Recruiting Reps? Good Luck….

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This article may seem to be focused on manufacturers, but read on reps.

I’m writing while engaged in a rep-recruiting project for a mid-sized manufacturer. The product, industry, and location are irrelevant. What I have encountered is significant.

Detailed Preparation

The manufacturer has been willing to spend the time and money to organize this search very completely. We recognized that there have to be many positive factors to gain interest. Our products can’t be number 1-2-3 commission payers, but we do pay about 50 percent more than the average line on the rep’s line card. Therefore, commissions from this line … Read the rest

New Sales Manager —
Now What?

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When a principal changes its regional sales manager or general sales manager it can spell trouble for the independent rep firm. What can you do to accomplish these changes in a non‑threatening manner?

One major caveat — I don’t believe the title “regional sales manager” is an appropriate title for people the manufacturers send out to work with a rep sales force. If a rep firm needs a factory sales manager to be supervising them, something is wrong. The rep firm is the branch office of the factory. The rep firm should be supplying its own management of its sales … Read the rest

“We Don’t Need Reps Anymore! Two Guys in Chicago Can Handle the Business”

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This is a direct quote from a rep I visited with recently. He told me that two of his lines had said just about the same thing. One company had been acquired by a European company and the other by an Asian multi-billion dollar diversified manufacturer. How and why do manufacturers make statements like this? Are they just misinformed? Or, is there something the rep business is missing?

The bottom line is that these manufacturers and, unfortunately, many others do not have a clear picture of the value of rep services they receive for their commission dollars.

Why is it … Read the rest

Do You Get an “A” for Representing Your Firm?

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You earn a good amount of money representing manufacturers. You think you do a pretty good job at your job. But, how do you do at marketing and selling your own firm?

What goes into rep firm marketing and sales planning? The following article presents several key elements of rep firm marketing and selling. At the end you will have an opportunity to grade your firm’s performance in these critical areas of your business.

  1. Profile* presentation.
  2. Branch office services.
  3. Personnel training.
  4. Planning and coordination with principals.
  5. Revenue development and market growth.

* Your profile is a measure of your level … Read the rest

Field Visit — Landmine or Opportunity?

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The principal is coming!
The principal is coming!

What does this mean to your agency? There is a lot involved in a “Field Visit” from a principal.

Who is coming?
Is it the sales manager?
Regional manager?
VP of sales? President?

It really doesn’t matter who the visitor is. What matters is your procedures and process for handling a visit from a principal.

Why is this so important?
The most important reason is that getting a principal on your turf is a huge opportunity to impress or disappoint.

Advance Notice

If your systems are good, you have an ongoing relationship … Read the rest

A Snapshot of the Rep Business

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I work with many reps helping them grow their businesses. Recently I received the following copy of a letter from a rep principal/owner to one of his salespeople. Please read carefully. The names have been disguised to protect the guilty.

Dear Charlie,

I would like to recap our phone conversation from Friday. As I discussed with you, there are some principals who have expressed concerns with your performance in the territory you cover for our rep firm.

Line 1: Pete was extremely upset by the lack of progress that you made this year with Jones Supply. As he pointed out … Read the rest

Where Do the Commissions Go?

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This article is based on a presentation by John Haskell at the MAFSI Business Development Conference earlier this year.

The Manufacturers Agents Association for the Food Service Industry (MAFSI), provided proprietary data and a unique platform of reps and principals to discuss how the rep business really works.

Proprietary Data — But Universal Application

Clearly the specific data presented here only applies to foodservice reps, but the message contained here is universally applicable to all reps. The bottom line is that the rep business is a relatively small business with limited profit potential. Repping is a good way to make … Read the rest

Share of Mind — Share of Time

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How reps must direct the manufacturers’ thinking by selling the multiple-line selling system.

How many times have you had a sales manager, regional manager or even vice president say “We want a greater share of your time!” That statement is usually followed by comments about the number of lines you have and how their line deserves more time.

Responding with a purpose

What should you say? What do you think the managers you deal with know about multiple-line selling? How often do you remind your principals of the benefits of multiple-line selling? Do you really understand this powerful tool yourself?… Read the rest

That Middle Position… When in Doubt Blame the Rep!

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We aren’t paranoid, we just know they are out to get us.

While out on the road with a very good rep who is building a new business, a great example jumped up and hit us in the face. During the day an irate distributor customer contacted the salesman. He was furious because of the way the rep had handled a problem with one of the distributor’s customers.

According to the distributor, the salesman had committed an unforgivable sin by sending the distributor’s customer to a competing wholesale source to meet an urgent need.
What happened? The end-user customer had … Read the rest

Rep Paranoia

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“We’re not paranoid — We just know they’re out to get us!”

That line always gets a laugh, but unfortunately it is all too true.

The expression, “When in doubt, blame the reps!” is just as true.

How many very successful reps wake up every morning with a nervous burning in the stomach and shaky outlook? An educated guess says well over 50 percent. One rep friend says my number is way low; he says 99 percent. You tell me.

One highly experienced rep said he once woke up at 3 a.m. and started to call his salespeople when he … Read the rest

Selected Backselling Opportunities and Good Planning Pay

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There is a Tide in the Affairs of Independent Manufacturers’ Reps that Leads to Fortune

Each year every rep firm is presented with numerous backselling opportunities which, if carefully planned and executed can help the firm position itself with its key principals.

The goal of all backselling is to keep principals happy and keep them paying. Nothing is more important to a rep firm than happy principals. Smart reps acknowledge that principals are more important than customers. The principals are really customers.

Here are key opportunities for successful backselling. How does your firm do on a 1-10 scale with 10=perfect … Read the rest

Sales Meetings: The Ultimate Rep Management Tool For Smart Manufacturers

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Does your company hold an annual sales meeting with your reps? If so, the meeting should be the focal point of your sales and marketing planning for the year. If you don’t hold a meeting at least every other year, you are missing a huge opportunity to improve your sales results.

The sales meeting provides a broad-based opportunity for a principal to exert influence over the rep team in a number of major areas.

First, the sales meeting is an opportunity to create esprit between the manufacturer’s team and the reps. Creating a bond based on knowing each other is … Read the rest

Are Your Business Systems a Marketable Asset?

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The way you run your business can make a big difference in how you are seen by principals, customers and prospective principals.

Managing your agency can be a powerful tool for differentiating your rep firm from others. The following elements can provide unique and powerful items to differentiate your firm from competing rep firms.

  1. Field sales management 
  2. Call tracking 
  3. Lead handling 
  4. Customer tracking
  5. Product management and promotion
  6. Customer communication

Field Sales Management

How do you manage your sales force? Even if you are a small firm with only three to four salespeople, you need to demonstrate a management system to … Read the rest

Clean Up Your Line Card

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Get your act together now before it’s too late.
Your principals are looking.

Your line card reflects your total business strategy. The lines you represent are your company. You are your lines and your lines are you. So what does your line card say? Every rep group is revealed by its line card — even rep firms that don’t publish a line card.

I have had very strong debates with several rep agency owners who did not want to publish a line card. Several were concerned with what their principals would think when they saw all of the lines gathered … Read the rest

Visibility Means Opportunity

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When your rep firm is visible, good things happen

What are the “magic words” in the rep business? Magic happens when a sales manager asks a good customer, “Who are the good reps who call on you?” These magic words should result in your firm being named, but how often are you short listed? If your name is not on the tip of your customer’s tongues, you are doing something wrong.

The most important thing you can be doing constantly for your firm is making sure that you get a smell of every opportunity of any size in your territory. … Read the rest

Backselling Pays Fast!
Return-on-Investment Can Be Big and Quick

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Over the past few years several rep firms have gotten the backselling message. Why? Because they saw the handwriting on the wall. In one case, a large rep firm lost a big piece of commission income. They realized they lost it because the management of the firm they represented had absolutely no appreciation of the value of their services.

How do your principals see your firm? Do you have any real idea? Don’t just evaluate your relationship with sales managers and regionals. What about customer service, engineering, marketing services?

Another rep firm felt it was time for a major upgrade … Read the rest

Manufacturers: Checklist for Interviewing Reps Six Predictors of Success

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Many of the manufacturing personnel who read Agency Sales are new to working with independent reps. Some of these managers will be involved in the process of selecting new representation for their company in one or more territories. But, many of these managers and some of their superiors do not have much experience selecting reps.

Relationships: There are many reasons to select a rep firm to carry your company’s products to market in a territory. Existing relationships with key distribution or end users is your first consideration.

Track Record: There is no question that a rep firm’s results with their … Read the rest

The Role of the Regional Sales Manager

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Why do manufacturers think they need regional sales managers (RSMs)?

Most companies employing the RSM approach have two or three field “sales managers” operating regionally. This amounts to an investment of at least $500,000 per year for a typical company. If a company does $25 million or less, this investment is 2 percent+ of revenue. That is a huge investment. Where is the return-on-investment?

A substantial rep firm with 10-15 lines is probably dealing with an RSM for at least 50 percent of its lines. That is five to eight or more field sales managers who are responsible for rep … Read the rest

1001 Resumes: Finding the “Needle” in a Resume Haystack

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The word on the street is “cutbacks,” but getting sales is still the name of the game. One small business recently needed a new salesperson for a very good territory. The owner placed ads in all of the electronic vehicles, local papers and industry publications, as well as industry websites. The results were overwhelming.

If résumés and inquiries were dollar bills, the company would have found a new stream of revenue. Now the owner and his associates faced a huge challenge; they were thrilled to have choices, but they did not want to choose the wrong person for this important … Read the rest

Quality of Customer Service Is Key to Rep Firm Survival

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If you read the trade magazines or articles and postings on the Internet, some “experts” believe that reps and other “intermediaries” will become unnecessary in the near future….

Considering the efforts of WalMart and other major buyers, it appears that many people would rather have the rep’s commission as a discount rather than have the rep’s services. And if you study research by academic experts, you know that “everyone” believes that direct salespeople know much more about selling the company’s products than reps do — that buyers would much prefer to have a “factory salesperson” than a rep.

So why Read the rest

Tips for Managing Your Principal Relations

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Reps resolve to never lose a line as a result of their value not being understood or appreciated by a principal. “We are going another direction. Thank you for your help in the past.” With those words, Zink Marketing saw more than $300,000 in annual commission disappear into thin air.

Zink Marketing, a division of Zink Foodservice Group, Columbus, Ohio, is a foodservice and equipment rep firm with 22 outside and 16 inside personnel. Sales had grown 50 percent in the previous two years. Market share had also increased substantially. “It was difficult to understand why someone in a multi-billion … Read the rest