If an independent manufacturers’ representative decides to expand business by buying another agency, he’ll do much more than just look at the new agency’s front door, decide he likes the looks of it, and goes ahead to buy the agency. Instead, a good deal of time, money and energy will be expended over the course of conducting due diligence in order to determine whether it’s the right fit or not.

So too is it when the task at hand is that of hiring salespeople that will help the agency grow its business. There are no hard-and-fast rules and certainly there are no short cuts to take in order to ensure a proper fit.

When Agency Sales sought the views of industry veterans on the subject of hiring sales staff, their opinions on the subject varied a bit, but one consistent opinion surfaced with each of them — finding, hiring and keeping good sales staff is no easy task.

“Hard? Sure it’s hard finding and hiring salespeople. Part of the difficulty is that most of the good people already have jobs.” That was the response to the question of hiring new salespeople by Mike Long, CPMR, CSP, Mike Long & Associates, Inc., Concord, North Carolina. But rather than just sitting back and dwelling on the difficulty of the task, Long says that when it comes to interviewing prospective salespeople “I’ve taken a page out of Lee Iacocca’s autobiography.” He explains that the former head of the Chrysler and Ford Motor companies “maintained that there were two things he couldn’t really determine when interviewing someone: do they have any common-sense street smarts; and, will they actually go out there and work? I’ve learned over the years, that the best approach for me is to try and get a determination of those two points when I talk to someone.”

Hiring Someone You Know

To aid him in his approach, Long says, “Unless there’s a very rare situation, I’ve decided that I won’t hire anyone who doesn’t meet one of two criteria: first I have to know them personally, or someone that I know and trust must know them and recommend them. Our general rule is that we use our own personal network of friends and business associates to locate prospective salespeople. In addition, we’ve had much more success hiring people without ‘experience.’ I’d maintain that new salespeople can be trained the way we like them to be trained. Sure there’s a longer learning curve, but our results have been much better in the long term with this approach. I prefer to train people in the way I want them to sell.

“The key here is to not be impatient. I’ve developed a great deal of patience over the last 20 years and I’ve learned that what we’re doing here is making long-term decisions. So, sure there can be a steep learning curve, but it’s the long-term results that we’re looking for.”

When it comes to any advice he might offer to other agencies faced with the prospect of searching for salespeople to expand their business, Long says:

• “Avoid name droppers. I’ve found that they usually don’t have the relationships they brag about.”
• “Once you get someone on board, provide them with the proper training. They always need some of the basic blocking and tackling information that will help them perform their jobs better.”
• “And, finally, once again, don’t be hasty. Remember that you’re filling a void in your organization and you want to do it correctly. If you make the wrong decision, you’ve probably wasted 6-8 months time. Be patient and wait for the right person.”

An Art — Not a Science

Craig Lindsay, CSP, CPMR, couldn’t agree more with Long that finding and hiring the right person for your organization “is probably the most important thing that we as agency owners do. In our business, people are our most important asset. If we make a mistake, we’ll pay the price for a long time.”

Lindsay, Pacesetter Sales & Associates, McKellar, Ontario, Canada, who serves on MANA’s Board, says that “Finding the right people for your organization is an art and not a science. There are some things you can do, however, to make it more of a science.”

Among the steps an agency owner can complete, he maintains, are:

• Due diligence — “Sure there’s a lot of work, cost and time that must be completed, but it’s one of the major things that has to be done to find the right people.”
• References — “Naturally we’ll check references that prospective salespeople provide us. At the same time, however, we’re aware of the fact that prospects will go to the people they know will provide them with the best references. In addition to checking them, though, we’ll also listen carefully during the interview process when it comes to companies they’ve worked with in the past. Sometimes those companies are within our industry and involved people that we know. That’s something we can check on.”
• Interviewing — “Some people — especially salespeople — know how to interview well. That’s why it’s so important to ask the right questions and listen carefully to the answers during the interview process. It’s easy to come back with the standard ‘pat answer’ to various questions. When we find that an individual is being vague in their responses and unable to provide concrete examples of how they’ve acted in previous situations, then we usually put up a red flag. That’s why it’s so important to ask open-ended questions and ask the prospect for examples of what they’ve done in the past. That allows you to delve a bit deeper during the interview process.”

After employing all of the above steps and more, Lindsay explains, “All of our efforts are aimed at reducing the number of mistakes we might have made over the years. I and my sales managers have gotten better at the process and all we’re really trying to do is to make our results more predictable.”

Finally, he notes that “the entire process we employ is geared toward hiring good salespeople. The individual must have selling skills. We can always teach them about the product we represent, but they’ve got to come to us with those selling skills. It’s up to us to find those people.”

Survey the Customer Base

When he was asked the same questions about locating the best salespeople for a rep firm, Bill Ingram, Fusion Tank & Silos, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, explains the process he would follow: “I used the same process to find and hire salesmen for the rep firm I owned for 11 years as I did as a national sales manager looking for independent representatives for my products. The first thing to do is talk to the customer base. Ask ‘Who do you know that is a good and reliable salesman?’ Or in the case of the independent sales representative: ‘Who do you know that is a good and reliable rep firm?’ The response you’d usually get was ‘Bob Jones is a real good pump salesman’ or “Jones Sales Associates is a good equipment rep.’ The next question was: ‘Would you buy my products if Bob Jones or Jones Sales Associates was part of our team?’ The ‘Yes’ answer was always the same in either case. How can you go wrong hiring salespeople that customers already buy from and confirm they will continue to do so? You can’t!”

When he’s asked what attributes he values most in a prospective salesperson, Ingram says that “Obviously the best salesmen are the best listeners, so that’s something that you’re looking for. In general, however, you can search out desirable attributes during the interview process. Naturally, you’re looking for a good personality, appearance, someone who’s likeable and doesn’t come across with too many promises.”

Ingram, just as the other representatives interviewed for this article, maintains that the ability to sell is something that’s inherent in the individual. While they can be trained in the products that they are representing, they can’t necessarily be trained how to sell. “What you should be looking for is someone who knows how to sell, and who can be trained according to the way you want them to sell your product line. Here’s what you’re looking for — you want someone who has the guts to walk into a room and sell something. That’s what it’s all about.”

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MANA’s “Steps to Manufacturers’ Agent Professionalism” Program

MANA defines itself as the association for professional manufacturers’ reps and those who aspire to be professional. We believe the more professionally you operate your business, the more successful you become. The greater your professionalism level, the higher the quality of principals you sign up. The higher their quality, the greater your sales and commissions.

This issue of Agency Sales magazine examines the importance of growing your business by hiring employees or sub-reps. Many manufacturers’ agents decide to grow their businesses by hiring direct salespeople or sub-reps. They leverage the efforts of the salespeople or sub-reps to increase sales. Multi-person agent firms attract larger more established principals. Professional manufacturers’ agents grow their businesses by hiring qualified direct salespeople or sub-reps.

MANA members and associates may access the various articles and other presentations that address the importance of reps and manufacturers working together to ensure future success in the territory by visiting the “member-only” section of the MANA website (www.MANAonline.org).

Educational Resources

Special report:

A Manufacturers’ Agent’s Guide to the Use of Independent Contractors — MANA’s legal counsel offers definitions of independent contractors vs. agency employees and discusses the tax implications of each. Important content includes discussion of the 20-point Common Law Test used by the Internal Revenue Service.

Agency Sales articles:

“There’s No One Way to Pay Sales Staff” — Agency owners weigh in with the various methods they employ to compensate their sales staff. Approaches vary from commission only, draw, base plus commission, and more.

“In Search of the Right Salespeople” — Agency owners offer their thoughts on how to find, hire, train and keep sales superstars.

“Survey Shows Compensation Changes for MANA-ERA-NEMRA Reps” — The joint-agency compensation survey identifies trends, and can assist in strategic planning, offer warnings of things to come and generally provide great fodder for conversations.

“Non-Compete Clauses” — MANA Attorney Mitchell Kramer offers an analysis of non-compete clauses and provides guidance for independent manufacturers’ representatives who are faced with the task of dealing with them.

“The Never-Ending Search for Good Salespeople” — When agencies find themselves in need of attracting, hiring and retaining productive salespeople, they can face a daunting task. In the past, filling sales slots was the fairly simple act of promoting a family member or attracting someone from a competitor, training them in the needs of your market, and sitting back to watch the results. But now, times have changed.

Legal:

“Specific Guidelines for Use Between Sales Agency and Employees” — Standardized 8-page form that may be used internally between sales agencies and their employees.

“Sales Agency/Sub-Representative Agreement Guidelines” — Standardized agreement spelling out the responsibilities and rights (including post-termination) of agencies and their sub-reps.

Teleforums:

Hiring Salespeople — How to Find Good Candidates, How to Interview — MANA staff, an industry consultant and a MANA member discuss the difficulties involved in finding and interviewing good candidates. Seven typical hiring mistakes are covered and best practices are explored.

Compensation Strategies for Reps — Two MANA-member representatives, association staff and a consultant explore best practices of compensation programs between agencies and their principals and for agencies and their employees.

Website link:

Link takes MANA members to article: “A Five-Step Process for Finding Your Next Superstar Sales Rep.”