MANA Meetings

It’s often gratifying to weigh the effectiveness and accuracy of what is offered as advice at MANA meetings and seminars against real-world experience. It’s apt that the thought comes to mind this month given the topics of two articles appearing in this issue of Agency Sales.

First, the article describing some of the discussion that took place at MANA’s annual Legal Symposium emphasizes how important it is for reps to realize and exercise their strength in the negotiating process prior to signing a contract. At the same time, the 13 attorneys who took part in the full-day discussions also emphasized how important it was for a rep to avail himself of the advice of competent legal counsel prior to signing a contract.

This fact was driven home when we spent an entire day with a MANA member as he wrestled with his approach to the subject of shared territorial development costs. Without even being apprised of the recommendation that the MANA attorneys had made in Chicago, he volunteered that he was very aggressive as he conducted his due diligence with a prospective principal. As he continued along the path of the negotiations, a number of red flags were raised including the manufacturer’s lack of enthusiasm to pay expenses for the rep to check out the factory and virtually no interest in participating in shared territory development costs.

Ultimately, as the process wore on, he decided not to cast his lot with this manufacturer. If anyone recognized the strength of his negotiating stance, it was this rep.

Second, another article in this issue relates the experience of a MANA member who was entertaining the thought of merging his agency with another firm. As a result of happenstance, or perhaps his forethought, this rep was an active participant in MANA’s Keystone Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2005. At that conference, which was cosponsored with other rep associations, he received expert advice from a consulting firm on the very process that he was considering. Following the meeting, he contacted the consulting firm and had them guide him though what wound up being a very successful merger. “As a result of interviewing us and identifying all of our concerns, we were really able to get our arms around the process. They put us in the right frame of mind to get the job done.”

Negotiating the Overseas Learning Curve

There’s nothing like being able to benefit from the experience of others. In this case, we are referring to what others have learned about conducting business with China — or any other foreign country for that matter.

These thoughts come to mind after reading an article that appeared earlier this year in Agents News, the Journal of the Manufacturers Agents Association of Great Britain and Ireland, Inc.

The article details some of the experiences of Mike Hart, MAA’s International Coordinator. Hart notes that three years ago he traveled to China with MANA where “We had fairly intense sessions meeting a stream of Chinese companies.” Following his trip, he began conducting business with companies in China. Along the way a veritable checklist of do’s and don’ts were developed that ought to serve as a useful guide to manufacturers’ representatives anywhere who are looking to conduct business overseas. Consider the following:

• Local presence — “One thing that became very apparent to me was that if we were going to succeed in China, we needed a local presence from the start.” Hart continued that English was not widely spoken, and if not for the interpreter that he had at his disposal, he would have been at a distinct disadvantage. “So basically we have found that having an interpreter is essential, unless you are dealing with a big multi-national or unless you have managed to establish that the company has a good English speaker.”
• Business cards — “Everything needs to be translated, including the agenda. Also from the start, have your business cards translated (your name and the company’s name).”
• Contracts — “We found that it is important to agree up-front who will draft the contract, otherwise each side may well have drafted their own version and this leads to an almost impossible situation of discussing four drafts (two in English and two in Chinese) all with different clauses and page numbers.”
• Retainers — “From our experience, Chinese companies will not agree to retainers or base commission payments, but contracts are just as important here as anywhere else in business, so it is important to get a good contract in place.”
• Meetings — “Face-to-face meetings, as anywhere, are infinitely more valuable than phone calls and correspondence and are definitely a worthwhile investment.”

Among the social or cultural tips that Hart offered are:

• “If you are not adept at using chopsticks, you will at least score points for trying and no doubt provide some amusement for your hosts as they watch you struggle.”
• The Chinese are not sensitive to the disruptive nature of mobile phones during a meeting and will happily break off mid-sentence to answer and then carry on a conversation for perhaps 10-15 minutes — even the person chairing the meeting. The mobile phone is king.”

Successful Cold-Calling

Sales expert Mark Hunter maintains, “The vast majority of salespeople do not enjoy cold-calling. Yet, at the same time, it is an activity that most need to perform on a regular basis. The biggest reason sales professionals are not more successful in this necessary endeavor is the defense that they have other things to do. However, nothing will overcome this excuse faster than being held accountable for making a set number of cold calls each day, each week, or each month.

As much as people would like to believe there is a secret formula for being successful at cold-calling, the only valid one is being disciplined enough to do it. When people avoid cold-calling, they are generally telling themselves that either they don’t know enough about what they’re selling or they don’t believe the outcome will be successful. For this simple reason, it is necessary to be confident in yourself and what you are selling.

The following may be beneficial as you begin to practice this critical discipline:

• Have a dedicated time each day to prospect.
• Know the reason for calling before you call — customer benefits, not product features.
• Leave short voice mail messages.
• Assume your voice mail messages will never be returned.
• Always call one level higher in an organization than you believe is necessary.
• Be confident and competent.
• Phone calls placed before 8:30 a.m. are the most likely to be answered by the person you’re trying to reach.
• Respect the gatekeeper by treating them in the same manner you would treat the prospect.
• Prospecting calls on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons will have the worst results.
• Prospecting on ‘semi-holidays’ and inclement weather days will get a higher response.
• Make it your goal to earn the right, privilege and honor to talk to the person again.
• Believe in what you’re selling and the benefits that the prospect will receive from your products/services.
• Believe in yourself and your professionalism.

Anytime is a good time to make a call; don’t wait for the ‘perfect’ time. And by practicing and persevering, both your skills and confidence will improve. Furthermore, making yourself accountable will help you turn your excuses into successful sales.”

Mark Hunter, also known as “The Sales Hunter,” is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability. For more information, contact him at TheSalesHunter.com.

Easy-to-Do Customer Service

When a rep told us recently that he was going to mend his ways and say “thank you” more often, it got us thinking about something that crossed our desk recently. The rep in question admitted saying thank you was about the easiest thing in the world that any of us can do, but how many of us do it with regularity? The thank yous he was referring to were those that should be aimed at co-workers, principals — and certainly customers.

What crossed our desk was a “baker’s dozen” of service tools. See what you think. According to the author, Craig Harrison, you may think customer service requires a huge capital outlay: expensive training, high-falutin’ CRM software, and thousands of dollars in expenditures. Nonsense! The most important parts of customer service are free.

Here’s his list of customer service components that are free:

• Smiling.
• Saying “I’m sorry,” “We’re sorry,” or “I apologize.”
• Saying “thank you for your business.”
• Saying “thank you for bringing this problem to my attention.”
• Thanking customers for allowing you to fix their problems.
• Listening.
• Sharing important information in a timely manner.
• Giving customers choices.
• Addressing customers by name.
• Making small talk that builds the relationship.
• Relating to customers on a human level.
• Relishing your interactions with your customers.
• Enjoying your work.

The point is, customer service is about many things, most of them tied to attentiveness, friendliness and empathy. We all have the capacity to employ and deploy customer service to salve our customers’ wounds. It’s as much a mind-set as it is phraseology.

The same skills you employed while delivering newspapers, selling lemonade or Girl Scout cookies as a kid will hold you in good stead as a sales or service professional. The best things in life really are free. Now pass them on.