Glen Baines enjoyed early business success with his own landscaping business that he began in college and continued after graduation. However, “After getting married, I realized that things were pointing me in a different direction than just cutting grass.”

Thankfully, having grown up around the rep business, he found a comfortable place to park his lawnmower and began a new career as an independent rep. “My father was a factory salesman for 18 years prior to opening his own agency. He had always made it clear that if I was interested … Read the rest

When it came to identifying and facing myriad challenges to the way they conduct business, a group of MANA members found no shortage of subject matter to consider earlier this year in the course of a three-day MANAchat. Communication challenges, the threat posed by venture capitalists purchasing rep firms, and considering something called the Entrepreneurial Operating System — among other subjects — were all discussed.

Communication challenges, specifically as they apply to the rep’s ability to contact and stay in touch with customers, appear to be something that is a universal concern. The discussion on this … Read the rest

When Craig Cumming reflects on opening his own agency 28 years ago, he’s asked whether he was apprehensive or scared about making the move. Without missing a beat, he offers, “Fear is not a bad thing; and if anybody isn’t scared about such a move, then something is wrong.”

Obviously, there was nothing wrong with Cumming as today he can look back on almost three successful decades heading C-Square Industries in Colorado. The single-person agency represents manufacturers dedicated to:

• Air and liquid filtration.
• Air movement equipment.
• Waste treatment and water reuse.
• Industrial equipment and systems.

Cumming followed a fairly typical … Read the rest

The growing impact of artificial intelligence, the importance — or lack of importance — of written sales reports, and knowing when to cut the cord with a principal were major topics of discussion during a MANA single-person agency special interest group chat early this summer.

Can AI aid the independent manufacturers’ rep? That’s how the discussion of AI was kicked off and the group was quick to offer their thoughts:

• “One thing it can do is to produce a business plan in under a minute. Having said that, the more information you provide, the more accurate your business plan is

“You can’t grow business without people.” That was a major message contained in a podcast conducted by MANA member John Beaver earlier this year.

After having said that, however, Beaver hardly left his audience in a vacuum as he explained that finding, evaluating and hiring new people is not necessarily an easy task and the road to finding the right people isn’t easily traveled. It can be filled with potholes — mistakes are going to be made along the way. “Your own people aren’t always going to do the job perfectly. As a rep you can certainly try to do … Read the rest

In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare may have written, “Parting is such sweet sorrow,” but in the words of one rep who terminated his nearly 30‑year relationship with a manufacturer, “parting really hurt.”

According to the rep, here’s what happened to result in that painful parting of the ways: “We repped this company for close to 30 years and finally realized we had to terminate the relationship about four years ago even though they represented about 80 percent of our income. What brought us to this decision was a combination of things including:

• Quality went down.
• Prices went up.
• Lead times

“Going over and above the call of duty while exceeding customer expectations.”

When Marc Carver appeared in the pages of Agency Sales three years ago, he pointed to his company’s M.O. (above) as a major reason for his lengthy success as a rep.

As if there has to be some validation that no truer words were ever spoken Carver went well over the call of duty this year as he was named vendor of the year by the Alaska Commercial Company (ACC) at its trade show and conference in Anchorage.

As noted in that July 2021 article in this publication, … Read the rest

What happens to a pitcher when his arm wears out before any dreams of professional baseball can be realized? Naturally, he may pivot to another career path. This was somewhat the case for Brandon Goldberg. Following the dashed hopes of baseball stardom and a brief stint as an athletic shoe salesman, Goldberg eventually found his calling as a manufacturers’ rep.

“As a kid growing up in Dayton, I realized early on that I had talent on the ball field,” Goldberg recalls. “I was a left-handed pitcher who could throw hard into the high 80s and 90s, and I could hit. … Read the rest

Reps don’t work for free.

That was a major message emanating from a MANA special interest group discussion for reps who sell in international markets earlier this year. The reps who participated in the far-ranging teleconference were adamant that their levels of expertise and the time they spend to develop business for principals were too valuable to be contributed free of charge.

For instance, according to one rep, “I’m not going to spend an unlimited amount of time and money to develop business for principals without being compensated for my efforts.” To counter the desire of many principals to have … Read the rest