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“One of the major reasons my company decided to partner up with independent manufacturers’ representatives is their knowledge of the territory.” That’s how a manufacturer recently began his conversation with Agency Sales on the subject of using an outsourced sales force.

“But all that territorial knowledge that the rep has doesn’t do us any good unless he shares it with us,” he continued. That’s why this principal was such an advocate for the regular practice of visiting his agents in the territory. However, these visits do no good — in fact, they can be harmful — if they’re not carefully planned well in advance.

He continued: “I’d maintain that my visit to the territory can be one of the most important events in the selling process. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always prove to be. It’s during these visits that truly meaningful and effective dialog can take place. That only happens when the visit is well planned and accompanied by a well-thought-out agenda complete with goals, objectives and follow-up. My experience has shown that when I’m genuinely trying to work better, faster and more efficiently with a rep, the territory visit can actually result in two things: it can be disruptive and causes you and the rep — not to mention the customer — to ultimately waste a week of valuable time; or, it can be truly effective if it’s thought out ahead of time.”

Identifying the Principal You Want to Work With

A former manufacturer turned independent manufacturers’ representatives wrote to Agency Sales expressing appreciation for principals that truly understand what it takes to make a relationship work with agents. “After several years of managing an outsourced sales force, and now seven years of being a rep myself, I’ve identified and categorized a few types of principals. First of all, there’s the manufacturer that understands what it takes to make the relationship work. They know agents are independent, but at the same time they know if they provide the communication and support the rep needs, chances are it’s going to be a beneficial relationship.

“The second type of manufacturer is the one that perhaps hasn’t worked with reps in the past but through their contacts with other manufacturers who use reps and maybe even by learning from MANA, they see the benefits. These are the ones whom I’d refer to as ‘educable.’ As a matter of fact, my experience has shown that since they’re so receptive to the rep message, they’re easily educated.

“Finally, there are the manufacturers that want to closely control the reps’ activities and don’t understand why the rep balks at submitting regular sales reports. By the way, these are usually the ones that don’t communicate well with their reps and have failed to let them know what their expectations are.”

He continued that “Thanks to my years of experience on both sides of the desk, I’ve found it fairly easy to identity the types of principals I refer to. At the same time, I can avoid false steps by making that identification early on in the process and saving both of us a lot of time when it comes to deciding with whom I go to market.”

Ask a Question — Pay Attention to the Answer

When an independent agent asked a panel of manufacturers how they achieved feedback from their outsourced sales force as to how the relationship was going, one manufacturer responded he was a firm believer in paying attention to what his agents told him about the relationship. “In other words, if I’m going to go to the trouble of asking a question, then I owe it to the rep to pay attention to his answer. On a regular basis I ask my reps two questions and then I sit back and listen. After listening, I take action — if needed.”

Here are his two questions:

• What are we as a manufacturer doing correctly?
• Are there any areas that need improvement?

Typical responses to the questions predictably include everything from providing quality products, delivering products on time, responding promptly when reps have questions and, naturally, paying commissions accurately and on time. An additional response was a bit of a surprise but certainly made sense to the manufacturer. “When a number of our agents said we should do everything we can to make it easy and fun to conduct business with them, they got our attention. Asked to expand on that message, one of our reps let us know they enjoyed working with us because we made them a part of the organization. We didn’t treat them as outsiders and when problems cropped up, we and they were able to put our heads together and come up with a quick resolution. That old term becoming the rep’s ‘emotional favorite’ came up in conversations a number of times. The message wasn’t lost on us, and we work hard to create an atmosphere where we know our reps look forward to working with us.”

To Rep, or Not to Rep

When a decision was made “on high” to consider whether to eliminate a manufacturer’s independent manufacturers’ representative network, it fell to the company’s national sales manager to conduct an examination of the pro’s and con’s of working with agents.

The sales manager acknowledges right up front that she knew this examination was based solely on someone’s idea that money could be saved by eliminating reps. “That someone somehow figured upwards of $300,000 could be saved annually by eliminating the commissions paid to reps. That’s interesting figuring, but upon conducting a study I found the picture to be a bit different.

“For instance, when I took a look at the Mid-Atlantic states, where we had sizeable business, I found that in the absence of reps, we’d have just one person knocking on innumerable doors in an effort to develop business. That’s not even considering all the business relationships (that our reps had worked so long and hard to develop) that would be lost. And, how about future selling opportunities that would be lost because of those absent relationships?”

There’s much more to this story, but the bottom line is, according to this manufacturer, “Don’t be rash in your decisions. Study what you’re doing and balance any change against what might be lost should you make a drastic change.”

Being Comfortable on the Line Card

A manufacturer cast his vote in favor of synergistic sales recently when he recounted, “I knew from the beginning that I was never going to be any rep’s number-one line. That’s why I’ve never had a problem with any of my reps presenting my products and talking about me after they’ve completed their presentations of their higher-ranked lines. I’d much rather be the next line the rep speaks about because we’re actually traveling on the reputation of the rep that got us in the door in the first place. If the rep has the professionalism and talent to provide us with his best effort, then we know we’re going to do well in the territory for the long run. I can’t say I’ve got complaints with any of our reps that work this way.”

Finding the Tech-Savvy Agents

When a manufacturer balked at the idea of partnering with independent representatives to sell his highly technical product because “reps aren’t technical enough,” a consultant responded. “If you choose the right reps, they’re more than technical enough.” He continued: “The responsibility rests firmly on the manufacturer’s shoulders to find reps that possess the appropriate level of technical expertise. If you (the manufacturer) establish the background criteria for a successful rep profile, you’ll wind up with a productive match.”

Changes in a Direct vs. an Outsourced Sales Force

Armed with several years of experience with both direct and independent sales agents, one manufacturer recalled the difference when one of his direct people leaves vs. some sort of a change with the outsourced sales force. “When a direct salesperson leaves for one reason or another, there’s a direct impact in the sales effort. If we’ve been lucky enough to have him in place for five or more years, all those years of relationship building go away. When there’s a change with an agency, however, there appears to be little impact. By and large, the agencies have sunk deep roots in their territories and they can survive changes much better than a direct sales force can.”