Category Archives: Feature

Salespeople: How to Manage Your Emotions

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I’ve been pondering an e-mail I recently received. In it, the young salesperson described his most pressing challenge: The sales roller coaster. When things go well, he’s up, emotionally; and when things don’t go well, he’s down. The swings from up to down were wearing on him. His real question is one every salesperson must confront and successfully resolve: How do I manage myself to keep my emotions up and my energy high?

I’ve often thought that this is one of those fundamental challenges for a salesperson. It’s one thing to focus on closing the sale and presenting to a … Read the rest

Are You Worth More Than 6-12 Minutes of Training Every Six Months?

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The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics found that companies with fewer than 100 employees provided only 12 minutes of manager training every six months. Organizations with 100-500 employees provided just six minutes.

If this holds true for managers, how much training do front-line employees get?

A long-term research project commissioned by Middlesex University for Work Based Learning found that from a 4,300 workers’ sample, 74 percent felt that they weren’t achieving their full potential at work due to lack of development opportunities.

The lesson here: invest in retaining and constant training of your present employees. After all, the cost of … Read the rest

Clients for Life: From First Sale to Long‑Term Relationship

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I’ve had a lot of people ask me about client retention because it’s something I’ve been very successful at over the years. On that note, here’s how I did it from the initial sale all the way through the entire long-term relationship.

Steps to take with the initial sale:

Step 1: Verbally thank the client for his business when you close the sale.

Step 2: Review expectations and what will happen next.

Whatever your particular steps are, go over these steps with the client and let him know how and when he will be kept up to date.

Step 3: … Read the rest

Succession Planning and Valuing/Buying/Selling/Merging Representative Firms

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In this article we look at succession planning strategies to consider, pitfalls to avoid, and real-world examples of manufacturers’ representative firms that have successfully transitioned to new ownership.

But first, a disclaimer. I am not a lawyer. I am not an accountant. This article will share with you some strategies to discuss with your lawyer and accountant, but this is not legal or accounting advice and it is not intended to replace the advice of the legal or accounting professionals who will be crucial to the success of your succession plan.

And we can’t start until we discuss the elephant … Read the rest

More Advice on Succession Planning

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In the article that precedes this one, MANA President and CEO Charles Cohon takes aim at the subject of succession planning. As he draws upon real-world examples of why succession planning is so critical and addresses many of the how-to steps to take in order to get the job done, it’s worth noting that MANA and Agency Sales magazine have for years espoused the critical benefits of planning, forming and executing an effective succession plan.

More than a decade ago, under the heading of “There’s No Success(ion) Without a Plan,” this publication pointed out that the existence of a workable … Read the rest

Strategic Changes for Closing More Sales

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For most of us, what we learn first sticks with us for a long time, often throughout our lives. Nursery rhymes, along with what we consider right and wrong. The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.

It happens to salespeople, too. Because our early training is indelible, it stays with us to guide us. But new demands and expectations call for strategic changes to keep up, stay relevant and close more sales. Here are several of them:

Change Your Thinking About What You Know

Salespeople are known for being sure (sometimes overly sure) of themselves. Although it takes self-confidence … Read the rest

Fear of Failure

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“One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.” — Henry Ford

Are you afraid to fail? If so, your fear of failure is likely to limit your chances of success. If you look at really successful people, you will often find significant failures in their backgrounds.

The list is lengthy and includes college dropouts, such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. Why? There are a lot of reasons. Most stem from the fact that they are (1) willing to try … Read the rest

Eastern Canada MANA Members Meet

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It didn’t take long for Bernat Riera to take advantage of his MANA membership. Shortly after joining the association the Waterville, Quebec, rep put the wheels in motion for the first of what is hoped for several networking meetings for members in Eastern Canada.

Riera, Les Produits BR, explained that the initial meeting in February was to be followed by another last month. “Several MANA rep members from the province of Quebec met with the joint goals of networking and identifying common interests. Our agencies basically cover eastern Canada and some represent lines for the entire country. The results of … Read the rest

Backselling — What Does It Take to Work?

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What is the pay-off? What should it cost?

Sorting Out the Lines

Before you start to think about backselling it is vital that you look over your commission performance by line. Who matters? Five percent is a good cut-off line. If a line doesn’t produce five percent of your income, it does not merit serious attention; unless you expect it to grow to five percent within 12-24 months.

This sounds arbitrary and it is! Too many reps spend too much time messing around with minor lines that can’t be important in 100 years. These lines should be resigned and off … Read the rest

Managing Information

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“I’m spending more and more time managing information. It’s squeezing out my selling time.”

Welcome to the information age. You are not unique. This problem of information inundation is a relatively new but almost universal threat to your livelihood. Four or five years ago, salespeople were not too concerned with it. Today, dealing with information is so critical that it is an important part of almost every seminar I present.

Here’s the issue. Technological advances in recent years have multiplied the amount of information that you must handle. The quantity of information landing on your lap has increased from sources … Read the rest

The Most Important Sales Conversation

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There is a much-overlooked aspect of sales success that is rarely spoken about and barely attracts attention: self-talk.

The most important conversation is the one you have with yourself. The reason that conversation is so important is that the words and language you use both reveal and reinforce your beliefs about yourself and the world. Those beliefs dictate the action you take, or don’t take, and ultimately determine success or failure.

If you have a problem selling, you more than likely have a self-talk problem. The difference between the top salespeople and everyone else is that the top people became … Read the rest

Line Card Profitability Analysis Workbook

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Manufacturers’ representative firms have a lot in common with Olympic rowers. Just to qualify to compete we have to be fast, agile and impressive performers.

But when it comes to line card profitability analysis, some of us forget what Olympic rowers know: To be winners, you have to take the boat out of the water regularly to clean and wax the bottom. And before the rowers get back in the boat, make sure that all of them really still belong on the team.

Instead of doing regular maintenance, we just row harder. Instead of replacing weak line card performers, we … Read the rest

The Company Sales Meeting: Creating a Focal Point

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Professional meetings build wins!

Sitting through and participating in a rep firm’s first annual sales meeting yielded many conclusions that can be very helpful to all agencies and their principals.

At the top level the value of the sales meeting cannot be overstated. The meeting forces the rep firm to look at what is going on and what is really important to communicate to all members of the sales team.

Professional Meetings Set Records

From the principal’s point of view when their reps are getting together to review the past year and plan the next, the principal is a prime … Read the rest

MANA and SCORE: A Good Marriage

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At the very least, conversations with MANA members in the Rochester, New York, area indicate that there’s a beneficial marriage to be made between the products/services offered by MANA and those provided by the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).

Even before getting into what those Upstate New York business people have to say, however, it’s useful to visit both MANA’s (www.manaonline.org) and SCORE’s (www.score.org) respective websites. It’s there that visitors will see the full range of support programs that will offer reps the best path to success in the future.

While association members and regular readers of Agency Sales… Read the rest

Following Listening Guidelines

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Ineffective listening is the norm.

Salespeople in other industries are no better at listening, and as a result not much better at closing. Fortunately, listening can be learned quickly. Listening is not the thing to do while waiting to talk. Instead, listening is the most intimate gift given to another person. How often are others so attentive, you actually feel heard? It is as rare as “hen’s teeth” to experience salespeople who actually listen.

Talking, unfortunately, sabotages the majority of the sales that are lost.

When salespeople are asked why they lose deals, about 100 percent of the time they’ll … Read the rest

How to Avoid Making Stupid Mistakes

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Most mistakes are just plain stupid. “I just wasn’t thinking,” we say. Stupid mistakes aren’t intentional. But the genie is out of the bottle. The damage is done.

Sure, we can try to “minimize the damage” by claiming “We’re only human” and dismiss it with “Everybody makes mistakes.” Not today. As the news makes clear, there’s no place to hide. Everything is transparent. Both individuals and businesses suffer from the harm caused by stupid mistakes.

So, what do we do about it? Hope for the best? Ride it out? Or, pretend it wasn’t that important? Here’s how to avoid making … Read the rest

Writing a “Knock Your Socks Off” Service Culture Plan

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One of the major weaknesses of most organizations is the top management’s lack of a service strategy. They fail to realize the strategic opportunity of how to use superior service as a vehicle to build market share and market dominance.

Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, one of the most powerful retailers in the world, built a service role model. Sam built Walmart on customer service. They are now known for price only. The value of their company as a service leader has dropped dramatically. They have lost their focus on customer service. I always had trouble understanding why the … Read the rest

What It Takes to Be a Rep

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In this article, and the one that follows, Agency Sales will explore how and why an individual might decide to become an independent manufacturers’ representative. Conversations with any number of MANA members demonstrate that it’s the minority who actually began their professional careers with the goal of becoming a rep. A number who have set that as their goal have done so primarily because they were related to the owner of an agency. In other words, they probably grew up in the profession.

As a result, those individuals occupy a position where they are the heir apparent to agency owners. … Read the rest

“Fire in the Belly” Continues to Fuel Rep Success

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The website for Robert M. Bernardo & Associates, Inc. (rmbaa.com) is deceptively simple. The visitor looking for details about the Port Townsend, Washington-based agency will find the following:

RBA Inc. operates as Brokers, Sales Agents, Consultants, and Procurement Agents. With over 35 years of successful history in the building materials industry in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Africa, Europe and Asian Markets.

RBA Inc. Specializes in Sales, New Business Development, Management, Sales Management, and Team Building.

They are also known for their experience with Negotiation, Marketing Strategy, Sales & Marketing, International Sales & Procurement, Distribution Strategies, Governance, Start‑up Consulting, Transportation, Logistics … Read the rest

Principal CRMs

MANA hears from manufacturers’ representative members that principals want them to fill out reports in their online CRM software. Most tell us they find this time-consuming and costly and providing little if any value to the principals, who often don’t have time to read the reports. A few tell us they find the reports helpful.

We asked the MANA PDC (Professional Development Council) and MEDC (Manufacturers’ Educational Development Council) to help create resources that help our members deal with this issue. We wanted a solution that provides value for both them and their principals. High-quality manufacturers who appreciate the values … Read the rest

Make 2018 Your Best Year Yet

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Try Something New

In their “Habits Across the Lifespan” study, Duke University researchers found that nearly half of human behaviors are habit-based, regardless of age. For example, we not only have favorite restaurants, but we tend to choose the same menu items over and over again.

It’s the same in business. After receiving a promotion, her boss asked her to serve on the selection team for her replacement, but cautioned her not to look for someone just like her.

If half of our thought processes are habitual, it takes conscious effort to try new things, whether it’s a different color … Read the rest

Giving It Your Best Shot

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“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have trained trainers and employees all over the world and have taught them to believe in themselves and their abilities. I have written several books to spread the word about service strategy and the effect it has on your company, your employees, your customers, and your bottom line. One of my favorite sayings is by the late Zig Ziglar “… You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want.”

The … Read the rest

Penetrating the Impenetrable Account

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How do I sell to an account that is firmly in the hands of a competitor?

In one form or another, I hear that question at almost every sales seminar I teach. It’s a great question, reflecting one of the most perplexing and frustrating situations every salesperson faces. If you haven’t yet been faced with this problem, be patient, you will soon be.

Here’s how this usually develops: You’ve called on a high-potential account a number of times but can’t seem to get anywhere. The more time you spend in the account, the more apparent it is that one or … Read the rest

Overlooked Sales Tips for Added Success

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Try these sales tips for added success.

Stop Working Smart and Get Back to Working Hard

Most salespeople use “working smart” as an excuse to avoid hard work, especially the traditional methods of prospecting such as cold calling. They think work smart means work easy. As a result, they look for shortcuts and safe alternatives to prospecting on the phone and in-person. They try to prospect via social media and e-mail and kill so much time looking up information on prospects, that they don’t have time to make the number of calls necessary for success. While there are times you … Read the rest

When Talking to Strangers

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Reasons potential customers may distrust you.

Interesting to hear the response from managers when asked about what factors impact sales. Many will reference the economy, customer demographics, competition, and recent innovations. While those factors certainly play a role, I often find, when brought in to train sales and service teams, that employees inadvertently chase away new potential customers. It usually happens within the first 10 seconds of customer communication, and most employees have no idea that they are committing these offenses. See if this is true in your organization. Consider these three reasons potential customers may distrust you or your … Read the rest

Beat a Path to More Than Four Decades of Success

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Ask Jerry Bellar what practices or principles have guided him and his agency through its more than 40-year history and chances are he’ll pepper his response with references such as:

  • “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
  • “Don’t be the first to try something new or put the old aside.”
  • Quoting hockey great Wayne Gretzky: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
  • And finally, “MANA has been a godsend to me and the agency.”

Bellar founded Agri-Sales Associates, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, in 1976 in order to provide a national sales force of … Read the rest

Relationships and Trust

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You often hear that “It’s not what you know but who you know.” There is some truth to this. It is human nature to favor people who are friends, who have helped you in the past, who are recommended by friends or by people you respect, etc. That is not to say that they will give you a job, place an order, or do other favors if they think you are incompetent, unprepared or lack integrity. Good relationships can open doors and can offer you new opportunities. Strong relationships can last a lifetime.

Good relationships are the key to effective … Read the rest

How to Build Relationships in Your Organization and With Vendors

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We all know relationships are important with clients. If you own the relationship with a client account, you most likely own the business. Just as important as client relationships are the relationships within your organization and with vendors who help your business run smoothly.

Problems in these relationships usually lead to problems in client accounts, which could result in lost business. You also spend a good amount of time with vendors and co-workers, so the better your relationships with them, the more pleasant your work life will be. All of that said, how do you ensure good, solid relationships within … Read the rest

Sales Force Management

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Do you have systems that force results? What should manufacturers be looking for?

Everyone in the rep business will agree that sales are the first responsibility of a rep organization; but, how many rep firms have a productive, professional system for assuring sales growth and development?

There is no question commission checks are the best evidence of selling, but there needs to be a lot more involved for an agency to survive and prosper.

If you are a “single shingle” one-man or woman rep firm none of this really matters. You have to “manage” yourself, period.

But, if you have … Read the rest

The Practice of Sales

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“Every profession expects the serious practitioner of that profession to continually seek out the best practices of that profession, and then to roll them into his or her routine with discipline.”

That statement comes out of my mouth in almost every seminar or keynote that I present. Sometimes I follow it up with the ironic observation that there is, apparently, one exception to that rule — and that is the profession of sales, where we don’t expect anyone to improve.

That is, of course, nonsense. The truth is that better salespeople produce better results. The best salespeople produce the best … Read the rest