to the consultant,“ The manufacturer should be very careful that the customer knows that the rep is the one handling the sales call— not the manufacturer. Be sure to let the salesperson take care of all introductions and do most if not all of the talking. As a result, the customer will follow up with the salesperson, not the manufacturer. In addition, the rep should stay in control of the call. If the sales manager does most of the talking, the customer is actually receiving a mixed signal and he really won’ t know who’ s in charge. If the meeting with the customer reaches a point where a close is called for, the manufacturer should make sure the rep takes care of the closing. Once more, it’ s a matter of letting the customer know who’ s really in charge and who has the relationship with the customer.”
Gaining and Keeping the Rep’ s Time
No manufacturers— regardless of size— should give up trying to gain and keep as much of his reps’ time and effort as he can. Here’ s what one manufacturer does to accomplish that:“ When we contract with a rep, the first thing we do is to make sure that he gets all the support material they want and need from us. We don’ t question their requests and we don’ t make them pay for literature. They ask for it— they get it.
“ At the same time we begin our relationship, we share an annual schedule with them that shows when we’ d like for them to take a trip to the factory. There are a number of reasons for these factory visits, including introduction to new products and product training, marketing updates, networking opportunities with new and existing factory personnel, and an opportunity to meet with their rep peers.
“ Annually all of our reps receive a complete marketing guide that is regularly updated during the course of the year. The guide includes new product information, warranties, marketing programs planned for the year and all company policies.”
He added,“ Since we’ ve implemented this approach, our feeling is that we’ ve enjoyed as much if not more of the reps’ time and effort than might be justified by our business in the territory. Maybe it’ s a case of the‘ squeaky wheel getting the oil.’ Regardless, I don’ t care because what we’ re doing works for us.”
Importance of the Factory Visit
If the previous item describes the importance one manufacturer places on scheduling regular factory visits by his reps, here’ s another manufacturer’ s view on the same subject.
“ We learned the hard way how important it was to let our reps know what’ s going on at the factory. After taking a product to market without keeping the needs of our reps in mind, our effort failed miserably. After that failed effort, I began bringing all my agency owners into the factory annually. I did this for a couple of reasons, not the least of which was to avoid that previous mistake. In addition, however, I believe it’ s critical for reps to get in here to meet any new people we have on staff and to strengthen their relationships with people who support them from here. Finally, and perhaps most important, during the course of their factory visits we make sure to devote at least a