The Rep of The Future

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While the following article, which appeared in the July 2010 issue of Electrical Wholesaling magazine, is based on research gathered from the electrical industry, its findings are applicable to independent representatives in other industries.

Key Survival Skills

Many reps are more comfortable dealing in the present rather than the future. They spend most of their time reacting to what is happening in the moment and do not see the future implications of their actions. They are stuck in a “peddler” mindset and are sales driven, not market driven. I believe these reps will wither and die. The reps who survive … Read the rest

Implementing a Winning Rep Strategy for Your Rep Firm

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Do you have a winning strategy in place for 2009?

We all know a company’s first impulse when bracing for an economic downturn is to cut costs. While a rep’s revenue and profitability are at risk during an economic storm, cost cutting can only take a manufacturers’ rep so far. It’s a short-term strategy. Revenue growth comes about during an economic downturn by intelligently taking market share. You don’t win the war in your market by cutting costs — you do it by taking share.

Over the last year we helped develop and implement winning strategies for many manufacturers’ representatives … Read the rest

There’s no Winning Without a Successful Coach

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In today’s tough business environment independent manufacturers’ reps, manufacturers and distributors can’t afford anything less than outstanding performance. In order to obtain this level of performance your managers must do a good job coaching your people and know how to get the most out of them.

Business coaching uses some of the same principles as sports coaching. When we think of the best coaches in sports history — the Green Bay Packers’ Vince Lombardi, Alabama’s Bear Bryant, UCLA’s John Wooden, Indiana’s Bobby Knight, the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick, USC’s Pete Carroll and Duke’s and the U.S. Olympic basketball team’s … Read the rest