However, we’ ve found that by putting our top executives on the road with a rep— obviously with the rep’ s approval— we often have doors opened to us at a higher level than ever before. I believe it’ s a little bit of intimidation. They may be a little intimidated to meet our CEO without their top executives present. We’ ve tried this several times and it’ s worked well enough for us that we’ ll continue with the practice.”
Living With Realistic Expectations
A long-held belief is that contracting with reps is beneficial since they’ re able to hit the ground running from day one. They’ ll get the business much faster than a manufacturer’ s direct sales force ever could. However, some manufacturers have cautioned about having expectations that were over and above what anyone could realistically achieve.“ From the very first day, both the manufacturer and the rep have to agree that their relationship has to work for both. Sure, there are times when a rep will go overboard in his desire to obtain the line. That may open the door for the manufacturer to dictate terms of the relationship that just aren’ t going to work for the long haul. Ideally, it’ s the rep and the principals who both think short- and long-term who will maximize their relationship. Basically, there’ s got to be a level of flexibility during the first year of the relationship. Learn what works for both of you while benefiting the customer at the same time. It’ s only then that you’ ll have a good chance for a profitable long-term relationship.”
Advice From Rep-Savvy Manufacturers
Among the many benefits that grow out of participating in industry meetings and events is the exchange of views or best practices. That was the case late last year when two manufacturers described a couple of practices they employ with their rep networks:
Don’ t demand conformity from all your agents— According to one of the manufacturers,“ Assuming that conditions are the same across the board for all of your reps in all of your territories could prove to be disastrous. Sure, a certain amount of control is sometimes needed in order to prevent salespeople from reacting to conditions that can relate to critical corporate issues; but rigid control prevents your salespeople from reacting to conditions that can be beneficial or harmful.” The critical importance of long-range planning—“ Just as manufacturers expect their reps to exhibit an ability to plan short- and long-term, we’ ve got to be willing to act in a similar fashion. If more companies performed better long-range planning and let their agents know about their plans, there would be far fewer problems and much better sales results.”
Diffusing Negative Experiences
After digesting the article on rep councils that appeared in last month’ s issue of Agency Sales, a MANA-manufacturer member contacted us with some of his thoughts based on his experience with rep councils. According to the manufacturer,“ Whenever we’ d conduct a meeting, we’ d find that several of our members would attempt to force discussion into a direction that was way too negative. It’ s my opinion that they had their own agenda and were bound and determined to complete it no matter what we said.”