Category Archives: Feature

Roll Up Your Sleeves and Become Relevant to Your Customers

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You’re not going to succeed through manufacturing, distribution or information power — those have all been commoditized. If you want to succeed, roll up your sleeves and do the work of building your customer experience. Don’t become irrelevant to your customers, which is what will happen if you don’t take action.

There is a direct connection between customer service, or lack thereof, and money made and lost. Do not lose money because you did not invest in developing superior customer service skills for your entire workforce and building a customer-driven organization. You cannot just sit around and hope the next … Read the rest

For Reps — The Past Is Definitely Prologue

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Earlier this year when TV reporter Ted Koppel took a quick look at the past, he brought to mind how much our world — and really by extension the world of reps — has changed in a relatively short period of time.

In a poem Koppel put together for the CBS “Sunday Morning” TV show, he points out that there was a time not too long ago when we all depended on roadmaps to chart our way before there was GPS available in our cars. Or, how about the fact that today when conducting research instead of consulting our trusty … Read the rest

From Teacher to Rep in Just a Few Steps

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The fact that Peter Scholtens played with model trains as a child and stops at rail crossings as an adult does little to explain how and why he is today an independent manufacturers’ representative serving the rail industry in North America. Rather, he can point to an entrepreneurial spirit coupled with a desire to do what he truly wants to do for the rest of his life for bringing him today to where he heads Integrity Rail Products.

Founded two years ago and headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the agency’s products include locomotive traction control systems, locomotive electrical components, and … Read the rest

Sales Strategy: Don’t Let Low Hanging Fruit Hold Back Your Sales

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When things aren’t going well, salespeople often give in to the quick and easy sale in an effort to get through the troublesome “dry spells.” Others become so addicted, they never reach higher. It’s easy to fall under the spell of the lure of low‑hanging fruit.

Yet, those who excel in sales develop skills that add value to their careers and enhance their confidence. They also know that going after low-hanging fruit prevents them from raising their sights, caps their capabilities, and keeps them from embracing challenges.

It also earns them a reputation they deserve, but not as members of … Read the rest

The Real Cost of Mediocrity

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Have you ever wondered what the real cost of mediocrity within your organization might be? Has there ever been a time when a mess-up by someone internally, proved to be quite costly in both money/resources and time/energy? Has there been a time when a mess-up by someone in your organization caused a huge toll on an outsider, i.e., supplier or customer? Training, ego and attitude can be the answer.

In the world of selling, the real cost of mediocrity can be extreme.

In selling, there are generally two categories: hunters and farmers. The hunters are the salespeople, both inside and … Read the rest

Have Your Best Sales Year

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Warning: If you’re looking for a shortcut or easy way to your best year, you probably won’t like this article. What I have to say is not what the majority of the population wants to hear. That said, it is what you need to hear if you want to have your best year this year.

Tip #1: Work Harder

This is the tip most people won’t like. Here’s the thing about hard work: the harder you work by making more sales calls, the more your sales will increase. Want to increase sales by 20 percent? Simple, increase your sales calls … Read the rest

Getting Lost Customers Back

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Opportunities for service recovery are numerous. If you are close to the customer and discover a problem, it’s your chance to go beyond the call of duty and win a customer for life.

Too many executives think employees are born with good customer service skills. It’s important to develop a process that allows employees some latitude in serving the customer that also includes specifically defined steps that must be followed in providing service recovery. Doing so requires decision making and rule breaking — exactly what the employee has been conditioned against. Workers have been taught that it’s not their job … Read the rest

The Sales Force — Working With Reps

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This is the eighth 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 felt well-prepared for his visit to see Enrique and Maria Gonzales. Maria met him in the lobby and walked him to the distributorship’s conference room. “Jim, we appreciate your coming back to discuss how Bigglie’s compensation plan affects your distributors,” she said as they made their way through the bustling inside sales department toward the meeting room. Enrique joined them just as … Read the rest

Chili and Your Intuition: Ingredients for Making Better Strategic Decisions

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As a business owner or manager, what you ultimately rely on most when deciding your company’s future is your intuition. The challenge with so many stakeholders relying on you to make the “right” decision, is ensuring that your instincts are reliable.

Effective leaders hone their intuition the way a chef cooks a pot of chili. Like chili, intuition needs to include the right ingredients and then be allowed to simmer a while. Here are several ingredients for you to stew on:

  • Get Customer Coaching

Even as a senior executive, you’ll end up making better decisions after spending some time at … Read the rest

Starting (From Scratch) as a Rep

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A desire to make a move from working in a molecular biology laboratory to a career in sales coupled with a fortuitous recommendation from a friend was what propelled Keynae Agnew into a career as an independent manufacturers’ representative.

According to Agnew, who was armed with a degree in biochemistry from Texas A&M University, “A little over 12 years ago a gentleman who had his own one-man rep organization mentioned to a friend of mine that he was looking to hire someone to assist with office work and if the candidate had a science background that would be a plus. … Read the rest

Proven Techniques Improve Supplier Relationships

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Relationships between manufacturers’ representatives and their suppliers are rarely static. Those relationships proceed through a life cycle. They are born, often during a period of euphoria. They grow and develop.

A prudent rep is always keenly aware of what stage its relationship is in with each of its suppliers. Implementing proven techniques can help reps grow and optimize relationships with suppliers, reverse decline, and convert the relationship to one of growing sales and profits. Those techniques, although simple, demand attention and energy. Routine implementation of the techniques helps to improve the success and health of a rep.

Measure Value

A … Read the rest

The Most Important Character Traits of Successful Salespeople

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We know there are many character traits that determine long-term sales success or failure. That said, I find there are two key traits that really separate the cream of the crop from everyone else.

Trait #1: Extreme Ownership

The most successful salespeople take complete ownership of everything in their life — and I do mean everything. From sales numbers all the way to car accidents, they see themselves as ultimately in control of, and responsible for, anything related to getting their job done and meeting obligations. In this way they are empowered so that when something goes wrong, they can … Read the rest

Fundamentals to Key Account Selling

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Almost every professional B2B salesperson comes to grips with one of the challenges of penetrating key accounts. Key accounts are different than the ordinary, and require some more sophisticated skills and strategies. Here are a few fundamentals for effectively penetrating key accounts.

Recognize That Key Accounts Are Different

First of all, they are larger, but that’s only the beginning. Their decision-making processes will be much more complex, and in some cases, highly structured. A product that may, in a smaller account, only need one person’s approval to purchase can require dozens of people to sign off on it in a … Read the rest

Taking Your Customer Service From Cost Center to Profit Center

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How many times has one of your customers approached you with an issue or a problem? For instance, “I purchased this product from you and it does not work.” Or, “I thought this product had feature X, but I found out it doesn’t and I want to return it.” Or possibly, “You told me my order would arrive on Wednesday and it came on Friday.”

Situations such as the ones I have described above happen every day in American business. Often, we find ourselves threatened or at least uncomfortable when a customer approaches us with a complaint or some of … Read the rest

The Sales Force — Working With Reps

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This is the seventh 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 had welcomed the opportunity to adjourn their meeting for lunch. Harold’s arguments all had been logical and Jim could find no flaws in Harold’s reasoning, but Jim could not bring himself to abandon the natural intuition that a commission system was necessary to drive a sales force. By the time the two men returned to Harold’s office, the break had given Jim … Read the rest

Manufacturers — a Little Knowledge Goes a Long Way!

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What you don’t know can hurt you. This is especially true when it comes to selling through independent manufacturers’ representatives.

Pro-Active Involvement

Building personal relationships with the reps is much more valuable than you might think. It is obvious that it is good to be friendly and to get along with your reps, but there is much more to a personal relationship with a rep. In some cases it is the owner of the rep firm; in others it is the field salespeople. Or it might be the inside coordinators and customer service people, or even the bookkeeper.

The more … Read the rest

How Meta Roles Boost Your Career

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There’s nothing more amazing than the endless incidents of mind-bending foul-ups by otherwise successful companies. Every employee has stories, ranging from miscalculations and costly errors of judgment to downright avoidable mistakes.

It doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Years ago, “silos” were a serious issue causing poor communication, confusion, misunderstanding, and counter-productive internal competition.

Then came the “We’re all on the same team” movement that morphed into the “knock down the office walls” movement with everyone having a “desk for the day.” Now, we’ve moved to silos of 2019, with employees donning head phones, sending emails rather than chatting … Read the rest

Create the Love — Talk to Your Customers

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Why wouldn’t you love your customer? They’re keeping you in business. It’s up to you to set the stage for some powerful long‑term successful relationships by simply…showing some love.

As in any relationship, the need for conversation, frequent contact, and the personal touch, is the number-one need to forming a successful, long-term relationship. Love is visible. It is what happens when you care.

Creating the Love

In order to gain and keep customers, you’ve got to do more than introduce them to your brand, business or product. You’ve got to make them fall in love with it. Find out what … Read the rest

It’s Never Too Early to Plan

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As he contemplates his and his agency’s experience over the course of developing and executing a succession plan, Corbin Gunstream reflects on the importance of the four Ds — Death, Divorce, Dissolution and Disinterest. While not the only guiding principles for an agency owner contemplating his or her exit strategy, they remain important considerations.

Gunstream, a partner in Engineered Industrial Products, Inc. (EIP), Santa Fe Springs, California, began working for the agency in 2005 and has been responsible for territory management in Northern California and Northern Nevada. He became partners with Kurt Fisher in 2017 and serves as CFO for … Read the rest

Rep Impressions of Regional Sales Managers

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While hardly planned or even expected, an early morning golf match provided a recently retired independent manufacturers’ representative with the ideal opportunity to share his thoughts on the contributions that manufacturers’ regional sales managers can or should provide for their reps — and their customers for that matter.

According to this rep who came fully armed with more than 15 years of experience selling a full line of products through distributors, “The first thing you have to keep in mind about a rep is that he’s in business to make money. If whatever the regional manager does really doesn’t contribute … Read the rest

The Sales Force — Working With Reps

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This is the sixth 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.

People eating lunch in Bigglie’s break room tended to spread out one per table until all of the tables were full. By the time Henry Buchanan walked in to wait for his brother David to be ready to go to lunch no empty tables were left, so he had to sit with somebody. Henry recognized Jim from the company’s Christmas party, and gestured … Read the rest

Crack the Prospect Code and Win More Sales

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Why do so many meetings with prospects fizzle out and go nowhere? Is it just the way it is, so we should just accept it? Or, is it possible that our “this is what went wrong” explanations are merely excuses for failing to turn prospects into customers?

As sure as Friday is pizza night, salespeople are drawn to prospects like kids to puddles of water. No argument. But what about the other way around? How much thought do salespeople give as to whether or not prospects are drawn to them? Is it possible that the drive to make the sale … Read the rest

Why You Should Take Sales Rejection Personally

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All of us have heard, pretty much since week one of our sales careers — “Don’t take sales rejection personally.” You know the mantra: “They’re not rejecting you, they’re rejecting your product or service.” I have to admit, I agreed with that for my entire 31­‑year sales career until a recent experience changed my mind.

About two weeks ago I was calling insurance agencies to let them know about a sales seminar I was doing for one of the local state insurance associations. Typically this is a very warm call where I simply state my name, the name of the … Read the rest

Bizarre Reasons Customers May Not Like You

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Whether fair or not, we are often judged on first impressions. This harsh reality is nowhere better seen than in today’s ultra-fast business world where customers size you up in a nano-second based on your personal image. Since their impression of you will determine whether or not they want to do business with you, the impact on your career and on your organization’s bottom line can be staggering.

Since it’s often awkward to confront employees on these sensitive issues, you need some ammunition to make the task easier. Here are some image-related reasons that customers may not like you or … Read the rest

Who Is the Sales Manager in the Manufacturers’ Representative Agency?

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What does the sales manager do to build the business?

It used to be easy. Two guys went into the rep business. They got a few lines. They divided up the territory and perhaps split up the customers based on any number of things — previous experience each partner had with the account, specialized product knowledge, or something like friendship with an insider.

Now things have changed. The rep firm has 5-10 outside salespeople and 3-5 inside sales coordinators. Success is good. Commission income is approaching $2 million. But, no one is really running the business.

Both partners used to … Read the rest

Emboldening an Empowered Team

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I love this saying by Lee Iacocca: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

Lead

Iacocca, former president of Ford Motor Company, took over Chrysler when it was leaning towards bankruptcy. He asked Congress for a loan, arguing that if Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, the government would have to spend more on unemployment compensation than on keeping the company in business. The loan was granted and a year later, Iacocca announced Chrysler’s first profit in many years.

During his turnaround of Chrysler, he brought the convertible back into fashion and introduced the minivan.

By leading in this fashion, Iacocca … Read the rest

Meeting Goals Set Long Ago

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The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” might accurately describe the perception many people have of the water and waste water treatment industry. For Carl Janson, however, it’s exactly the opposite. For the president of Riordan Materials Corporation, water and wastewater treatment are a constant in his life and in the life of his independent rep agency.

The Blue Bell, Pennsylvania-headquartered Riordan Materials Corporation puts forth the following goal in its mission statement: “Our mission is to provide quality, cost-effective solutions for our clients, while providing the best technical support services available before, during, and after installation. We are … Read the rest

Being a Rep Means Facing Challenges

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November coverLate last year, Lisa Wilson was contacted by Agency Sales magazine to describe her efforts in spearheading a MANA special interest group for female agency owners called “A League of Their Own.” While that article in the November issue detailed Wilson’s efforts in putting female agency owners together to share and learn from experiences and best practices, there’s more to Wilson’s history as an independent manufacturers’ representative. Her agency, L.S. Wilson & Associates, Inc., Bristol, Wisconsin, specializes in motors, stainless steel coatings, surface preparation products and industrial cleaning solutions.

According to Wilson, her beginnings as an independent rep can be … Read the rest

How to Get More Work Done (And Be Happy Doing It)

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Most everyone has figured out that performance expectations keep going up. To put it bluntly, we face the challenge of doing more in less time. And it’s not about to change anytime soon.

In the past, those with lots of experience fared well, but not today. Experience can hold us back, like running against a strong wind. Experience is about what we’ve done in the past and it has value in a never-changing environment. On the other hand, expertise prepares us for what we must do next so we can face the future with confidence.

The question, then, is how … Read the rest

Trade Show Booth Duty vs. Field Sales Calls

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Some salespeople who are top performers making field sales calls struggle to be productive working a trade show booth. Often, the things that make them great during field sales calls actually work against them during a trade show.

Why? Because the goals for a field sales call are very different than the goals for an interaction in a trade show booth.

During a field sales call, top performers build rapport quickly. They ask the customers to talk about their operation and the reason they have interest. I call it finding pain. “If there is no pain there can be no … Read the rest