Rep Impressions of Regional Sales Managers
While hardly planned or even expected, an early morning golf match provided a recently retired independent manufacturers’ representative with the ideal opportunity to share his thoughts on the contributions that manufacturers’ regional sales managers can or should provide for their reps— and their customers for that matter. According to this rep who came fully armed with more than 15 years of experience selling a full line of products through distributors,“ The first thing you have to keep in mind about a rep is that he’ s in business to make money. If whatever the regional manager does really doesn’ t contribute to that goal then he’ s of no value to the rep.”
Looking back at his own experience in the field, the rep continued,“ If I’ m making a call with a regional manager, and he sits there doing his own thing, not taking notes or not giving the impression that he can
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make a decision, they’ re not helping the business. What they’ re really doing is making calls with the rep to say that they’ re out in the field. They’ re just checking all the boxes and performing the activities that will please their boss.”