A folksy bit of wisdom was forthcoming from a meeting of four manufacturers as they were considering relations with their reps. When the subject arose of mistakes that reps make in their dealing with principals, one of the manufacturers offered the following insight: “No matter how you cook a pancake, it always has two sides.”

That’s when he went on to offer a partial list of what he considered missteps principals can be accused of making in their relations with reps. On that list were the following:

• A failure to clearly identify mutual expectations before selecting independent reps.
• Failure to understand and recognize the representative’s multi-line business and synergistic approach to selling.
• Being inconsiderate of the reps’ plans, schedules and commitments elsewhere.
• Allowing their own inadequate sales and marketing planning to produce unilateral demands on representatives — demands that are unrealistic to meet.
• Placing an emphasis on technical expertise rather than sales features and customer benefits in training, literature, and other sales/marketing efforts.
• Poor communication — lack of timely responses to inquiries, requests for quotations, irregular flow of selling information, etc.
• Failure to define the true needs in representation that so often results in a mismatch between principals and reps.
• A complete lack of a clear, accurate identification of marketing direction, such as specific markets, target market segments, applications, logical prospects, etc.
• Treating reps as outside vendors instead of “members of the family.”

Bringing Reps Into the “Family”

Responding to the previous advice on the subject of treating reps as members of the family, one of the other manufacturers picked up the ball by adding, “From the very beginning of setting up our rep network, we recognized the fact that reps are entrepreneurs or veritable ‘free spirits’ who are determined to run their own operations. At the same time they still like to know and feel that they are working for an organization that recognizes and values their contributions. They like to know that the principals they represent are growing, dynamic and exciting companies. In a real sense, agents can tap in on the feeling of excitement that exists and translate that into their own enthusiasm. But, they can only do that if the principal treats them as an integral part of the sales and marketing organization. From more than three decades of working with agents I’ve found that those companies who have that infectious enthusiasm usually have more successful agents. What I’m talking about here is creating and communicating a sense of dynamic synergy that keeps things rolling in contrast to a dull, lackluster environment which seems to infect agents with their own pessimism.”

Advance Upon Retirement

A veteran national sales manager was anxious to pass on some of the things he’s learned after a 35-year career working very closely with independent reps. As he was looking forward to his retirement late last year, he told an industry gathering some of the things he learned — often the hard way — about conducting sales meetings.

According to the manufacturer, “I could go into real detail about how to plan and execute a sales meeting for reps, but more to the point, I’d like to describe some of the things I’ve learned to stay away from when it comes to those meetings.

“High on my list of things not to include is sales training. I’ve learned that reps are among the best and most accomplished salespeople in the world. Who else would leave secure employment and be willing to work for commission? So, I’ve learned to not ever waste my or their time and try their patience with sales training. Even when reps themselves hire relatively inexperienced salespeople, they prefer to conduct the sales training themselves. Yes, they do want product and application training from me and you — but not sales training.”

“Unfulfilled promises are a ‘no-no.’ Sales meetings leave those who attend them with a lot of promises. If you know that you can’t fulfill the promises you like to make, then don’t make them. There’s no faster way to turn off agents, and to make sure that your next sales meeting will be poorly attended.”

“Stay away from one-sided meetings. Even if you don’t plan to include your agents in the formal part of the sales meeting, you should make provisions for them to take part in an extensive open session.”

“Never have a meeting without a specific goal. My experience has been that every once in a while a sales manager takes a look at the calendar and says, ‘We haven’t had a sales meeting in a year. Let’s have one now.’ Meetings planned and scheduled in this manner are usually a waste of time and effort. Every sales meeting should have at least one primary goal and a few subordinate goals. And everyone should leave the meeting knowing that the goals were accomplished.”

“I’ve never found motivational speakers to be all that useful — or memorable. When a professional motivator is the mainstay of your sales meeting it’s bound to flop. If you feel the need for outside strength, call in experts in your field who can add to the knowledge your agents will get.”

“Somewhat related to the previous ‘no-no,’ there’s little need or appreciation for time-consuming entertainment. Make sure to leave plenty of time for your agents to enjoy their surroundings if the meeting is at a resort, but don’t feel that you have to hold their hands every minute.”

More on Training….

When the aforementioned sales manager started off his list of advice for manufacturers working with reps, the subject of training got the attention of another manufacturer in attendance. In response to that mention of training, the other manufacturer noted, “Training remains an important consideration in the relationship between manufacturer and rep. Keep in mind that the training period for the agent will be minimal and largely related to learning about products and applications — not selling. Whenever you hire a direct salesperson you can estimate that he or she will, in the first six months, miss thousands of dollars in sales that an established agency would have brought in. There is no way to recover these sales once they are lost. And, the manufacturer must pay the direct person a salary plus expenses long before they are able to produce.”

Keeping Reps in the Loop as a Motivational Tool

When the subject of motivating reps was introduced at an industry gathering late last year, a consultant on hand offered the following: “Manufacturers have a lot of meetings at the plant that the agent never attends — or even knows about. The chances are, however, that a great deal is said at these meetings that would be of interest to the agent and would provide him with information that not only can be helpful in technical and selling situations, but will let him know that you think he’s important enough to be on the routing list. Even when you have meetings with individual agents it’s more than just a courtesy to send a detailed conference report — it’s sound motivation.”

Defining Expectations

Toward the end of last year a manufacturer was asked to what she would attribute the top performance of her independent representative network. In response she offered the following: “I’m not sure we’re any smarter than anyone else. We probably did the same as most manufacturers when it came to choosing, interviewing and vetting potential reps. What we did do, however, that might be considered different, is to define exactly what they can expect from us. I’m safe in saying that just about everyone who works for us and with us understands our mission and by extension they understand their own mission. Our track record with reps shows that when all sides know what they have to do from day one, we’re firmly on the same page and can grow together in the future.”

Letting the Rep Do the Job

As his semiannual face-to-face visit with one of his reps was drawing close, a manufacturer was taken to task for what the agent claimed was his controlling nature. According to the manufacturer, “The rep maintained that I was attempting to control too much of his time and effort. He said I required too many reports on various accounts and was constantly asking how much time he was putting on my line. His complaints took the breath out of me, but in all honesty there was something to them.

“His words caused me to look back on some advice I received from a mentor years ago. When I first joined the company and began working with reps, my boss explained to me that once I was charged with working with reps, my job was to support them in their efforts and provide them with all they needed to get the job done. Once I did that, I was supposed to get out of the way and let the rep work. Those words were as true then as they are today.”

The Importance of Sales Leads

When one manufacturer overheard two of his reps speaking about the need for qualified sales leads that might develop from a trade show, a manufacturer described his philosophy on the subject: “Our approach is to assist the local rep at all times by preparing the correct literature package for each trade show and send the package, with the lead, directly to the rep. The rep then can decide whether to call on the lead personally to deliver the information or mail it for a later follow-up.

“It’s not uncommon for me to get the feeling that reps don’t treat these leads with the importance that they deserve, given the time we spend preparing the documentation packages, but I do it anyway so as not the hurt those reps who really try to make the best of what we offer them.”

He concluded by noting, “The best service you can perform for both the manufacturer and the rep is to properly qualify the prospect at the show, before you take his or her card. We prefer to leave a show with a more limited list of qualified leads than with hundreds of business cards with no defined course of action.”

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