The Rep of the Future (Sorry, Still No Jet Packs!)

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So, what skill sets will the rep of the future need to guarantee personal success and the continued success of the rep profession? How about the ability to communicate the added value reps bring to a transaction, and prove that reps are the most cost-efficient of all the possible alternatives manufacturers have to bring their products to market.

In today’s economic environment, everyone involved in a transaction is increasingly called upon to prove they add value and that they are the most cost-effective means to accomplish a task. So the rep of the future will increasingly be called upon not just to sell products and services, but also to sell the rep business model as the single most-effective way to take products and services to market.

For current and prospective principals, the rep of the future will skillfully sell the advantages of the rep business model as the only system that allows multiple manufacturers to cost-effectively share a sales force with complementary, non-competing lines. And the successful rep of the future will recognize and capitalize on this unique capability by giving even more attention to line card management and promoting to prospective principals the pull-through sales benefits of becoming part of a carefully managed, meticulously groomed, synergistic line card.

For current or prospective customers, the rep of the future will sell not only products and services, but also the benefits of conducting business with multiple manufacturers during a single meeting with a single manufacturers’ rep who has longevity in the territory and extensive knowledge of that customer’s technical and commercial requirements.

The rep of the future faces a harsh economy and tough challenges from principals and customers demanding proof of the rep’s value. To meet those challenges the rep of the future must be savvy about products, thoroughly schooled in the rep business model, and be able to offer compelling proof that any other way of taking a product to market squanders both the principal’s and the customer’s time and money.