Manufacturers search out and join MANA for a variety of reasons. One manufacturer recently recounted his rationale which was aimed at solving a couple of problems that had cropped up over the years.

According to the manufacturer, “Just as everyone else does, we look at our numbers and we reached a point where we knew we had to do something about our poor performance and shrinking market share. Even if the economy remained constant, we see our share of business getting smaller and smaller. It doesn’t take a genius to come to the conclusion that the way we’ve been conducting business over the years isn’t working. Sure, we’re seeing a lot of activity among our reps, but that activity isn’t resulting in any growth of our numbers.”

And, that wasn’t their only concern. It became evident that word had gotten around among reps and prospective reps that the company was difficult to work with — especially in two areas:

• When it came to communication, reps simply weren’t aware of what the company’s policies were.
• On top of that the company failed to grant its reps any level of exclusivity in their respective territories. That resulted in less than desirable levels of performance — not to mention loss of market share.

After some communication with MANA, the importance of quality communication with reps has finally been realized by the manufacturer. In an effort to solve this problem, the company’s marketing manager has volunteered that the time is right to re-institute a rep council. One was in place years ago but when the company balked at a number of their reps’ constructive criticisms, the council’s twice-a-year meetings shrank to annual get-togethers, and then down to virtually nothing about three years ago. After only a few months on the job, the marketing manager has heard enough from some of their most tenured reps to know that there are a number of issues that have to be addressed — immediately.

Considering the matter of exclusivity, it appears to be a done deal that in the company’s home state, the non-exclusive arrangement will continue. But in his wisdom and in an effort to show that may not be the best practice, the marketing manager got management to agree to exclusive arrangements elsewhere in the country to see how it works. It’s his hope that once management sees an increase in rep performance elsewhere, a change will be made in the company’s home state.

Corporate Culture

During the course of a MANAchat with manufacturers earlier this year, the subject of manufacturers involving independent reps in the manufacturers’ corporate culture was introduced. That discussion brought to mind a similar discussion that appeared in the pages of Agency Sales magazine years ago.

The discussion that ran in the magazine follows:

To have, or not to have a company culture — that is the question.

When asked what steps her company has taken to involve its network of independent reps into her company’s business culture, the company president paused for a moment before answering and said “I’m not sure we really have a company culture.”

By definition, perhaps she was right. However, when it came to performance, it was quite a different story.

“We’re (all of the company’s executives and inside support staff) always available. As a matter of fact, all of our reps have my direct number, and when they call it, I’m the one who answers.”

That’s not where the communication stops. “Over the years, we’ve created an environment of completely open-ended communication. I’m in regular contact with our reps via phone, fax and email. In return, I’ve grown to expect that our reps will let me know about anything substantial that happens in the field. When it comes to reports from the field, we don’t have strict guidelines concerning when or how our reps should report to us. However, the smart ones have learned that it’s as simple as the common phrase, ‘the squeakiest wheel get the grease.’ By that, I mean once a rep has established a record of performance and then says he needs something, he gets it — no questions asked.”

Sounds pretty “cultured” for a company with no business culture, doesn’t it?

Trips in the Field

Responding to an article in Agency Sales on the value of manufacturer joint visits in the field with its reps, one manufacturer outlined the procedure he follows before venturing outside the confines of his office. “What we do is to let the rep pave the way when it comes to joint sales calls in the field. To begin with, in my view there should be no such thing as a spur-of-the-moment trip to the territory.

“Naturally, there are exceptions to every rule, and the exception I might mention here is when the rep asks you for help on short notice for a specific purpose. What I generally do, however, is to schedule our visits well in advance. Once we let the rep know we’re coming, we ask him to lead the way and schedule appointments where we might accomplish the most — for him. It’s been my habit that once we get his and the customers’ needs taken care of, then I can put my requests on the table. By operating in this manner, I’ve found that the huge majority of my reps have been very cooperative. I might add that I don’t overdo the visits to the territory.”

Maximizing Channel Performance

One of the most frequently covered subjects in the pages of Agency Sales is that of manufacturer rep councils. Adding to that subject, one manufacturer recently weighed in with his thoughts on learning more about what his reps are thinking. “I’d point to the fact that improving the relationships with our reps is an integral part of our DNA. With that thought in mind, we created a position in our company — I’ll call it a channel process specialist. Part of that person’s job is to spend time in the field with all of our reps. Once there, she literally sits in every chair in the agency in order to learn how they do their jobs and what their concerns/problems are — especially in their dealings with us. This position has been in place for about two years now and if anyone has job security in our company, it’s this person. Not only has the communication between us and our reps improved because of changes we’ve implemented, but our reps have been freed up to spend more time selling in the field. And, isn’t that what they really want to be doing anyway?”

Filling the Communication Gap

Quarterly marketing phone calls with reps has gone a long way toward filling a communication gap for one manufacturer. According to the national sales manager for this company, “Typically our reps are representing multiple product lines from our company. As a result, when each line puts out a new product, the rep becomes the recipient of messages from four different sources. We’ve found that with the multiple communications there can be a great deal of wasted effort, not to mention the possibility for confusion. To counter that, on a quarterly basis we’ve implemented a ‘marketing wave packet’ phone call that walks the rep through our marketing plans. We contact reps ahead of time to let them know when we’re going to be talking to them. Then we go through all the new product materials and bring them up to speed on all of our marketing efforts. This is a one-shot effort that eliminates a lot of other phone and email messages and makes our joint effort that much more effective.”

Learning from Past Experience

For manufacturers who have spent some time in their career wearing the shoes of a rep, they might find the views of one rep enlightening. According to the rep, “Whenever I’m working with a new sales manager and he lets me know right at the beginning that he used to be a rep, I write ‘times two’ on a sheet of paper.” By “times two” he means this former rep’s expectations are going to be double the business that truly exists in the territory.

He continued that “These former reps are adamant that whatever didn’t work out for them as a rep is going to work now. It doesn’t make any sense to me, but that’s the way they think.”

If anything, he maintains, he urges reps-turned-manufacturers to be more practical in their approach to working with their former peers. “And, remember, whatever mistakes you might have made in your former career don’t need to be repeated now”

Adding Responsibilities

A marketing manager for a manufacturer remarked that just like so many other companies, his management team has required him to take on more and more duties — without a corresponding investment in marketing. As he explained: “Most of the increased activity has had to be borne by our reps. At first, they exhibited a willingness to comply, but I knew that wasn’t going to last forever. As we kept on heaping more and more responsibilities on their shoulders, we reached the point where two of our better agents told us that they were dropping the line. When I relayed this to management, their response was that there are probably plenty of other reps in the territory who would like to add our line. I was directed to seek them out and that’s what I did. Things didn’t turn out as management had anticipated. Prospective reps had already heard about how we were operating and they turned us down. Management’s response? There are probably others we can go to. My problem is that management doesn’t see that this wasted time is losing us sales. I hope the bottom liners have had their day.”

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