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When a long-awaited addition became available to its product line, a manufacturer admitted that he rushed it to market.

In a positive move, he did take the time to support the effort with plenty of literature, inside sales support and online information and advertising. One thing he failed to consider, however, was the critical need to train his outsourced sales force. Taking the responsibility on his own shoulders, he explained that misstep this way: “We quickly responded to a need exhibited by the market for this product. Our thinking and planning was that we should get it into the hands of our reps, distributors and ultimately the end users as quickly as possible. When it came to training our reps, however, we fell into the trap of thinking we could do that later. Our first goal was to get the product out there and available to customers.”

Ultimately, the manufacturer conducted the product launch, which failed to live up to expectation and the manufacturer and his reps were predictably disappointed.

To rectify the situation and ensure there was no similar breakdown in the future, the manufacturer initiated a program of bringing all his agency owners into the headquarters office at least annually. “There’s a two-pronged rationale behind this move,” he explained. “First, we’ve always believed that it’s important for our reps to come in here, meet with our new people and interact with the people that provide them with the inside support they depend upon to do their jobs properly. Second, we devoted at least half a day during their visit to bringing them up to speed with new products and providing them with the training they needed. We’ve been doing this on a rotating basis with all of our reps. Thus far, all we’ve heard are positives from the field.”

What Makes a Manufacturer a Favorite?

Inherent in the conversations we’ve had with MANA members during several MANAchats this last year were any number of examples of all kinds of top-line relationships between reps and their manufacturers. Some of those comments reflect what reps’ value in their “emotional favorite” principals. For instance:

• “There’s one manufacturer we’ve been representing for two decades. They are an excellent principal for a number of reasons, including that we have never lost a customer because of poor quality or service. In fact, we have never lost one of their customers for any reason. The professionalism of all of the people at their headquarters office is outstanding — at every level of the organization.”
• “One of our principals got me started in the rep business and they’ve done everything they could to keep me going over the years. They treat me excellently and I enjoy working with them. They have exhibited a commitment to and a concern for their reps, and they treat us as an integral part of their organization. They offer a long-term contract, commissions that exceed current industry standards, and they constantly generate leads with effective marketing.”
• “I’d point out the fact that our favorite principal is family owned and operated and they stay focused on the customer. Their product offering has grown by their innovation and by their ability to listen to their reps when they find a new product niche. They also are admirable in that they support women-owned rep groups in the scientific market. They’re an outstanding example of excellence to other manufacturers.”

Turning Bad Into Good

Some “bad news” for one manufacturer ultimately resulted in a positive response to a problem.

According to the manufacturer, “Shortly after we experienced a period of poor deliveries coupled with some quality problems in the field, we called five of our top-performing reps into our headquarters office for an ad hoc ‘rep council’ meeting. I was amazed and gratified by the reps’ candor and willingness to share their ideas about how to fix the problems. We went ahead with several of their suggestions and realized immediate improvements. Ultimately, the shame is on us for what happened next — nothing. We didn’t do anything to formalize the rep council, and we just let it go away.”

The manufacturer’s executive admitted that he was hardly surprised when within the next year and a half, a whole new crop of problems developed, and they were problems that were felt right on the company’s bottom line.

“Looking back on our success with a rep council, we re-established it and once again benefited from their input. This time, however, we learned our lesson. We now have annual rep council meetings, and we’ve established a rotating system where we’re constantly bringing in new members. The change of membership within the council guarantees a fresh supply of new and creative ideas that we’ve continued to benefit from.”

Manufacturer Learns From Rep Past

It’s hardly unusual when a profile of an independent manufacturers’ rep reports that he or she began their career as a manufacturer. The opposite is a little more unusual, but when we spoke with one manufacturer, she provided some valuable insight gleaned from her time as a rep. Here’s what she had to say she valued in her rep sales force:

• “It’s critical for the rep to remain focused on the specific needs of the customer and keep his presentations tightly focused on meeting those needs in addition to anticipating and solving customer problems.”
• “If a rep is in the habit of doing all the talking during a sales call, the opportunity is lost to really learn what the customer needs and wants. I always encourage reps to build in time for questions and ensure that they’re prepared to answer all of them.”
• “Finally, I’d say that there’s nothing better than a rep who is not only informed on all current product applications, but also on industry trends in general. When both elements are included in a presentation, the customer will be impressed. It’s up to the manufacturer to push his reps in this direction. Since I was once a rep, this process is a lot more natural and easier for me.”

A Positive for Reps

There’s nothing good that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic. One thing that did happen, however, was a marked increase in the number of manufacturers that were seeking out rep firms. This occurred as individual states imposed various restrictions on the ability of individuals to travel and customers severely limited the ability of their people to meet with outside personnel.

According to one manufacturer, “When our ability to travel and meet with customers was severely curtailed, we decided to make a move from a direct to an outsourced sales force. We reached this decision when business slowed and we found that our sales force wasn’t having much luck selling new or existing products into territories where they’d had success in the past. While this was going on, we were still faced with the prospect of supporting them in terms of full salary, benefits, and all the inside support we’ve always provided. Like many other companies, we were forced to make cuts to achieve savings and one of those areas where we cut was in the number of our direct salespeople. We made the move to reps in a number of territories and we couldn’t be happier with the results. As a matter of fact, things have worked out so well, we doubled our efforts and are actively searching out more rep firms.”

Help on the Way Out the Door

There was a silver lining in store for one manufacturer when one of his reps resigned the line because of a conflict. Here’s what the manufacturer had to say: “I can’t say I was really happy when one of our best reps let me know that they felt they had to resign the line. What happened was that one of their other lines had been acquired by another company that was one of our competitors. For a variety of reasons, the rep felt they should stick with the other company. What happened next, however, proved to me how valuable this rep was. Instead of leaving us in the lurch, they went the extra mile to locate another excellent rep for us, despite the fact they would be facing this rep in the competitive arena in the territory. As a result of them going the extra mile, I can’t say enough positive about them. This just reaffirms my philosophy of teaming up with real pros (reps) and establishing good, solid relationships with them. I really hope I can work with them again in the future.”

Learning a Lesson From Sports

As one manufacturer was complimenting his reps as the most efficient way to go to market, he made a valid comparison between reps and professional athletes. According to the manufacturer, “Independent manufacturers’ reps are the way to go. Sales cost is based on performance — no sales, no cost. Direct salespeople are based on expected sales. No sales still have sales cost. The best analogy is baseball, football and basketball players are paid to be on the team in hopes that they perform (just like direct salespeople). Professional golfers are not paid until after they perform (the same as independent manufacturers’ reps).”

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