When faced with challenges are you more likely to see the glass as “half full” or as “half empty”? What does this mean if you are operating an independent manufacturers’ representative business?

© Romolo Tavani | stock.adobe.com

One of the first manufacturers I represented when I started my rep agency in 1975 was a European manufacturer of PVC, single-ply roofing membrane. This manufacturer was one of the first single-ply membrane manufacturers to gain a foothold in the U.S. market. For 100 years commercial roofing subcontractors installed only built-up asphalt or coal tar pitch roofing systems. Single-ply roofing material was beginning to shake the roofing industry to its core.

Our sales volume exploded and grew rapidly for seven years. I added outside salespeople and inside office support personnel. Many more manufacturers entered the market. After seven years, this manufacturer refused to match the lower pricing of these competitors. Total sales began declining. Although I added other complementary product manufacturers, our sales growth during the first 15 years in business depended primarily on the success of our European manufacturer. To recover our sales growth the manufacturer expanded our Virginia sales territory into North Carolina and Washington D.C. In return for awarding this added territory the manufacturer insisted I add additional outside sales personnel. By 1988 I had three outside salespeople, myself and two inside sales administrators. Then came a crash!

Customers reported disastrous membrane splitting, opening their buildings to the weather. Our manufacturer stood behind their product by offering owners repair solutions, but the combination of lower competition pricing and the product problems caused sales to drop precipitously. By 1992 I had to release my salespeople. I became a one-person agency with one inside support administrator. I remained optimistically positive about my future, but I had to rebuild my business with a different group of manufacturers.

There are many ways one can remain positive through the ups and downs of a manufacturers’ rep business. I repeated positive affirmations to myself when I was traveling from one appointment to another. Examples of affirmations can be found in the book, The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, quotes from Zig Ziglar, a well-known motivational speaker in the 1970s, and in the Bible.

I continuously reflected on the respect my customers and manufacturers showed. They told me how much they appreciated the service I provided and my attention to details. My friends and family always encouraged me.

Believe You Will Be Successful — Persevere

When one starts a manufacturers’ rep business, there will be bumps in the road along the way. There will be challenges to face. Mistakes will be made and corrected. Never doubt yourself.

Early in my career I adopted the motto, “Never, never, never, never give up,” a variation of the words of Winston Churchill used during the dark days of World War II. There is no business problem or challenge that does not have a solution.

In 2005 I had been in business for 30 years. I was 63 years old. Between 1992 and 2005, I reengineered my business four times, struggling to find the right combination of manufacturers to rebuild sales volume back to the levels I had between 1975 and 1992. I explored using my international experience from the years prior to starting my manufacturers’ rep business. I could not find the right combination of manufacturers to provide the sales volume I needed to finish my career and to retire comfortably.

Then came the biggest business break in my career! A manufacturer of insulated metal wall panels in Ohio whom I had been representing for three years advised me their sales employee responsible for the northern Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland area resigned suddenly. The sales manager offered to add this territory to my Virginia territory. My expanded territory included Washington D.C. and Baltimore, two of the top 30 metropolitan areas in the country. My sales territory had never included these large metropolitan areas, which are engines of growth. This manufacturer was purchased in 2008 by the largest manufacturer of insulated metal wall panels in the world. My sales and commissions exploded to levels I had never experienced.

I quickly established strong relationships with architects and customers in my expanded territory. In 2007 one of my new customers purchased wall panels, windows, and louvers for a major manufacturing plant in Maryland. It was the largest sale ever made by my Ohio manufacturer. The commission was the largest single commission I received in my entire career! The success I experienced from 2005-2014, 30 years from when I started my business, allowed me to begin a period of semi-retirement and final retirement in 2021.

This experience proved that no matter how difficult the circumstances in a business become, you should never give up. Persevere. Keep reimagining your business. You will be successful.

Maintain a Long-Term Outlook

A major difference between the management of a large corporation and a small business is the mental outlook of the owners. A small business like an independent manufacturers’ representative must have a long-term outlook. Statistics demonstrate it takes up to seven sales contacts to complete a sale to a new customer. In some industries sales can be closed in a day or a few weeks. In other industries like the commercial construction industry a commission on a project may not be received for months or years! A long-term outlook is critical when dealing with customers.

Accept Constant Change

One of the mottoes of the Chairman of the Board and founder of the first Fortune 500 corporation I worked with was, “the only constant in business is change.” A group of young friends and I who began our careers with this corporation witnessed the management structure of the company reorganized yearly! After managing my own business, I fully understood how true this motto was and how important it is to accept rapid changes.

When my business was incorporated in 1975, communication with manufacturers and customers was by telephone, a telex type machine, or by “snail mail.” It took days or weeks to provide quotations to customers and to handle their problems. There were no overnight delivery services, no computers, and no cell phones.

The methods of communication changed dramatically each decade. First came the personal computer, then fax machines, then the internet, then email followed by the cell phone and all types of social media. Any business that did not adapt to these constant changes and learn how to use them to provide the highest level of service to customers was doomed to failure.

Have Fun — Enjoy Your Ride

Many of my friends have accepted early retirement packages from large corporations. Their work no longer provided satisfaction. Corporate bureaucracy, the lack of appreciation from management for the jobs they were performing are just a couple of reasons they wanted to stop.

One of the benefits of owning an independent manufacturers’ representative business is freedom. You establish the business culture. You are in control of all aspects of your business. I operated my business for 46 years because I had fun and loved serving my customers and manufacturers with the highest level of service. When I reflect on my career it was the hundreds of friendships and the respect I enjoyed from my customers and manufacturers that made the business so much fun.

With the right attitudes, the correct business model, the right group of manufacturers, good employees, and loyal customers you will have fun being an independent manufacturers’ representative. Enjoy your ride.

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