Category Archives: Feature

Quick Answers to “Why MANA?”

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“Why should I join MANA? I’ve got more than enough to do with running my agency. I really don’t have time to get involved in association activities.”

Fair enough: that’s hardly an unexpected response when a prospective MANA member is contacted about joining the association. Thankfully the existing members have come up with the right answers to counter that question. Tops among the reasons to join are:

  • “I’ve found MANA is the association for those who aspire to become professional manufacturers’ representatives. The more you develop as a professional manufacturers’ representative, the more successful you and your principals become.”
  • “By
… Read the rest

A Career Filled With Change

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Bob Gallagher’s rep story mirrors that of many other MANA members. He grew up around the profession. Immediately after graduating from college he took a position as a rep and today he serves as the president of Teeling & Gallagher, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.

Teeling & Gallagher specializes in components for the transportation segment of the market. This includes all the OEMs and tier suppliers to the automotive, heavy truck, agricultural, aerospace and related markets which provides for a large group of customers in the Midwest.

According to Gallagher, “I’ve always been fascinated with anything that has wheels or flies, so … Read the rest

Surviving Initial Impressions

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A second MANA member recounts some of his history as an independent manufacturers’ rep and describes how and why his agency has been an association member for more than 45 years.

At the beginning of a conversation with Agency Sales magazine, Rick Mullen good-naturedly explains how he successfully survived and thrived following the initial positive “false impression” he experienced at the start of his career as an independent manufacturers’ rep.

According to Mullen, president of Mullen Sales, Inc., Farmington, Connecticut, “I joined the agency fresh out of grad school in 1984. I chose being a rep over other opportunities because … Read the rest

Manufacturer or Rep: Who’s Responsible for Generating Sales Leads and How?

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Thanks to the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) for giving MANA permission to reprint this article from their magazine The Representor.

Working in the electronics industry, you’ve likely heard one of these statements:

  • Rep: “We are a sales company. We don’t do marketing. That’s up to the manufacturer.”
  • Manufacturer: “I hire sales reps to go out and find new customers. We are just a manufacturer.”

Here lies the great paradox of our industry: new sales are the lifeblood of a company, yet the responsibility for marketing and prospecting is tossed around like a game of hot potato. Why do companies often … Read the rest

Manufacturer and Rep — Working Together

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The running of the Indianapolis 500 earlier this year was one of the most exciting on record.

The winning driver, Simon Pagenaud, won by a mere two tenths of a second! It truly lived up to its reputation as the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing!” But did you know that another very exciting development this year was the entry of a new car owner who had developed a new business model that he felt to be not only more cost-effective,
but both revolutionary and a winner?

In front of a crowd of 300,000 his new team’s driver miraculously jumped out to … Read the rest

Considering the Challenges of Managing a Rep Firm

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“Do you have the courage to run your business?”

Being the owner or leader means something special, but you have to recognize it.

Managing a Rep Business Is Different

Running an independent manufacturers’ rep business is a bit different than other businesses. Managing a team of rep salespeople is definitely like herding cats. Having a really productive team that is consistently able to exceed the expectations of your manufacturers doesn’t mean that you can ignore your management responsibilities.

When business is at its best is the time when you — the leader — have to exert yourself to build the … Read the rest

A Checklist: Nudges to Move Your Career in the Right Direction

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When you’re asked to explain why you should be promoted, get a raise, or have a new job, it can make you feel uncomfortable. Why? Because you’re forced to talk about yourself — something mother told you never to do. Besides, who will believe you?

Well, there’s a better way to get noticed without having to say a word. You can nudge your career in the right direction. Here’s a checklist so you can see how you’re doing — and what you need to do:

  • Possess awareness. Be sure your antennae are always up! Never stop observing and gathering information,
… Read the rest

The Sales Force — Working With Reps

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This is the 15th in a number of articles serializing The Sales Force — Working With Reps by Charles Cohon, MANA’s president and CEO. The entire book may be found in the member area of MANA’s website.

Ruth Anderson’s schedule during the workweek was hectic, so the three agreed to meet in Troothe’s conference room on a Saturday morning. Harold had arrived early with pastries from his favorite bakery, and he had covered the walls of the conference room with large sheets of plain white paper so that the ideas they generated could be captured easily. Jim had brought his … Read the rest

Bad Service Nullifies Advertising

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The American Management Association found that successful companies spend about 20 percent more money on personnel, including on personnel training, than unsuccessful companies do. The finding held true for companies of all sizes in every industry.

All your company’s promotion, advertising, marketing and goodwill can be ruined by one rude or indifferent employee. Money spent on advertising is largely wasted when customers show up or call in response to it and are turned off by employees with a lack of manners, long waits on the phone, or lack of knowledge of the product to name a few.

Richard Israel, retailing … Read the rest

How to Create a Strategic Sales Territory Plan in Four Steps

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Putting a strategic sales territory plan into place can help you drive revenue, cut costs, increase productivity, and improve customer satisfaction. But what exactly does “sales territory plan” mean? And how do you implement one?

Traditionally, a sales territory plan is the specific way you — a sales representative — serve the clients and prospects within a specific geographical area. Think of the ideal plan as a playbook containing specific objectives, strategies, and action items custom-tailored for a specific subset of customers. It involves research, data analytics, critical-thinking, and goal-setting.

If it sounds complicated, don’t worry — we are going … Read the rest

New HRA Rules Allow Employers to Reimburse for Individual Health Plans in 2020

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HRA’s or Health Reimbursement Arrangements have been around for decades. New regulations have just been released for Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Accounts (ICHRA) and Excepted Benefits Health Reimbursement Accounts (EBHRA). Both are designed to allow employers to reimburse employees for their qualified health care expenses.

This new law would take effect on January 1, 2020. Employers would enjoy preferred tax treatment of these plans and employees would receive the reimbursements without creating a taxable event.

Employers would utilize an ICHRA, a newly defined Health Reimbursement Arrangement to reimburse employees for their qualified health insurance premiums and any scheduled medical expenses. … Read the rest

Persistence Pays Off for Phoenix Rep

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Bob Foster is not easily dissuaded from his plans and dreams. That’s something that is quickly evident as he describes his initial approach to the world of being an independent manufacturers’ representative.

According to Foster who heads Foster Engineered Products, Phoenix, Arizona, “Years ago when I was the project engineer on a job site for a construction company, I was not familiar with reps or what a rep agency was. I was working the midnight shift on a hospital project and had to quickly rebuild some interior walls. I was given the contact information of the local representative of the … Read the rest

Keep Your Sales From Running Out of Gas

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Too many salespeople find themselves running on fumes when it comes to prospects. “I get up every morning and ask myself the same question: Who am I going to talk to today?” asked a life insurance salesperson who had been in the business for 30 years. He’s far from alone.

Closing sales is the goal, but that takes keeping the prospect tank full of gas. So, what can you do about it? If you go to the supermarket, there’s someone giving away free samples. If you watch what’s going on, some of those taking samples buy the product; it’s the … Read the rest

How to Transform Your Sales Pipeline Today

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Big ones, little ones, sharp ones, and stubborn ones. I was pulling weeds from the garden when it became crystal clear to me.

The various weeds were like the many types of opportunities in most sales pipelines. Big ones, little ones, those that hurt (we’re behind the competition) and those who are stubborn (they aren’t sharing important information). The flowers in the garden are allowed to remain and are nurtured with sun, water and plant food. Similarly, we must leave and nurture the opportunities that will grow and produce sales, and weed out the undesirable opportunities that distract us from … Read the rest

The Benefits of Listening

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Franklin Roosevelt became convinced that people were so excited to meet him in person that they didn’t pay attention to what he actually said. So, he tried an experiment.

As he greeted people during a White House reception, he smiled and told each of them quietly, “I murdered my grandmother yesterday afternoon.” As he suspected, everyone in line responded with something like, “That’s great, Mr. President,” or “I’m glad to hear it, Mr. President.” This happened, until the last person in line, the ambassador from Bolivia. The ambassador hesitated and then whispered back, “Well sir, she must have deserved it.”… Read the rest

The Sales Force — Working With Reps

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This is the 14th in a number of articles serializing The Sales Force — Working With Reps by Charles Cohon, MANA’s president and CEO. The entire book may be found in the member area of MANA’s website.

Maria Gonzales was a welcoming and gracious host. She ushered Jim into her conference room, invited him to help himself from the coffee pot, and sat down to hear his concerns. Maria always had been very direct with her advice and suggestions, so Jim didn’t pull any punches when he detailed the flaw in their salaried sales force system and asked her if … Read the rest

How to Attract New Business Opportunities by Writing Articles

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If you’re looking for a way to attract new business, you might consider media exposure (getting quoted in periodicals, websites, radio talk shows, and television news). Such exposure is valuable and helps attract prospects.

However, it’s awfully difficult to earn media quotes. That’s why more and more professionals are blogging and submitting articles to media outlets. There’s great opportunity here. Every major city has numerous media organizations, and many of these depend on outside writers to supply the content.

The writer Robert Benchley once said, “The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece, per word or perhaps.” … Read the rest

Being Seduced Into Fitting In

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Since the day you were born you have been seduced, scammed and brainwashed into fitting in, following the rules and giving a day’s work for a day’s pay. From the crib to the playground to the college campus to the job site, the educated, hardworking masses are still doing what they’re told. Are you one of them?

In my book, Moving Up, I said, “I’m tired of watching life pass by the millions of talented employees and future business owners who — for whatever reason — don’t connect their passion with their success. Life happens to all of us and … Read the rest

RepFinder® by MANA Rep Search Smartphone App Launches Today!

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RepFinder appRep search technology has been stalled at the Blockbuster Video stage for the last 19 years.

October 1, 2019 we launch the RepFinder® by MANA smartphone app that is going to hit old‑style rep search like Netflix hit Blockbuster Video. And it’s available exclusively to MANA members.

On-the-go manufacturer sales managers now can search for reps, view each candidate’s MANA member profile, and contact the best candidates right from the app.

“Swipe Right” to contact a rep, “Swipe Left” to see the next rep on the list. Available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

You asked … Read the rest

Surviving a Change in Management

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“You have the line and there’s a management change with the manufacturer. Now what?”

At the outset, the words of one rep should be taken to heart when that question is posed. According to the rep, who boasts of representing a number of lines for more than 30 years, “No one likes change and whenever there’s change in management or ownership of one of your principals, there’s a fair amount of trepidation. Naturally, problems can follow. At the same time, however, it would be wrong to paint all manufacturers with a negative brush in terms of their relationships with their … Read the rest

If You Don’t Fix It, You Can’t Succeed

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Hard skills and soft skills aren’t enough.

The job world is changing so rapidly it’s next to impossible to know what to do even in the short term to get ahead, let alone five years down the road.

Now, a debate rages between which is more important, hard skills or soft skills. Those for hard skills focus on the need for specific knowledge to meet job performance standards and expectations.

On the other side of the table are those who say the hard skills path can lead to dead ends, to obsolescence. They bet on possessing interpersonal skills, such as … Read the rest

Sales Success: Are You IN or Are You OUT?

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I was recently speaking with a manager at a real estate office about what makes some agents successful and others unsuccessful.

He told me, “John, I can sum up the difference between the successful agents and the unsuccessful agents with one quick example: during a major blizzard when everything is shut down and everyone is at home, my top agents are making phone calls to prospects because they know they have a captive audience, and the rest of my agents are posting pictures on Facebook of the cookies they’re baking.”

I’ve noticed a similar phenomenon when I speak. Afterwards it’s … Read the rest

Empowerment: Never Use “No”

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“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” — Bill Gates

A company’s success lies in empowered employees. It is important to train employees and make sure they have trust in what empowerment will bring to a company. Satisfying customers quickly benefits everyone. Moreover, happy, empowered, fulfilled employees are the key to creating “over-happy customers” for your company.

When employees are empowered and given responsibility, they use their talents and skills to maximize the opportunities.

Empowerment means every employee has to make fast decisions in favor of the customer. It’s important that we … Read the rest

The Sales Force — Working With Reps

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This is the 13th in a number of articles serializing The Sales Force — Working With Reps by Charles Cohon, MANA’s president and CEO. The entire book may be found in the member area of MANA’s website.

Jim Anderson felt smug. His salaried sales force program had been in place at Troothe Industries for the last four years, and the most recent refinement he’d made on his sales force management technique seemed like the final, finishing touch on a system that almost ran itself. It gave him an almost real-time account of his sales force’s activities each workday with such … Read the rest

What to Do When a Gatekeeper Blocks Your Path

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During question-and-answer periods, the same issue keeps coming up in my sales workshops: how to deal with gatekeepers. These people are the receptionists and administrative assistants who stand between you and the decision‑maker you seek.

I’ve probably been asked five times about gatekeepers in just the past three weeks alone. Why does this issue keep coming up? It’s probably because cold prospecting is getting harder. Decision-makers keep getting better at insulating themselves from the outside world. One of their most effective defenses is a diligent gatekeeper.

When it comes to gatekeepers, the biggest mistake you can make is to think … Read the rest

Your Last Chance to Make a Good First Impression

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Most salespeople don’t take first impressions seriously enough. If they did, their first impressions would be much more favorable.

I can still remember my first (unintentional) lesson about first impressions. My family was gathered at my grandfather’s house to watch the debut of the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan show. It was February 9, 1964 and at 8 years old, I was one of 73 million people watching the show that night. I was as excited about this show as I would be later that same year when I attended my first Red Sox baseball game at Fenway Park. That … Read the rest

Follow-Up Tips to Grow Your Business

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The sales manager didn’t hesitate when I asked her, “What’s one thing you think your reps could do more of to enhance their sales success?” Her immediate response: “Follow-up.”

Working with sales and service teams for more than 25 years and observing the practices of the most successful reps, I’ve found this to be true. We often get so caught up in responding to customers and prospects, or hunting for new business, we neglect to pro-actively follow up as thoroughly or consistently as we should. Ironically, following up is one of the easiest and highest payoff activities we can do … Read the rest

Reps in the People‑Saving Business

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Years ago in the pages of Agency Sales magazine, a MANA member reiterated the oft-repeated simplistic view of what independent manufacturers’ reps do for a living: “Many people believe reps just make sales calls and follow up.” At that time, by describing the full range of products and services his agency provided, thankfully he went on to illustrate how wrong that description is.

While that rep did a good job of making his case, the three principals of Sales Solutions, Inc., have gone several steps further as they describe their initial attraction to the rep profession and how today they … Read the rest

Understanding the Rep’s and Manufacturer’s Role

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Manufacturers and their networks of outsourced sales professionals (i.e., independent manufacturers’ representatives) don’t agree on everything. One area where they’ve found common ground, however, is the potential for friction between manufacturers’ inside support staff and the reps working in the field.

Manufacturers and reps interviewed by Agency Sales for this article point to several causes for the potential existence of friction including these:

  • Lack of understanding of each other’s role.
  • Lack of appreciation for the role each performs.
  • Failures in communication.
  • Existence of pre-conceived notions.
  • Perception that each side should be doing more.
  • Lack of a personal connection.

The marketing … Read the rest

Think Like a Customer or Lose the Sale

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“Don’t fall into the trap of thinking like a customer. If you do, you’re done!” This warning has been pounded into the heads of salespeople — and it will follow them until their last day on the job.

Changing the Sales Narrative

Why is thinking like a customer dangerous? It’s the noxious notion that leads down the dark and dismal path to serious trouble — lost sales. If you dare to let yourself think like customers, you may be distracted from your mission and become overly understanding and sympathetic, even finding yourself walking in a customer’s shoes.

Yet, successful salespeople … Read the rest