenue”) and look forward to Agency Sales every month.
A testament to King’s reliance on the association can be read in a note renewing his membership that he recently sent to MANA: “Just yesterday I renewed my membership but it was late because, as you may remember, I am in the process of ‘gently’ winding down my business and my interest in adding principals, as you might imagine, is no longer present.
“I decided to renew for one last year in thanks to MANA for its support over many years (I have been a manufacturers’ agent since October 17, 1983).
“Also, in celebration of MANA’s upcoming 70 years of existence (and I know that you are aware that this October 17 date will be my 70th birthday as well), I wanted to express another act of gratitude that the organization has been present to assist me, the groups with whom I have been associated and, in fact, everyone who has chosen and been successful at this occupational model.”
As he noted in his renewal message to the association, now that he’s approaching his 70th birthday next month, King admits he’s looking forward to retirement, “…but as I look back over my career, I can say I’m very happy I chose to become a rep. This career has allowed me to enjoy so many experiences and it’s caused me to take off the blinders when it comes to working with different people. I’m glad I made the choice I did years ago.”
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