When Weinacht & Associates, Collinsville, Illinois, sent out the press release that accompanies this article, they positioned themselves firmly in the crosshairs for the discussion on the impact of change that Agency Sales has been engaged in since the beginning of the year.

The 30-year-old rep firm has not only grown over the years, but it has distinguished itself as a successful and thriving business in its territory.

As he considers how Weinacht & Associates has dealt with the trend of change, specifically in the area of training, Kevin Weinacht, CPMR, notes that discussion really can’t take place unless you address the larger subject of overall change and how it has impacted the rep.

Kevin Weinacht (left) conducts product training at Grainger with Bill Kemper, District Manager (right) and Jeff Avery, Branch Manager, St. Louis, Missouri.

As he does that he points a finger firmly in the direction of technology when he looks for the main drivers of change. “When we opened our doors back in the ‘80s, one of our first investments was in an IBM Selectric typewriter. When we got that machine, I thought we were on top of the world. One of our next moves was to get a computer from Radio Shack. We were actually one of the earliest reps to make such a purchase in this area. I’ll never forget that big old thing. Finally, when fax machines came along, we debated for the longest time whether we should get one or not. When we finally determined it was here to stay, we made the purchase.”

He admits that now as he looks back on all the technology that’s available to help reps do their jobs, it’s hard to believe how far Weinacht & Associates has come in the relatively short time frame of the 30 years he’s been in business. “And, we’re not done yet. We’re right in the middle of redoing our website. One of the major changes we’re implementing there is to include our salesmen’s cell phone numbers on the website. What better way is there to let the customer know they can get in touch whenever they have a question or problem?”

Inherent in his and his agency’s belief that keeping up with change is imperative, Weinacht notes that the only way to properly keep up with the changes swirling around the business is by adequately training the people associated with the agency.

Believe in Training

Training at one of the principals that we represent, Koike Aronson. Kevin Weinacht (center) with Brad Williams (left), Vice President of Sales and Jeff Gates, Training Coordinator.

In answer to the question, “How do you perform your job as a rep while spending time keeping up with change?” Weinacht responds: “I’m not saying it’s not difficult, but one thing I’ve always believed in is training my people so they can perform at the top of their game. I have invested heavily in training our people over the years. Any time we take on a product line, I always send my sales staff to the factory for product training. I continue to send our people back for additional training and sales meetings. Many of the sales meetings that are conducted at the manufacturer’s factory turn out to be more extensive product training. I’ve sent my salesmen for some of the training offered by MRERF and in addition, my wife (Debbie), who serves as the agency vice president, and I have both completed MRERF’s CPMR program.”

He adds: “The CPMR program is a great executive educational program in which firm owners and managers gain knowledge and insight into operating a business more effectively and profitably as well as learning the value of international networking. What we learned during the CPMR program has been very helpful for us in running our agency.”

Fritz Klug, one of our sales managers, and 12-year-old Connor Weinacht, the next president of Weinacht & Associates in training.

And, that’s not all. “With the way technology has advanced, we’re able to make use of online training on specific topics through ToolingU (www.toolingu.com), webinars and a wealth of DVDs. This helps us cut down on the cost of bringing everyone to one location along with increasing the availability of more training. I also try to have quarterly meetings where I bring our salesmen into the home office. When I do that, part of the meeting is devoted to specific product training.”

It’s not just the outside sales force that Weinacht is concerned with. “I’ve always been a believer in having training for our inside sales staff. I have and continue to send our inside people to classes that are conducted for office-related functions as well as product training.”

Weinacht maintains the training function isn’t limited just to his inside and outside sales force — principals and customers have to be trained on the value of working with reps.

Training Principals and Customers

Taking principals first, Weinacht explains how important it is to train manufacturers on how to effectively work with reps. “Companies that have used a direct sales force for years and all of a sudden decide to start working with agencies that have multiple people out in the field open the door to endless opportunities for us. However, most of the time they don’t really know how to work with reps or, conversely, what we need from them. What happens is that a learning or training curve has to be negotiated by each of us. It’s incumbent upon the rep to do all that he can to make the principal more knowledgeable about the rep.”

In order to help the principal travel that learning curve, Weinacht says he’s sent principals a number of articles and recommended books/publications that have been offered by MANA and MRERF.

Taking on customers next, he offers: “We are constantly training our customers. Among our goals is to conduct sales meetings for our key distributor customers a few times each year.” He adds that this customer training is normally done by the agency. “A lot of it is hands-on training, allowing the distributor salesmen the opportunity to actually demonstrate the tool.”

He continues, “We also try to get in as many joint calls to the end user as we can with the distributor salesmen and ourselves. During this time together, we can see how much the distributor knows and we can follow up on our next call in order to train them better.”

If nothing else, Weinacht maintains that the willingness of the agency to take on something new and to invest in new ways of conducting business showed what the agency was all about.

“From the beginning,” he continues, “these steps showed our belief in investing back in the company. I believe in spending money to make money. Not everyone does that — but we do, and it’s served us well.”