Category Archives: Department

Maritime Operations Student Awarded $2,500 Scholarship

The National Marine Representatives Association (NMRA) awarded its 2018 NMRA Maritime Trades Scholarship of $2,500 to Kaila Kotkiewicz of Sayville, New York. Established in 2008, it’s given to an outstanding student pursuing education that will lead to a career in the marine industry. Robert Guerrieri of Atlantic Marketing Company made the presentation.

Kotkiewicz is a recent graduate of Sayville High School and plans to attend SUNY Maritime College this Fall. Her intended field of study is Maritime Operations and she also wants to earn a USCG Deck License. “I hope that I can be a role model for more women … Read the rest

MANA Manufacturer Seminar

October 11-12, 2018

Are you a rep who works with a manufacturer who supplies a great product but lacks knowledge on how to effectively work with you?

Wouldn’t it work more profitably for you if they did?

Recommend to them they attend the MANA “Best Practices With Reps, Planning With Intent” manufacturer seminar. When they learn how to effectively partner with you, your sales of what they supply go up. You get a big return when you invest just a little time in sending them the informational link.

Some MANA manufacturers’ representative members even offer to pay the registration fee. … Read the rest

What Happened to Straight Commission Reps? — Part Two

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© denisismagilov | stock.adobe.com

Last month I answered a manufacturer’s question about why manufacturers’ representative agreements increasingly include clauses covering Life of Part/Life of Program (LOP/LOP), shared market development fees, and/or extended post termination commission.

This month I answer that manufacturer’s follow-up questions:*

“Let’s say my rep Fred closes a major order at Acme Company and I give Fred LOP/LOP commission on that program. Later I replace Fred in that territory with a new rep, Nicole.

“When that program comes up for renewal, Nicole is managing negotiations for a reorder that is still commissionable to Fred due to LOP/LOP.”

  • “Why would Nicole work hard to maximize the selling price on this reorder?
  • “Why would Nicole work hard to keep this reorder from going offshore?”

Why Would Nicole Work Hard to Negotiate the Best Deal for Her Principal?

Nicole plans to write new orders with Acme and earn LOP/LOP commission on those new orders. Nicole knows that if she lets prices tumble on this reorder it will be harder to get a good price later when Acme’s next new project comes up. Maintaining a good margin now serves Nicole’s interests when she negotiates with Acme on the next project.

Of course, if the principal still has lingering concerns about Nicole’s motivation to maximize the selling price, the principal can always give this negotiation extra attention and oversight.

Why Would Nicole Work Hard to Keep This Project From Going Offshore?

Once Acme starts sourcing its projects offshore, Nicole will face offshore competition on every future project she quotes to Acme. Nicole will do everything she can to avoid having Acme starting to source its projects offshore.

Bottom line, most manufacturers would love to be facing a situation where they had so much business that managing quotes for reorders became a major undertaking. After all, you had to get the orders in the first place for reorders to be an issue. And getting orders is exactly what reps do best.

* The manufacturer’s comments have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Manufacturers Requiring Their Reps to Perform More Tasks — How Should Reps Respond?

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When I owned my manufacturers’ representative business back in the last millennium, my principals wanted one thing from me — orders! Our members now tell me principals still want orders, but other activities as well — filling out online CRM reports, market research, succession plans, and more. What’s a rep to do?

Last year, I made a presentation to 20 roofing manufacturers’ representatives. During the Q&A, one participant asked, “Are principals asking MANA members to fill out online CRM reports?” I asked the group, “How many of you have principals who asked you to fill these out?” Half the hands … Read the rest

Looking to the Future

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Concurrent with the publication of an article on the importance of succession planning in Agency Sales earlier this year, a manufacturer wondered how far he could go when it comes to asking about an agency’s future plans.

According to the manufacturer, “Thankfully, I’ve been in the position where I really haven’t had to worry about what my reps are going to do in the future because, by and large, each of the firms I work with have been more than willing to share information that pertains to how they operate now and what their future plans might be. These are … Read the rest

Delivering an Unmatched Customer Experience in the Digital Age

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Creating highly engaged customers is forcing companies to provide their customers with a consistent experience whenever and wherever they need it — digitally.

Did you know that highly engaged customers buy 90 percent more frequently, spend 60 percent more per purchase, and have three times the annual value (compared to the average customer). That’s a huge revenue opportunity you could be taking advantage of by digitally transforming your business!

But, in order to deliver on a better customer experience, you first need to understand who this new kind of digital customer is and what they want. It’s clear that the … Read the rest

A Commissioned Sales Representative With a Contract …Who Doesn’t Have a Contract

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A commissioned sales representative called me recently with the following situation: Beginning in 2011, the agent served his pharmaceutical company as a commissioned sales representative on an independent contractor basis, receiving from the company a Form 1099 annually. The agent had a well-written, reasonably unambiguous contract with the company entitled “Independent Sales Representative Agreement.”

The agreement included standard terms that one would expect to see in these circumstances, such as the duration of the parties’ arrangement, the economic provisions addressing the sales commission percentages payable to the agent, when sales commission payments are owing to the agent, the agent’s geographic … Read the rest

The Hedgehog and the Fox

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In the investment world there’s usually a large chasm among stock market forecasters about the future direction of the stock market.

The “Bulls” point to the recent tax cuts, earnings and other far-off ideas emanating from their Ouija boards. The “Bears” point to the volatility, retail woes, future interest rate hikes, and political uncertainty, among other things. And again, as always, the investor is left trying to separate wheat from chaff.

With this scenario as a backdrop, I thought it would be useful to share one of my favorite fables.

The Hedgehog and the Fox was written by Sir Isaiah … Read the rest

MANA CEO Invited to Speak at AIM/R Conference

Charles CohonMANA CEO Charles Cohon is an invited speaker scheduled to be with some of the best reps in the plumbing industry in Napa, California this fall for the Association of Independent Manufacturers’ Representatives (AIM/R) 46th Annual Conference. Cohon’s presentation, The Quick and the Dead, focuses on the urgent need for reps to be agile in today’s challenging business environment.

“It’s a special treat for me to be with my friends at AIM/R,” noted Cohon, “because every AIM/R member also is a MANA member!”

This Annual Conference is “the place to be” for professional, independent business owners to learn, share, … Read the rest

NMRA Expands Full Member Benefits

The National Marine Representatives Association (NMRA) has expanded its benefit package for independent sales rep full members. Through a special collaboration, they now automatically receive membership in the Manufacturers’ Agents National Association (MANA).

For many years, NMRA has enjoyed a close working relationship with MANA and regularly offers its members access to its SalesWise business development training and coaching teleforums. The organizations frequently collaborate on projects and co-presented a past IBEX workshop.

“We want to provide our members with the best possible benefits,” said Neal Trombley, NMRA president. “This is an exciting development that promises to have a significant impact … Read the rest

What Happened to Straight Commission Reps? — Part One

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peshkov | stock.adobe.com

The manufacturer who called me was sincerely puzzled. “I am trying to hire reps and all of them are asking for Life of Part/Life of Program (LOP/LOP) or shared market development fees.*”

  1. “What happened to just paying the rep based on each month’s commissionable shipments?”
  2. “If I gave a rep LOP/LOP and then replaced him or her with a new rep, then the new rep would end up handling price negotiations on repeat orders that are commissionable to the old rep. Why would the new rep try to maximize the selling price if commission goes to the old rep?”
  3. “And if the new rep handles negotiations on repeat orders that are commissionable to the old rep, what incentive does the new rep have to work to keep the reorder from going offshore?”

To answer the first question, let’s say you are a casting manufacturer who wants to target Ford Motor Company.

Before any commissionable parts orders ship, your rep must:

  • Introduce your company to Ford.
  • Get your company through Ford qualifications.
  • Wait for a new program to come up (say a new rear-view mirror design).
  • Get your part on the print.
  • Wait for tooling to be produced.
  • Wait for prototypes to reviewed, perhaps adjusted, and resubmitted for approval.
  • Wait for the program to be released.

Without LOP/LOP and/or shared market development fees the rep risks working 3-5 years for free and then being terminated after the first production order ships.

And making the rep’s situation even worse, for every project he or she works on that becomes an order, the rep also probably worked on 5-10 similar opportunities that did not become orders for reasons that were completely outside the rep’s control.

That’s why manufacturers who want their reps to hunt for elephants put LOP/LOP and/or shared market development fees in their contracts.

For the answers to the manufacturer’s last two questions, watch for next month’s “MANA Minute.”

* The manufacturer’s comments have been edited for clarity and brevity.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” — Yogi Berra

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How do you prepare to consistently execute a good plan now in your manufacturers’ representative firm? By studying past problems and challenges and having a response ready when those problems and challenges recur.

In today’s world, we borrow from the jargon of computer programmers and call this list of possible events and appropriate responses an algorithm, defined by Google as “a process or set of rules to be followed” to calculate an answer or solve a problem.

When my mentor hired me to work in his small manufacturers’ representative firm decades ago, no one had heard of algorithms. But my … Read the rest

Letters to the Editor

Response to “Principal CRMs”

I just read the April 2018 article “Principal CRMs” with great interest and would like to add to this discussion. Personally, I have been using online CRMs for many years and would like to take exception to the use of the phrase “fill out reports online.”

I would argue that, if used correctly, a CRM makes the job of the Field Agents — of everyone — simpler by eliminating this filling out of reports. Please follow my line of thought. What does a Field Agent do when they leave a customer visit? Typically they review and … Read the rest

Dealing With Rep Turnover

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Don’t ever underestimate the value of being able to network with non‑competitive peers.

That’s what one manufacturer found during his attendance at an industry meeting. While this manufacturer had been working with reps for years, he had recently undergone considerable turnover among his reps. As a result, he was faced with the prospect of hiring new firms. But since it had really been several years since he had to go through that process, he was a little wary of what he was going to do. Coming to the rescue were several of his industry acquaintances, who offered a number of … Read the rest

Data Show Most Salespeople Are Dinosaurs When It Comes to Social Selling

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Several recent LinkedIn posts have urged readers to pick up the phone instead of trying to find new opportunities by using social media. I wrote a very popular article about using the phone three years ago called “The Next Can’t Miss Game Changer for Sales.”

I have data that show that the very people who don’t score well at hunting (reluctant, ineffective or both) also score poorly at social selling while those who score the highest for hunting score higher for social selling too. Check out this data:

  • The weakest 10% of all salespeople own the lowest average scores for
… Read the rest

Asset Sale Protection for Sales Representatives — Part Two

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This is the second part of a two part series on asset sale protection for sales representatives. I would strongly recommend that you read part one, published last month, either before or after reading this article.

What to do when your principal is in the process of selling its assets and your sales representation agreement has no asset sale protection language — I would venture to say that most sales representative agreements do not have asset sale protection language in them. The only times that I have seen such language in a sales representative agreement is when either the sales … Read the rest

The Crowd Can Make You a Millionaire

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Have you ever had the opportunity to watch the program Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The premise of the hit TV show focuses on a contestant who selects one of four multiple-choice answers to a trivia question. The more questions they answer correctly, the more money they can win.

But, of course, the questions get progressively more challenging, so the contestant is offered three “lifelines” when they’ve become stumped on a particular question. One lifeline is called “50-50” where the computer takes away two of the wrong answers and leaves the contestant a 50-50 chance of guessing the … Read the rest

Hands Across the Water

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If manufacturers’ representative associations like MANA are a good idea, why aren’t there organizations similar to MANA across the globe?

Actually, there are.

2018 IUCAB meeting in Chicago

Left to right: Charles Cohon, CEO and president, MANA; Ralf D. Scholz, Germany, vice president; John Beaver, chairperson, MANA; Olivier Mazoyer, France, president; Christian Rebernig, Austria, secretary general; Enric Enrech, Spain, vice president; Axel Sturmberger, Austria, vice president; Jordi Marti, Spain; Ole Kristian Bull, Norway, vice president;
David Johnson, United Kingdom, vice president.

Associations like MANA support manufacturers’ representatives in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Although, outside North America, what we call manufacturers’ representatives are referred to as “commercial agents.”

These 18 country associations and MANA work together to advance the utilization of manufacturers’ representatives through membership in the Internationally United Commercial Agents and Brokers (IUCAB). Recently IUCAB’s Executive Committee met in Chicago to share best practices and plan future activities to support manufacturers’ representatives.

One of those best practices came to MANA in 2013 from Austria’s commercial agents association, Bundesgremium der Handelsagenten. MANA adapted the Austrians’ “explainer video,” describing sales force outsourcing, to English and it has since been viewed over 15,000 times on YouTube.

Understanding Reps video

MANA’s version of the Bundesgremium der Handelsagenten video has been viewed more than 15,000 times.

MANA’s IUCAB membership also gets MANA representative members more visibility with European manufacturers looking for North American sales forces. IUCAB’s commercialagents-northamerica.com advertising and rep search platform is available exclusively to MANA representative members seeking European principals. (Click here for details.)

MANA leaves no stone unturned as we search for the best international resources to serve our members. We would welcome your help finding more and better benefits to include with your MANA membership. Please share your ideas with MANA today!

Rep Nightmares: Learning From Colleagues

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What are the odds that your very first deal as a manufacturers’ representative turns out to be a long-term contract on $50 million in sales per year and you’re guaranteed to land the project with one of the handful of manufacturers you are working with?

The intention for this column is to provide new and old reps with horror stories from the field so that we can use our collective experience to help each other avoid some of the common and not-so-common pitfalls of our profession.

You know the type of phone call — totally out of left field from … Read the rest

Letters to the Editor

From a Michigan MANA representative member

I just wanted to tell you how useful the MANA website and resources were for me recently. I was struggling with a presentation and, in this instance, found exactly what I was looking for at the website. A few weeks later, the MANA resources helped me close on a nice deal that will bring in $50,000 in commissions a year. There is a wealth of information at www.MANAonline.org — and for any agency, new or old.

It always amazes me when reps struggle to justify their membership dues in our association. Thanks to MANA … Read the rest

Looking at More Than the Bottom Line

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“There’s much more to judging performance than just looking at the numbers.” That’s what one manufacturer emphasized in a recent phone call when the subject came to evaluating reps’ performance. The manufacturer admitted that he — just like so many of his peers — had spent years measuring their reps’ performance by just looking at sales figures.

“I’ve been the head of sales for more than 20 years and most of that time has been spent working with our outsourced sales staff. During the majority of that time our reviews were pretty standard. We looked primarily at sales figures from … Read the rest

Tech Tools for Road Warriors

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Most entrepreneurs and salespeople today are regularly on the road. Being on the road gives you the advantage to be with clients and important decision-makers.

On the road, however, you need the tech tools that let you get the job done under any circumstance. The tools that I describe in the following could help give you a competitive advantage.

Recently I had the chance to see a few tools that I want to share with you — mobile professional to mobile professional. Here are four that I’ve experienced lately that can help give you a competitive advantage — and perhaps … Read the rest

Asset Sale Protection for Sales Representatives — Part One

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This is the first part of a two-part series about asset sale protection for sales representatives. When I refer to asset sale protection I am referring to protecting your sales commissions in the event that your principal sells its assets to a third-party purchaser. This can be a very serious problem for sales representatives. The general rule is that the asset purchaser is typically only liable for the specific liabilities that it chooses to be responsible for or to “assume” as part of the Asset Purchase Agreement. Unfortunately for sales representatives, the sales representation agreement and the responsibility to pay … Read the rest

Investment Objectives: Are You Putting the Cart Before the Horse?

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“What are the best stocks to own?” “What are the best markets for me to be in?”
“Should I be a value investor or a growth investor?”
“Should I be a trader?”

I love it when folks ask me these questions and the ensuing conversations. Those talks are always fun and interesting because, in general, most investors (and their advisors) often put the cart before the horse when determining investment strategies. They’re seeking tactics without first formulating an objective.

So my standard reply to these questions is, “Overall, what are you trying to accomplish with this pile of money?”

I … Read the rest

ERA Honors Kathie Cahill, CPMR, of Net Sales Company With 2018 Tess Hill Award

At its 49th Management and Marketing Conference, held in Austin, Texas, February 25-27, the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) presented the second annual Tess Hill Award to Kathie Cahill, CPMR, of Net Sales Company in Victor, New York.

Cahill was recognized for her many years as an officer of Empire State ERA, her three-time chairmanship of the ERA Conference Committee and her current service on the ERA Executive Committee.

This award was created in 2017 to honor Tess Hill, a long-time ERA staff member who recently retired. The award recognizes individuals for their longevity of service to ERA, for inspiring volunteerism … Read the rest

Sell Out Crowd for “How to Value and Sell a Rep Firm” Presentation at April Mac Meeting

MAC meeting April 2018Manufacturers’ Agents of Cincinnati (MAC) had a sell-out crowd April 13 for MANA President and CEO Charles Cohon’s presentation, “How To Value and Sell a Rep Firm.”

“More and more manufacturers are basing rep choices not just on projected sales performance, but also on their comfort level with rep firms’ long-term plans to maintain continuity when the primary owner retires,” noted MAC when announcing this event. “In this session, Charley will discuss how retiring owners can value and sell their firms, and what prospective buyers will look for in a succession and buyout plan.”

Other representative associations that are interested … Read the rest

Why Don’t Business Schools Teach Students About Reps?

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© Nataliya Dolotko | stock.adobe.com

Getting information about manufacturers’ representatives taught in business schools has been a long-term MANA priority. And we’ve been successful in earning opportunities to do presentations about manufacturers’ representatives at Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, University of Arizona, The College of New Jersey, University of Cincinnati, and Kent State, for example.

But presentations reach only students who attend. To reach students year after year, MANA content needs to be part of a school’s curriculum instead of just being part of a MANA presentation.

Now for the first time MANA content is part of a University curriculum as part of MKTG4471 — International Marketing at Thompson Rivers University Open Learning, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.

Thank you to the Manufacturers’ Agents National Association (MANA) for granting us permission to use your video Understanding Manufacturers’ Reps. Full credit according to standard academic practice will be given to the work.

Thompson Rivers University (www.tru.ca) is a publicly funded, not-for-profit institution in British Columbia, Canada. The Open Learning Division develops distance education curriculum using a combination of material developed in-house, adopted textbooks and third-party copyright owned works. We rely heavily on materials produced by organizations, such as yours, that are willing to share their knowledge and expertise.

This video was found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apng2eKmZtY. Our Subject Material Expert (SME) was pleased to be able to use the video in our in-house developed online course MKTG4471 — International Marketing. Understanding Manufacturers’ Reps is a valuable addition to the course material.

Patricia Stachiw
Intellectual Property Officer
Thompson Rivers University Open Learning

Developing content that speaks to business school students is an investment in the future of our industry. We look forward to reporting future successes engaging with business schools and working to increase the visibility of outsourcing field sales with college students who are the business leaders of tomorrow.

The Value of Networking With Your Peers

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We can all be very busy as we remain focused on the day-to-day activities of staying in front of our customers. From time to time, however, it’s important to perform activities that allow us to entertain alternate and new perspectives to what we are already doing well. The very exercise of moving out of your own bubble and connecting with similar but diverse organizations can put a shot into our growth and increase our value to the principals we represent.

This leads me to two questions that are asked and answered by Geri Stengel, founder of Ventureneer, in the article … Read the rest

The Sales Power of Reps

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The following by Scott Lau, Scott Lau Consulting, Midlothian, Virginia, appeared on MANA’s LinkedIn discussion page earlier this year. His consulting firm specializes in working with independent manufacturers’ representatives to increase sales and profitability and with small and medium-sized American and international manufacturers of architectural products to improve sales force effectiveness and increase sales.

While the emphasis of his column is on the effectiveness of the independent manufacturers’ representative in the building materials industry, his message certainly applies to other industries.

The goal of building material manufacturers is to maximize sales at the lowest possible cost and at the same … Read the rest

Some Social Media Guidance

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Three books issue especially compelling warnings about the consequences of the careless use of social media. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, by Jon Ronson, Influence Redefined, by Stacey Hanke, and Got Social Mediology?, by Jay Izso, point out that social media practitioners should be aware that even the most offhand comments or critical views can cause lasting damage to a business.

Ronson relies heavily on real-world examples of mistakes individuals have made that have had a lasting impact on their lives and careers. Everything from a passing Twitter comment that was deemed racist, an insensitive joke transmitted … Read the rest