Rather than waiting for the proverbial next shoe to drop, Vic Myers Associates (VMA) went on the offensive when it came to dealing with the understandably onerous restrictions that agencies like it and others had to work their way through during the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic.

An important part of that offensive move was the acquisition in February of new headquarters space in Arizona, specifically for the purpose of allowing VMA personnel, customers and principals to meet face‑to‑face.

With four main offices located in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, VMA is an agency engaged in the representation of instrumentation and … Read the rest

As lockdown restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 epidemic continued to be lifted, it sounds like Linda Gunter was feeling the same restlessness and impatience she faced in her previous career as a paralegal. She couldn’t wait to get back out on the road meeting face-to-face with customers.

Gunter, president of Gunter Medical, LLC, San Antonio, Texas, admits that it’s not easy for her to sit still. “I’m a people person. I just can’t sit on a computer all day or sit behind the desk. I’ve got to be out there meeting with people.”

That’s why when the travel and customer … Read the rest

MANA and Agency Sales magazine have long advocated for independent manufacturers’ reps to have a business plan for their agencies — and not only have the plan, to but update it regularly. The adage “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” comes to mind as reps are constantly reminded of the importance of updating and communicating the existence of their business plans to principals.

Even the quickest review of articles that have appeared in the association’s monthly magazine over the years will reveal a constant reference to the importance of business plans. Then there’s the contents of innumerable … Read the rest

When he’s asked to describe himself, Marc Carver maintains he’s simply “…an old-fashioned rep. If anything, I am old school. I want to see my customers eye-to-eye, face-to-face. I am just a people person and I love what I do. I think my personality is perfect for being a rep, as I like to be self-employed and have no one to answer to except myself along with my customers and vendors’ greatest needs.”

Today, with more than 35 years under his belt as an independent manufacturers’ rep, Carver heads Carver & Associates, LLC, located near Portland, in Lake Oswego, Oregon. … Read the rest

“When I start thinking about adding someone to my agency, I know I’m in for a rough ride. Just about everyone working in my industry right now is in the 50- to 70-year-old range. It’s more difficult now than ever before to find someone younger who might be interested in carving out a career as a rep.”

“I was so desperate the last time I had to hire someone that I developed a flyer describing the position and ran around town dropping it off in the hopes someone would be interested. I don’t think it’s a surprise to me or … Read the rest

The February issue of Agency Sales magazine profiled a MANA-member firm that at its beginning was willing to take on any line it could secure. Once the agency turned the corner to profitability, however, the agency owner explained, “Now we keep our product focus narrow and limited so we can effectively serve the objectives of the manufacturer, designer, builder and distributor.”

And elsewhere in this issue of Agency Sales, we describe how at its inception one agency took on 60 lines of products to represent. Now that agency has whittled its representation to a dozen because there’s no way … Read the rest

The practice and the accompanying benefits of line productivity analysis are hardly new.

Consider the description of the process and the advice offered on the subject earlier this year by MANA’s Charles Cohon during the MANAchat described elsewhere in this issue of Agency Sales.

In addition, the subject was discussed and analyzed in depth in the Operations Manual for Manufacturers’ Representatives Firms, a lengthy publication produced with MANA’s assistance in 2006. In that manual the following endorsement for line productivity analysis was offered: “Regardless of the size of your representative firm, knowing and understanding each line’s profitability is … Read the rest

It’s been more than two decades since Agency Sales magazine visited with Maureen Ingram, owner of The M&M Sales Company, and while over the years change has remained a constant for her agency, there are three things that haven’t changed:

• Her adherence to the power of focus.
• Her belief that strong relationships serve as the foundation for her agency’s success.
• And finally, the maintenance of one of the agency’s core beliefs to provide POS (Positively Outrageous Service).

The Columbus, Ohio-based agency represents a variety of manufacturers that sell products to gift shops, grocery stores, pharmacies, hospital gift shops, major chains … Read the rest

Thoughts of what happened to everything from drive-in movies, blacksmiths, and stagecoach drivers — not to mention the traditional handshake — come to mind when considering the changes in how reps have conducted business as the more than year-long pandemic winds down.

Think for a moment about the absence of in-person sales calls, not to mention the fact that many of the offices reps used to visit are now empty as purchasing and specifying personnel work from home. Then there’s the marked increase in the use of virtual Zoom or Skype meetings and the increase in the use of email … Read the rest

A drive to build a solid foundation for a career as an independent manufacturers’ rep coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit pointed Owen Swift in the direction of opening his own agency in 2017. Today, Swift heads Swift Scientific, LLC, Coventry, Connecticut. His one-man agency represents premium manufacturers of scientific laboratory equipment, reagents, and biologics and matches unique research and development technologies with specific lab applications.

Swift’s career background includes more than 15 years providing automation equipment and specialized consumable supplies to life-science researchers in the Northeast United States. His experience spans the drug development pipeline from discovery and basic research … Read the rest

Armed with a self-described “big mouth,” a love of medicine and a desire to wear a suit and carry a briefcase, Willa Moats, CPMR, made the jump from operating room nurse to independent manufacturers’ representative 35 years ago. Today she heads Willcare Associates, LLC, Milford, Pennsylvania. The agency serves the greater New York area, northern New Jersey, and upstate New York.

Given her extensive medical background, the obvious questions for Moats are how and why she embarked on such a dramatic career change. She explains, “In the mid-1980s, as a single mother, I wasn’t making a great deal of money … Read the rest

When MANA members considered whether they had a responsibility to educate principals new to working with an outsourced sales force, caution was advised. In response to the question, “Is it a red flag that a potential principal has no experience working with the rep business model?” participants in a MANAchat responded with a resounding “Yes!”

In the chat, conducted over a week with 26 association members participating, some cautionary words were heard, however:

• “If a manufacturer has performed his due diligence (and, why wouldn’t he do that?) before approaching an agency, you’d think that they’ve educated themselves about the ins

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to negatively impact business and the world of reps specifically, there are a number of positives that have developed over the course of the last 12 months. That, in general, was the tone of the conversation from a Manufacturers’ Agents of Cincinnati (MAC) meeting held late last year.

In a luncheon meeting moderated by Jerry Leth, MANA’s, vice president and general manager, and Jack Foster, Agency Sales’ editor, a group of MAC members discussed how the pandemic has impacted their lives and the lives of their principals and customers.

Founded in 1971, MAC is a … Read the rest

Rick Wickizer humorously recalls that rice and beans were a staple on his dinner table when he opened his agency more than a decade ago.

According to Wickizer, Wickizer & Associates, Woodland, Washington, “Thankfully I had some savings and other resources because initially I knew I wasn’t going to make a lot of money.” He couldn’t have been more correct in anticipating a lack of income since he only turned a very modest profit during that first year.

In a nutshell, here’s how Wickizer got to where he is today: During the last recession, after the building industry collapsed, Wickizer … Read the rest

Given the opportunity to compare notes on how best to attract top rep agencies, manufacturers who participated in a MANAchat held nothing back when it came to describing their experiences.

With a working title of “Finding Great Manufacturers’ Representatives,” over the two-day chat 14 manufacturers weighed in with how they found, signed and maintained successful relationships with independent reps.

One of the most effective means employed by one manufacturer was to counsel with some reps that he knew. Here’s how he explained his experience: “I met with some retired reps — reps who knew they weren’t in the mix for … Read the rest

Ask Carla Campbell why she became an independent manufacturers’ rep and immediately you get a one-word answer — “Freedom.”

Obviously, there’s more to it than that, but her determination to be her own boss and make her own decisions appears to be the driving force when it came to opening her own agency more than a decade ago. “I know freedom is a fairly broad consideration, but I really wanted to dictate for myself who I called on, when I called on them and how much time I spent traveling. Before I opened my own agency there was always the … Read the rest

The timeliness of a MANAchat late last year couldn’t have been better illustrated than when 52 participants offered their anecdotal input on steps reps can — and should — take to keep their most‑desired principals. Unfortunately, many of their stories related to how principals have slipped from their grasp.

As the conversations evolved from these stories, it became clear that there are some common reasons why reps can lose a principal. For instance, the most commonly cited reasons are these:

• The rep has become too successful and there’s a certain amount of resentment on the part of the manufacturer to

When asked to recount recollections of his first day as an independent manufacturers’ rep several years ago, Steve Lamer good-naturedly responds: “I just sat there looking at my phone and asked myself ‘What now, big shot?’”

Thankfully, he can now look back on that day with a great deal of satisfaction as, today, he heads North Central Manufacturing Solutions, LLC, Madison, Wisconsin.

In part answer to that “What now?” question, Lamer recalls that among the first steps he wisely took as a rep was to contact business friends and acquaintances to let them know what he was doing and to … Read the rest

“If I could do anything over, I’d join MANA sooner than I did.” That’s a common refrain when speaking with several long-standing association members. The reason they speak that way is that once enrolled as members of the association, they have available at their fingertips any number of products and services that point their agencies in the direction of professionalism.

Speaking to that point, Charles Cohon, MANA’s president and CEO noted, “If there’s anything I would emphasize to MANA’s members, it would be to take it upon themselves to learn all about what the association offers and take advantage of … Read the rest

By the time Lisa Wilson reads this, she’ll hopefully be well into what she calls her “semi-retirement.” It’s semi-retirement — not retirement — simply because one of her long‑standing principals won’t let her go.

According to Wilson, who heads L.S. Wilson & Associates, Inc., Bristol, Wisconsin, “I’ve reached a point in my life that while I can still walk, talk and see, when I get up in the morning, I want to do what I want to do.”

L.S. Wilson & Associates, Inc., specializes in motors, stainless steel coatings, surface preparation products and industrial cleaning solutions.

Admitting that the current … Read the rest