This issue of Agency Sales magazine takes a look at how reps get and keep great, profitable lines.
Reps who get and keep great, profitable lines usually follow the same two-step process:
- Become the kind of rep that great, profitable lines would want to have represent them.
- Make themselves easy to find so that the great, profitable line will know to include them when they come to the territory to interview.
How do you become the kind of rep that great, profitable lines would want to have represent them? Customers, channel partners and even your principals say they love to give line referrals to reps who:
- Take the time to become the “go-to” person for that product segment expert in their territories.
- Manage their line cards to create value-adding synergies.
- Organize principal visits to maximize productivity.
- Focus on communicating accurately (and
- with brevity).
- Create plans for mutual success.
- Maintain the highest ethical standards.
- Develop expertise on competitors’ products.
- Grow their mutual sales.
How do you make your company easy to find when a great principal is looking for a rep?
- Join MANA and become part of MANA’s online RepFinder database.
- Join any industry-specific rep association where principals you’d like to rep might look for reps.
- Write an article for Agency Sales magazine. Just write about a topic important to the rep industry in general. (Our editor will happily proofread for grammar and punctuation.)
- Write an article for other magazines in your industry.
- Maintain a professional website (and keep it current).
- Advertise in Agency Sales magazine.
- Tell your customers and channel partners that you would like to add one strategically chosen principal to your line card.
Somehow, great principals and great reps always seem to find each other eventually, but if you don’t make yourself easy to find it may take longer than it should, and it may not happen at all. When you take charge of that process instead of just waiting for it to happen, you will build the powerful line card your company needs to grow and prosper.
