Glen Baines enjoyed early business success with his own landscaping business that he began in college and continued after graduation. However, “After getting married, I realized that things were pointing me in a different direction than just cutting grass.”
Thankfully, having grown up around the rep business, he found a comfortable place to park his lawnmower and began a new career as an independent rep. “My father was a factory salesman for 18 years prior to opening his own agency. He had always made it clear that if I was interested there was a place for me. In 1996, when I decided to make a change, I called him one afternoon, and three hours later I joined him.”
Today Baines heads Baines Group, Inc., a manufacturers’ representative agency based near Indianapolis, Indiana. The agency covers the states of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. The agency represents manufacturers of architectural hardware, commercial fenestration products, specialty doors, frames, and interior glass walls.
The agency also provides sales support, specification consultation and continuing education classes for those involved in the design, construction and maintenance of commercial buildings.
In addition to taking advantage of the comfort level he felt after having grown up around the rep business, other factors drew Baines to a career as a rep. “I’m not someone who can be comfortable sitting inside a cube operating as a cog in some corporate machine. I enjoy the outdoors and the rep business certainly lent itself to that. I like the independence that being a rep offers. It’s not static and I know that I’m going to be doing something different every day.”
Working as a Team
With close to 30 years under his belt as a rep, Baines emphasizes that while the continued growth and success of the agency remain primary goals, “The responsibility of supporting the families of our team members is a priority. Keeping that thought in mind, I regularly communicate to the rest of our team that we are all members of the same team — we’re in this together. As a result, I’m going to do the best of my ability to build and lead an organization that they’ll all be proud of.”
Today that team is composed of Baines and three sales consultants: Brent Guiliani, David Fryman and Angel Robles Jr. Baines explains that “Up until recently there were just two of us, and then two years ago, we added a third. Whenever we’ve made an addition to the team, we’ve been able to choose from people we’ve known in the business for several years.”
Baines describes his agency as a “niche business. We deal in commercial architecture products. Because of our industry size, a lot of people know who we are. While we’re not really looking to significantly expand our product offering, we always have our ears open for product lines that would fit with what we’re already offering.”
He adds that when considering prospective lines, “In the past we’ve had some conversations with principals regarding taking on pioneering lines. While I’ve read quite a bit about some sort of manufacturer co-op or incentive support prior to earning commission, we really haven’t had much experience with it. I’m certainly not opposed to any such relationships, but it would only make sense if a new line fit with the rest of the lines we represent.”
Trust Is the Difference
Asked what makes the Baines Group different from competing reps, Baines offers that it all comes down to trust. “Our agency has been in business for close to fifty years. Over that close to half a century, we’ve always held ourselves to the highest ethical standards — and our customers and principals recognize that fact by continuing to work with us.”
Speaking on the subject of relations with the agency’s customers and principals, Baines offers that in working with the former, unlike many other rep firms coming out of Covid, “We really haven’t had that much difficulty in getting appointments with our customers. The difference today, however, is that there are fewer people to contact in person. I’ll always advocate that the most effective means of communication with customers is face-to-face. However, things have changed and now we stay in touch electronically. Today there are so many other ways to communicate that are just as effective. Now you have hundreds of emails, texts and remote calls that take the place of those person-to-person contacts.”
Switching the subject to relations with principals, he continued, “By and large the companies that we’re engaged with certainly get how we fit together. I’d add, however, that in general, I wish more people in the various organizations better understood our role. If there’s an area where principals don’t know what we’re doing, it usually results because there’s a blind spot or some sort of a black hole of information. Manufacturer sales management certainly gets it, but sometimes when speaking with order entry or customer service personnel, some of those folks don’t fully understand what we’re doing down the line. If there’s any rectifying of that situation, I think the education has to come from two directions: first internally, manufacturer management has to be committed to the rep business model. They have to explain to all their personnel what the rep model means to the company internally, and here’s what these folks do. Remember that they’re not employees and they bring value.
Constant Communication
“Second, the message needs to come from us as well when we talk to the order entry or customer service and other people. We should be constantly educating them as to what we do.”
He adds that “In addition to their sales management people, I’ve actually had some of our principals have their field people spend a couple of days with us in the territory. That’s been a very effective and important part of the educational process.”
Baines continued that there can be instances when reps wish their principals were more knowledgeable or appreciative of what they do. However, at the same time, the shoe can be on the other foot and the rep should be aware of any concerns or problems that their principals have. “For instance, consider a time when a principal will announce a new program or product. You might look around the room and sigh because there’s a lack of enthusiasm. Or, maybe you feel they should have asked you about it ahead of time. I’d maintain that there are times when we simply need to be more accepting of what the principal is trying to accomplish. Maybe a better response would be to have an open mind for the acceptance of something new.”
In closing Baines is asked about his membership in MANA: “I learned about MANA probably 15-20 years ago. I did the research to learn all about the association and saw the benefits of membership. I also like the content and tone of Agency Sales and appreciate the information the magazine provides to both sides of our business.”
The Baines Group File
Location: Carmel, Indiana
Founded: 1989
Website: www. bainesinc.com
Territory Covered: Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio
Products and Services: Architectural hardware and door security accessories; commercial door, frame, and fenestration products; interior glass walls; and protective coatings.
MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].
