Whether it’s considering if the role of the rep is changing, sharing tips on how to use technology to maximize productivity, or offering advice for getting in front of ever-elusive customers, regularly scheduled MANAchats have become a welcome meeting place for association members. Those and other subjects were addressed in recent sessions of the chats that were participated in by numerous MANA members and took place over several days.

Contacting Customers

As noted in another article that appears in this issue of Agency Sales, the lasting impact of Covid and other variables have made it more difficult for reps to get face-to-face with their customers. The majority of reps that participated in the MANAchat sessions agreed that in-person relationships and person-to-person visits with customers remain the most valuable tools in the rep’s arsenal, but being able to use those tools is more difficult today than ever before. Whether it’s the trend for more and more buyers to work from home or the ability of decision makers to “hide” behind voicemail and email, reps are finding it more and more difficult to see their customers. And, if they are able to even get on the opposite side of the desk from their long-standing customers, it’s usually only with those that they’ve been lucky enough to benefit from relationships that have been established over the years.

One rep explained, “We’re seeing business travel begin to return to what it was prior to Covid, but it’s still not the same. There are any number of companies that still won’t let you in on-site and others will only let you call if you’re wearing a mask. Then I’ve had the experience that you plan a sales trip, and while you’re in the air traveling to the meeting, some of the people you are scheduled to call on contract Covid, and the meeting has to be called off.”

What remains is the question of how reps can effectively negotiate this changing and challenging buying-selling environment.

In answer to that question, chat participants offered their thoughts.

The Rep’s Changing Role

“Things have definitely changed.” That’s how one rep opened the discussion related to whether the role of the rep is changing vs. how it was in the recent past. “There are so many more options today for the customer, including buying online and making use of social media. At the same time, I’m dealing with a huge increase in the volume of email traffic. Just trying to keep up with that takes too much of my time. Are there any viable shortcuts?”

The Impact of Technology

When the subject of technology’s impact on the rep was introduced, chat participants noted that while in the recent past, the fax machine was a staple, today everything from a variety of CRM programs, social media and cell phones have proved to be effective selling and time-saving tools for the rep. According to one rep, “Unfortunately one thing that’s accompanied the increase in technology use is that I’m getting more and more requests from manufacturers to submit online reports to them. In general, I don’t like to do digital reports. However, if our larger, more profitable principals make that request, I’ll do it. What I try to do is send them emails on a weekly or biweekly basis that include key details of what’s happening in the territory and update them on major projects. What I don’t do, however, is share my itinerary with them.”

To see a list of technology tools compiled from recommendations of MANA members, log into the member area of www.MANAonline.org, click on the “Steps to Rep Professionalism,” and then click on step eight, “Leverage Technology to Maximize Productivity.”

Expanding Business

In the face of manufacturers’ desire to expand their business in a given territory, participants in the chats related any number of challenges they’re faced with, including how to — or how not to — take on pioneering lines, educating manufacturers on how to work with reps, tempering manufacturers’ expectations when entering a new territory, and how to deal with manufacturers that expect the rep to take on more of the marketing tasks that the manufacturer previously performed.

The importance of the manufacturer and the rep agreeing on expectations was emphasized by one rep who related that “Even though we were receiving a retainer from a manufacturer that we just took on, it really didn’t work out. The manufacturer didn’t follow any of our recommendations or advice, and we were forced to part ways after just seven months. We simply weren’t getting anywhere because we didn’t get the support we needed. I’d contrast that experience with other instances where we worked on a retainer for a specified period of time and got the necessary support — and we were very successful.”

Another rep offered, “Whenever a manufacturer is looking to contact us and is looking to expand their business into our territory, we naturally ask if they’re already doing any business here. In addition, if we take on their line, will that line open any other opportunities for us? If we find that there’s a real opportunity there, then we’ll write up a customer opportunity list and work off that list to try and generate as much business as possible.”

Another rep who explained that most of his lines were of the pioneering variety said, “What works for me is that at the beginning of the relationship, I require a three-month market development fee. It’s really quite modest, in the range of $1,000 to $5,000 a month, but it allows the manufacturer to actually get some ‘skin in the game.’ During that three-month period, I’ll go to my existing customers and introduce the new product line to them.

“After three months, the manufacturer and I get together and make a determination whether this approach has worked for both of us. If it has, then we move forward, if not we’ll part ways.”

There was a consensus that there are some common mistakes manufacturers will make when they are looking to enter a territory. “For instance,” according to one rep, “I’ve had the occasion several times where a manufacturer enters into an agreement with you to pay a retainer for a given period of time. Then, unfortunately, they think they own us. They make an effort to tell us what to do every day. They really don’t realize that the retainer they pay us doesn’t even pay our phone bill. They’ve got to keep in mind that we’re independent businesses, and we’ll make our own decisions as to what we have to do.”

In addition to educating the manufacturer and agreeing on shared expectations, reps emphasized how important it was to make a number of other determinations before entering an agreement with a manufacturer. “Naturally we want to know if they have any existing business in the territory and if they do, how much? Do they supply qualified leads? But, equally important is determining if they’ve ever worked with reps before, and if they have, what was their experience with those reps?”

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].

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List of MANAchat Participants

MANA wants to thank the following members for their contributions to the “MANAchats Let Reps Share Concerns” Agency Sales magazine article. These online virtual meetings create a platform where members exchange information on how to successfully operate their manufacturers’ representative businesses. Jack Foster, Agency Sales magazine editor, wrote the article using the information and knowledge these members provided during these chats.

Thank you! We sincerely appreciate the time you took to participate in the MANAchat and particularly the information and knowledge you shared.

Pete Thomas
Brandon Associates, Inc.
West Chester, PA

Mike Gallagher
Centro, Inc.
Memphis, TN

Brian Middleton
D & O Engineering Co., Inc.
Wichita, KS

Dave Gastel
DEG Components
Rocklin, CA

Rich Morse
E P I
Lenexa, KS

Jackie Smith
E P I
Lenexa, KS

Billy Simon
Electrical Product Sales, Inc.
Greenville, SC

Anthony Zasuwa
The Garham Group, LLC
Nunica, MI

Don Sullivan
J.W. Sullivan Co.
Ballwin, MO

Lisa Wilson
L.S. Wilson & Associates, Inc.
Bristol, WI

Nathan Langley
Phillips-Langley & Associates
Lawrencevillee, GA

Warren Hardy
Pirozzi & Associates, Inc.
Upton, MA

Allan Toole
Power Plus Reps
Bellevue, WA

Tom Rovnak
Sunstate Sales
Bradenton, FL

Edward Sweeney
Today’s Technologies
Dresher, PA

James Noyes
TTG Thomas Technology Group
Marblehead, MA

Jennifer Jambrosek
The Whittemore Co.
Addison, IL