Category Archives: Feature

Why You Need an Annual Plan

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Your annual plan in and of itself cannot be the end. It’s really just the start.

Preparing for the year ahead brings many benefits, including those that come via the process of just sitting down and creating one.

Assessing yourself and your business can bring about an awareness that allows you to avoid pitfalls in the upcoming year — because you’ve thought it through and done your research.

Of course, everyone could use an annual plan. But what you need is a really great one.

1. Greater Confidence

Your annual plan helps you enter the year proactively instead of reactively. … Read the rest

The Most Expensive Kind of Question Ever Asked

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If you have ever supervised people, you have been on the receiving end of these questions. If you have ever been supervised, you have asked these kinds of questions. If you’ve had to answer these questions, it’s cost you time and focus, sometimes for hours every week. If you’ve asked these questions, you knew you were doing it, but it was so much easier than thinking.

What kind of questions? Lazy ones. They come in many forms. Some start out with, “Can you help me?” or maybe “I don’t know what to do.” Perhaps they end with, “I don’t want … Read the rest

Speed Sells

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Speed is a critical element of customer service. Unfortunately, business owners and executives often overlook its importance as they plan their strategies to attract and retain customers and increase their sales. Too often they focus on catchy slogans and increased advertising instead of zeroing in on what really matters to their customers.

Speed matters, and there are several reasons for that. We live in an age of technology, which has in many cases greatly reduced the time it takes us to accomplish a task. That brings with it the need for others — particularly companies we do business with — … Read the rest

Post Covid: The Future for Reps

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MANA members, just as other businesspeople throughout the country, are gradually emerging from a tumultuous year. While the challenges for many have been daunting, a remarkable number of association members report that they have weathered the business, economic and Covid-related storms quite well. As a matter of fact, several reps report that by making specific changes in how they conduct business, they have enjoyed record or near-record years.

In an effort to pass along some success stories, late last year in the course of a MANA panel discussion, three MANA reps reported on changes that have proved positive for them.… Read the rest

No More Business as Usual When You Double Down on Remote Sales

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Enterprise change comes slowly. Could perfecting remote sales processes help speed it up?

The enterprise sales cycle is typically measured in months, if not years. Products and services are often complex, and when you’re helping companies automate their vendor payments like I am, you’ll end up working through some process changes. Quite often, the sale involves a significant amount of dialogue around changing the “status-quo.” As with most enterprise offerings, there are multiple stakeholders and decision makers, each with their own concerns about the impact of change.

Expert Guidance at Every Step

To make sure everyone understands the value of … Read the rest

Nine Steps to a Service Culture

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Never has customer service been as critical as it is today. That became apparent during the pandemic when millions of people around the globe relied on businesses that could provide what they needed to survive — personally and professionally — and as quickly as possible.

In order to distinguish you and your business from your competitors it is imperative that you create a service culture that runs throughout your company, from frontline employees to the CEO.

I’ve developed what I describe as the “nine principles of creating a service culture.” A service culture focuses on doing whatever it takes to … Read the rest

Avoiding Two Major Traps of Self‑Commoditization

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One of the greatest frustrations facing senior leaders and their sales and marketing organizations today is that their customers are treating their high-value solutions as commodities.

What they don’t realize is that they themselves are probably more to blame for this problem than any external force. Self-commoditization is the most significant threat to success in selling high‑value solutions, and your sales processes and behaviors are likely the largest contributing factor to that exposure.

If your sales organization’s proposal conversion rate is decreasing and the percentage of “no decisions” is increasing, your company may be commoditizing itself. Your sales process may … Read the rest

Making the Hard Decision About Poor‑Performing Employees

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More and more, I find myself repeating the same advice to my clients daily, “It’s never the right time to make a hard decision.” While this is applicable to several situations, I want to describe a particular one — and that is making the hard decision about poor-performing employees.

Nowadays, you’ve probably been affected by many businesses operating on limited hours and/or services due to a lack of employees. We are still experiencing what HBR Blog and Forbes have dubbed the year of the great resignation. For managers and leaders, this shortage of staff has meant tolerating behaviors that run … Read the rest

How to Know If a Lead Qualifies as a Prospect

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Does your lead even qualify as a valuable prospect?

Your time is valuable. Your skills are valuable, too. So, before you get too cozy with any lead in your pipeline, it’s worthwhile to take a moment to evaluate. Is this a prospect I can move forward with, or just a suspect?

I have seven questions you might ask yourself about a lead before you invest any more time and effort. If your lead can’t pass this test, you’d be wise to reevaluate the relationship.

1. Does It Match Your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)?

I see so many salespeople who have … Read the rest

Emotionally Intelligent Selling

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Many sales professionals talk about the value of emotional intelligence, also known as “EQ.”

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, control and evaluate your own emotions while being in tune with and empathetic of others’ feelings and behaviors. The ability to express and control your own emotions while being highly perceptive when it comes to others’ emotions is critically important in sales. Similarly, it’s even more important if you have a leadership role in your company.

According to author Daniel Goleman, people with high emotional intelligence can recognize their own emotions and those of others, they use emotional information … Read the rest

Building Trust and Rapport in Business

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You’ve probably heard the sayings that “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” and “People need to know, like, and trust you before they’ll do business with you.” The truth is: until people know you care, most view you simply as a salesperson trying to make a sale. With that in mind, how do you build trust and rapport rapidly and let people know you have their best interest in mind so you can move toward the sale?

Here are seven ideas to build trust and rapport.

1. Treat Everyone You Meet as … Read the rest

MANA Marks 75 Years of Service to Reps and Manufacturers

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The Manufacturers’ Agents National Association (MANA) celebrates its 75th or “Diamond” anniversary in 2022. And, while marking that milestone, the oft-repeated phrase, “The more things change, the more they remain the same,” comes to mind.

It was just five years ago that Charles Cohon, CPMR, the association’s CEO and president, noted that while “digging through” the first few issues of The Agent and Representative (the predecessor to Agency Sales magazine) it was notable that while MANA has undergone major change over the years, it was remarkable “how much it has remained the same.”

As he considered some of the changes … Read the rest

Principal Agreement Terminations

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MANA member attorney Scott M. Sanders identified three key areas to consider as he covered situations related to principal agreement terminations during a MANAcast:

  • Key contract terms and the ability for reps to collect unpaid commissions.
  • Potential ways around 30-day termination.
  • A discussion of state laws favoring reps when they make a claim for unpaid commissions.

At the outset of his presentation, which was followed by a question-and-answer session, Sanders maintained that independent manufacturers’ representatives were what he considered “road warriors.” As such, “They often take a long time to build up a book of business with a particular principal. … Read the rest

Turning an Operational Negative Into a Backselling Positive

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Stuff happens! There is no avoiding occasional negatives for your rep firm.

One of the most troubling negatives is losing a good person for any reason. It is critical that rep firm management recognize that communication with manufacturers about personnel changes is absolutely critical and urgent.

Your manufacturers (I like to call them principals) have every right to know everything about your team — their sales force — as soon as something develops.

A Great Letter

I recently received this letter from a rep client:

“I regretfully announce that Charlie Smith [fictional name] will be leaving The Smith Group this … Read the rest

Why Hiring the Best Person Is a Major Competitive Advantage

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Recruiting good hires to any organization has been a persistent challenge for years. Furthermore, in what has seemingly been dubbed “the great resignation,” 2022 continues to be particularly difficult for leaders to recruit and retain staff. But there is a workaround, and it starts with hiring the best person, not the best resume for a job. In this article, I’m going to break down how we can turn this challenge into a major competitive advantage.

A (Scary) New Dawn

These days it is not an unfamiliar sight to see businesses with newly chained doors or experience poor customer service due … Read the rest

How to Follow Up With a Prospect

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Following up with prospects is crucial to closing.

There are plenty of things that prospects like to hear, and can help make your follow-up more effective.

I think we both know the almost impossibility of making a sale on the very first contact. Without compelling follow-up, there can be no sales — and I’ve got seven ways your follow-up could improve.

1. Replay What They Say

This is the easiest one. You may have had one conversation with them, and they shared with you one piece of information. So, in your next email to them, you play it back. You … Read the rest

Ideas to Keep in Mind When Closing Sales

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Without closing nothing happens, products aren’t manufactured, trucks don’t move, people don’t work, and money doesn’t change hands. If there is no closing, there will be no business. So, arguably closing is the most important part of the sale; however, if you have a great presentation and you give it to a prospect who is not qualified, the best closing skills in the universe won’t bail you out. In this article I’m going to assume you’ve done everything else right, in other words, you have a properly qualified prospect, you have a good presentation, you’ve sufficiently matched your solution with … Read the rest

Relentless Role Models

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I have two rules for companies that want to provide exceptional service.

  • Rule 1: Serve the customer.
  • Rule 2: When in doubt, see rule number 1.

Being relentless means providing exceptional service to your customers. It’s a propulsive, self-directed passion to continue to learn, improve, and exceed expectations in everything you do. It’s a race without a finish line. It’s a reflection of the core principles, beliefs, and attitudes of people within healthy and hugely successful businesses.

I’ll cite three companies that are reaping the benefits of being relentless in serving their customers. Those businesses should serve as role models … Read the rest

Are You Burning Yourself Out Accidentally?

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Who on earth would want to become a victim of burnout? I know, it sounds silly. But many of us do it because of one of three somewhat twisted beliefs. Stay with me here and I’ll explain.

Reason #1

We have a desire for success. Shouldn’t everyone have a desire for success? Of course, but not to the point that we sacrifice our physical and emotional health. When we develop a passion for what we’re doing, it is easy to become all-consumed. We think about it all the time. We spend all our extra time honing our understanding and skills. … Read the rest

Sales Forecasts Do Not Have to Be as Wrong as Fortune Cookies

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There has been much talk in the news about forecasts — and while most forecasts have been wrong, they are still more accurate than fortune cookies!

Thanks to satellites, computer modeling and doppler radar, weather forecasts are more reliable than ever before. Yet despite those advances, they are still guessing — educated guesses to be sure — but guessing about what will happen, when it will happen, and where it will happen. I live in central Massachusetts and between late November and early April, most winter storms track up the east coast and when a storm tracks a few miles … Read the rest

Embracing Backselling

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The concept of backselling seems to underlie so many conversations that Agency Sales has with independent reps when it comes to defining their relationships with their principals. So too is it the case with Tom Hoarty.

When he was asked, in general, how knowledgeable are manufacturers about what their reps do for them, Hoarty, Process Control Products, Burlington, Massachusetts, explains, “Sometimes you just don’t know what your principals don’t know. If a principal isn’t thoroughly knowledgeable about all that my company does for them as their representative, then it’s my responsibility to educate them.”

That’s a view that has long … Read the rest

Mobile Vans Worth 10,000 Words

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Talk about effective “show and tell” or “touch and feel,” that’s exactly what Ray Wilson, Techni-Reps, Inc., likes to do when someone brings up the subject of his agency’s two mobile product vans.

Wilson, who heads the Greensboro, North Carolina-based rep agency, proudly offers information about two Ford Transit product vans that have served as in-demand marketing tools in the North and South Carolina and Virginia territory in which it operates.

Here’s how the vans are touted on the agency’s website:

“We take the show on the road! We have multiple demonstration vans loaded with the latest products from the … Read the rest

Creating a Planning Team Pays!

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Everyone acknowledges that independent rep firms need to plan their business.

But very few get a real plan done and put in action.

The answer to “Why don’t reps plan their business?” is very simple — the “I’m too busy” syndrome dominates rep thinking. “What do you want me to do, plan or sell?” dominates the mentality of even the most successful rep firms. How can a rep firm build planning into their business? The “work on” not “work in” your business standard has to rise to the surface.

All Hands Meeting

A good starting place is to gather everyone … Read the rest

Pipeline Management: Time Blocking, Teaming and More

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I just talked to a sales pro who had her best month ever. She’s on top of the world. There’s arguably no better feeling in the world than hitting a new sales peak.

Maybe you’re having your best month now too. If so, congrats. If not, you surely remember your best month (and your best year too).

For the sake of argument, let’s say you are having the best month of your sales career.

Everything is going right and you’re incredibly busy. In fact, there’s so much going on you have several deals that are closing at the same time. … Read the rest

Magical Words

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We are all aware of the importance of words. They can be healing or inspiring, humorous or hurtful. They can also be motivating and magical.

Two of the most powerful words in the English language are “thank you.” Most of us were taught that phrase when we were toddlers learning to verbally express our thoughts and feelings. It was part of our parents’ programming us to treat people with respect. Unfortunately, for many people, the basic rules of politeness have gotten lost through the years. It’s time to bring those rules back — and to put them into play.

The … Read the rest

Sales Are Down: Do Nothing or Change?

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Q. Every one of my customers is buying less this year than last year. My sales are down. What can I do?

A. You really have a choice here. The first, which, unfortunately, is the solution that most companies and salespeople currently choose is this: Do nothing differently, complain a lot, and hope that things change. Maybe the government will fix everything.

The second, which is my recommendation, is this: Move outside of your comfort zones, become a whole lot more strategic, thoughtful, and better at what you do, and do some things differently.

Analysis and Data Collection

Begin by … Read the rest

Two Key Character Traits of Successful Salespeople

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There are two primary character traits that almost guarantee success in a salesperson. Of course, they need to have people skills first and foremost, but assuming they do, these traits usually seal the deal.

Salespeople who possess these two character traits will move Heaven and Earth to reach success and if they have these, they’ll also have most of the other qualities you want in top producers. In addition, you won’t have to babysit them to make sure they’re doing what they should be doing, they’ll do what they should be doing automatically, provided of course, you’ve given them proper … Read the rest

Quitting Is the Best Decision You Can Make

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Do you want to be known as a quitter? I do. In fact, quitting has been the best decision I’ve made on occasion. Contrary to popular opinion, quitting is what the best decision makers do regularly. Allow me to explain.

Life is full of opportunities. There are new people to meet, new groups to join, new projects to launch, and on and on and on. But there is only so much time in each of our days and only so much energy with which to navigate those days. When invited to participate in a new group or opportunity, most people … Read the rest

In Memory of David Ice, Past MANA Chairman

photo of David IceDavid Robert Ice, CPMR, 84, former MANA Chairman of the Board, died late last year. Ice, president of Ice Associates, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas, was a long-time member of the association and served as Board Chairman from 2009-2011.

A business degree graduate of Cleveland State University, Ice began his business career in 1962 as a department manager and outside salesman with Williams and Company in Cleveland, Ohio. He joined Aeroquip Corporation in 1968 and served in various sales and marketing management positions until 1992 in Los Angeles, California; Lawrence, Kansas; Jackson, Michigan; and Cranbury, New Jersey. That year he became the … Read the rest

Dealing With the CRM Challenge

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  • Have manufacturer requirements that their reps fill out CRM reports replaced the daily, weekly or monthly sales reports reps have faced for years? It appears so.
  • Are these reports of any benefit to the rep or the manufacturer? Questionable.
  • Do manufacturers read them? Questionable.
  • Do they help reps sell better? Questionable.
  • Do reps fill them out; should they fill them out? Debatable.
  • What happens if/when a rep pushes back? Varied results.

As reps showed little reluctance to discuss this subject, these and other questions were asked and answered during the course of a MANAchat participated in by 31 MANA members … Read the rest