Category Archives: Feature

Being New Is Not an Excuse for Lazy Sales Performance

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If you’ve read past articles I’ve written, you know I cannot tolerate laziness from staff or leaders. Nope, nah, nada! Well recently I was told that low sales performance on the job is okay for new team members.

Huh? Let me just start off by saying being new is not an excuse for lazy sales performance! Let’s unpack why newness should never ever be tied to lowering your ability to make sales. Grab your coffee mug, I promise, my case story is a whopper.

The Event That Led to the Excuse

Once upon a time, in a recent sales session, … Read the rest

Aim Above the Mark to Hit the Mark

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Even though we’re into the month of March, there’s still time to think about the months to come this year.

We will likely experience some economic adversity in 2023, but there’s a good chance you’ll thrive if you have the right approach. It’s time to start planning for your production this year. Today I have some best practices for you.

Before we get into the particulars, please know that goals must sit upon a solid foundation. In other words, your goals should move you closer to your dreams while honoring your core values and synthesizing them with your mission and … Read the rest

Like Father, Like Son

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Thankfully Dan Wolfskill was just as attracted to the rep way of life as his father was years before him. That’s why the transition of agency leadership from father, Joe, to son, Dan, has gone so smoothly for MANA member James Industries, Inc. (JII).

The story of this Bellville, Texas (about 60 miles northwest of Houston), rep firm begins with Joe Wolfskill, who explains that he began his career in 1974 on the corporate side. After completing training programs all over the country in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and York, Pennsylvania, a rep career called out to him. According to Wolfskill, “I … Read the rest

The Secret to Making Customer Contacts

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As if the point had to be made, participants in a series of MANAchats late last year spent a great deal of time discussing the difficulties they were having in getting sales appointments with customers.

Over a period of two days MANA members who were owners of single-person rep firms detailed the roadblocks they were encountering in their efforts to represent their principals.

While several chat participants pointed a finger at workplace changes that were implemented during Covid as the major culprit for this situation, there were also some remedies that were forthcoming from the discussions.

At the outset of … Read the rest

Putting Together an Annual Sales Plan

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It amazes me how many salespeople don’t have an annual sales plan. Of those that do, many just put it together once and barely, if ever, look at it again the rest of the year.

We all know that people with written goals and a plan for their achievement, who focus on those goals continuously, are much more likely to hit their goals than those that don’t. Yes, it’s some work up front, and during the year, but the payoff is tremendous. Here are the steps to set up your annual sales plan.

Step 1: Set Your Goals

What ultimate … Read the rest

Don’t Use Your Business Plan Daily?

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Let’s fix that.

In this article, I’m getting straight to the meat of the matter. Too often I’ve observed both small and large business leaders say they use some type of quarterly or yearly business plan, when in fact they don’t. Usually, I’ve observed that it stays tucked in their bottom desk drawer or in the farthest corner of a bookshelf (or digital bookshelf) until the financial year comes to an end. In many cases, these quarterly business plans are items that they help create, but in the chaos of an average business day often get forgotten. I want us … Read the rest

How to Manage Procurement Departments

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As a general rule, I recommend sales pros avoid or work around the procurement department as often as possible.

Procurement departments are populated with “professional buyers,” people who are highly trained and experienced. That means they have a built-in advantage over sales professionals. They tend to be more formidable in sales negotiating than sales reps.

That doesn’t mean you disrespect professional buyers, show hostility toward them or have disdain for them. Sometimes, despite your best efforts not to, you will have to work with procurement. They are human like you and me. Building rapport and trust with them can be … Read the rest

Customer Service Heroes

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We all need a hero — someone who, by their actions, can inspire us to do better. To be better. The four companies I profile here are reaping the financial benefits of making customer service a top priority.

Costco is a company that is incredible in the service it provides its customers. It offers the highest-quality products and the best prices — including gas at 30 cents per gallon less than standard gas stations. The company provides great service at great speed. Often the lines of customers waiting to check out with their purchases are long but each checkout station … Read the rest

The Four Most Common Mistakes Leaders Make

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Every business wants to grow their sales, and every businessperson has visions of an organization growing in size, profitability and influence. For most situations, it is the essential step to reaching their goals. The important question that most business leaders ask is this: “What’s the best way to do that?”

Even though there are proven principles, practices and processes that can be understood in general terms and applied specifically, the problem is more complex than it seems. All sorts of “solution providers” have jumped into the space, proclaiming their solutions as the best way forward. I receive at least two … Read the rest

The Talk — Part 2

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This talk will be a little different than the talk about the birds and the bees. This talk is for young adults entering the world on their own. It might also be a good reset for adults struggling to find their place in the world. I have often reflected on my life in an effort to better understand how I arrived at my current station.

Healthy Choices

Physical health allows us to ideally have endurance. To be at our best we need endurance, because pushing through to the end is often when it counts the most. The great news is … Read the rest

Changing Tune for a Rep Career

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Just as so many others before her, Jamie Benson never really set out to become an independent manufacturers’ rep. Her first dream was to become a big-shot singer-songwriter-musician.

According to Benson, “I think you either have the rep business in the family or you somehow stumble into it. As for me, I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and spent the hot summer afternoons in my bedroom learning how to play the guitar and recording myself on my tape player. I fantasized about playing on a great big stage with bright lights and a crowd of fans singing along with my … Read the rest

There’s More to Marketing Than Just Having a Website

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When it comes to marketing an independent manufacturers’ rep agency, the number-one weapon appears to be the existence of an effective, professionally developed website. That was the consensus from a group of MANA members who participated in a week-long series of MANAchats devoted to the subject of marketing your manufacturers’ representative business.

At the outset of the conversation about rep websites, the point was made that approximately 80 percent of MANA members have websites that are easily found by manufacturers who access the RepFinder®, MANA’s online directory. “Basically, if a manufacturer is seeking representation, they’ll usually eliminate those … Read the rest

A New Approach to Presenting Your Agency

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Here’s the scene — you get a call from a rep friend in another market.

“I just had a call from one of my best principals. He asked for a recommendation in your market. They have terminated the guy they had. Of course, I gave him your name and number and referred him to your website. I think he’s anxious to talk to you. He’ll probably call in a few days.”

After you thank your friend, you think about “the presentation pitch.” You realize that others have large full-color brochures. Some have professionally developed power-point presentations. Some even have video … Read the rest

Stuck in a Tough Spot as a Leader? Scrimmage!

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Hello, hello! Football season is just about over and only the Super Bowl left on the schedule. If you’ve been reading my books and following my blogs for a while, you’ll realize I’m a big fan of the game. I find that a lot of its principles and strategic techniques translate well in the corporate world, especially in sales.

One strategic tool is scrimmaging. Now I see a few of you already going, “Nathan, huh?” But I promise you, if you’re stuck in a tough spot as a leader, the best answer is to scrimmage! Let’s chat about what that … Read the rest

The Keys to a Successful Pitch

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This might seem counterintuitive, but if we’re going to talk about sales presentations, we must first talk about listening.

Too often extroverted sales reps who love the sound of their own voices launch into a well-rehearsed and finely polished demonstration and pitches. You don’t want to do that, however, until you have determined exactly who the prospect is, what they value and how your offering specifically delivers what they value.

Then, and only then, do you start to “sell.”

A sales presentation is your pitch. More specifically, the presentation is your formal chance to present how you and your product’s … Read the rest

The Talk — Part 1

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This talk will be a little different than the talk about the birds and the bees. This talk is for young adults entering the world on their own. It might also be a good reset for adults struggling to find their place in the world. I have often reflected on my life in an effort to better understand how I arrived at my current station.

Reflection is a powerful exercise for a better future because when we understand what got us here, we will know what might get us there, wherever “there” is for you. As for my story after … Read the rest

Things Salespeople Should Never Forget

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Aren’t you forgetting something?

There are a few things I often see salespeople forget when prospecting.

When it comes to the basics, we can’t get sloppy. Are you including these elements when prospecting?

If you want to prospect effectively, follow these tips.

1. Awareness

Is the customer waking up in the morning and saying, “Oh man, I hope Mark Hunter calls me today?” No, my mother doesn’t even do that.

We have to be able to create awareness. You may work for HP, or Coca-Cola. Yes, people recognize your company name, but they don’t recognize you.

That’s why awareness is … Read the rest

What Do You Do If They Ask Why?

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Are you struggling to implement a hybrid work policy?

Every conversation I have about this issue goes something like this: “We decided to call people back into the office three days a week. We thought we were being reasonable by trying to find a balance between their desire to stay home and needing them in the office. But instead of agreeing, they asked ‘Why?’ In other words, what will you have us doing in the office that we can’t do at home?”

Then some of them go on to complain about the cost of gas, the commuting time and the … Read the rest

Relationships Key to Rep Career

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Establishing and maintaining relationships were the ultimate magnets that attracted Marilyn Kahler to a career as an independent manufacturers’ rep. That was 36 years ago and according to Kahler, the attraction is the same today as it was back then.

Today Kahler heads Tri‑Fab Solutions, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Opened in 1973, Tri‑Fab Solutions was founded by Ron Shinn as a company to supply custom mechanical components to a wide range of industries throughout Arizona. With the expansion of maquiladoras in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, Tri‑Fab Solutions was one of the first representative firms to help secure product for OEMs in … Read the rest

One Can Be the Loneliest Number

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It was unavoidable that the words to the 1968 song “One is the loneliest number” came to mind during a MANA special interest group teleconference earlier this year devoted to the concerns and problems faced by single-person rep agencies.

As the words to the song go:

“One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.
Two can be as bad as one.
It’s the loneliest number since the number one.”

Owners of single-person rep firms are faced with the daunting task of doing everything themselves, whether it’s strategic planning, searching for prospective principals, travel and entertainment related to selling to … Read the rest

Knowing More About Each Important Customer Is Vital

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Knowledge is power. In the rep business knowledge is many faceted. The rep needs to gather knowledge about the best customers and have it organized for current and future use.

What Kind of Operation?

What is the customer’s business all about? How does the customer approach the market? What do the customer’s customers think of the company selling to them? What do their employees think of them? What do customers think of this individual salesperson and the firm that this salesperson represents?

Self-evaluation is critical to this in-depth penetration of the customer. The salesperson and the sales manager need to … Read the rest

Why Your Sales Numbers Aren’t Good

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I belong to a workout group called Battle Ready. Basically, it’s everything you want to know about working out, weight management, etc. It’s run by Erin Alejandrino. We have a couple of group calls every week, and a recent one tied into sales.
The first five reasons for poor results in workouts, weight goals, and overall health were also the same reasons that some salespeople’s sales results are poor. Here are the five.

Reason #1: A Lack of Activity

I’ve said it many times, the number-one reason salespeople fail is that they don’t make enough calls to talk to enough … Read the rest

What Happens When Your Client Goes Dark

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It happens to all of us — a prospective client, one you’re sure is going to end up buying from you, suddenly goes inexplicably dark.

Prospects have been going dark since the sales profession’s very beginning. It’s a common problem, but it appears to be growing worse.

And it happens even when the prospect initiates the first contact.

A prospect will seek you out, ostensibly excited about your property or representation services. They want to meet with you immediately because “time is of the essence” or they want “to nail this down right away.” Your meeting goes well. You hit … Read the rest

Five Essentials Before You Negotiate

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1. Does the Customer Have a Clear Need?

People will have meetings with you, or will have conversations with you, but do they have a clear need? It can’t just be a need that you understand, but one that they understand, too. Use the prospecting phase to articulate both.

I see customers calling people to ask, “Hey, what’s your price on this?” And it’s really just an itch. They have an idea, and they’ll only go in and buy it if it’s dirt cheap. Suddenly, you jump into negotiating with them.

It’s similar to when you go shopping and there … Read the rest

The Backpack

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I messed up. When I was a junior in high school, I crashed my mom’s car. The worst part was that I lied about the cause. My excuse was that I was reaching into the back seat to grab a brush. This was the ’80s, so I had to tame the mullet! The truth was that I was attempting to get a cigarette out of the pack and lit. This is not a story my 16-year-old self wanted to tell my parents, so I lied. That same year, my parents went away on a trip over a weekend, so I … Read the rest

The Magic of Form-Storm-Norm-Perform

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Over the past 40-plus years, I have been involved with or observed countless groups, large and small, and how they function.

Most have worked effectively, a number superbly and a few abysmally. But regardless of whether I am participating or looking over their shoulders, I have learned that a simple framework identified in the 1960s is a great lens through which to assess how well each group accomplishes what it sets out to do.

This framework has been labeled form-storm-norm-perform. Some of you reading this may think, “I’ve heard this before” and want to find something more interesting to do. … Read the rest

MANA Recognizes Members’ Milestone Anniversary Dates

Each year MANA recognizes members who are celebrating special anniversaries of their MANA memberships. In this issue we recognize members who are celebrating 65, 60, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30 or 25 years of MANA membership.

MANA thanks and congratulates these members for their long-term support and commitment to MANA and our industry.

We also thank those long-term members whose membership anniversaries are not among the years listed in this issue. Your company name was either published within the past three years or will be published within the next two.

Representative Members
65 years

Brian Middleton
D & O … Read the rest

Relationships Are Key for CEP Sales

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Independent manufacturers’ reps Kurt Kroemer and Gary Coval have a keen appreciation for the relationships they enjoy with the manufacturers they work with.

The two, who head CEP Sales, Inc., Zionsville, Indiana (a suburb of Indianapolis), are quick to acknowledge the healthy relationships their agency enjoys with its principals. Consider their words:

  • “We have been blessed with high-quality manufacturers to sell for, learn from and grow with, so we feel fortunate about this. If there is anything I might wish they were a little more appreciative of in our relationship, probably the only item that comes to mind is that
… Read the rest

MANAchat Tackles the Need for Effective Communications

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If a rep doesn’t communicate regularly and effectively with a principal, they’re not going to have that principal for very long.

While there was no arguing that point during a MANAchat earlier this year, MANA members who participated in the three-day chat were quick to emphasize that if the communications you’re providing the principal don’t benefit the rep, the principal and the customer, then time and effort is wasted. As one rep stated: “If our communication to the principal benefits us and the customer, then I have no problem doing it. On the other hand, if it’s just a matter … Read the rest

How to Sell During a Recession

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I recently led a workshop for a company’s sales team on how they could succeed during periods of recession and rising interest rates. Much of the workshop was discussion-based, and the topics of conversation were fascinating.

From the outset, reps and manufacturers that participated in the chat were quick to emphasize that for the relationship between rep and principal to be effective, communication ground rules have to be established from day one. One rep stated it best when he said, “I make every attempt during the interview process with a prospective principal to establish what our communication requirements are going … Read the rest