Each of the salespeople is a little island working on his or her own out in the territory. When the salespeople are asked for reports, plans, communications to the factories or anything else, their answer is,“ Do you want me to do reports or sell?”
Looking Unprofessional
At times it can be a bit embarrassing because the rep firm doesn’ t get things done for the principals. Requests for marketing support, market information or other facts about customers and the outlook for business do not get answered or the partners scramble to send the information on the day it is due or a day late. The manufacturers have noticed. Maybe there have been some snide remarks about the lack of support the rep firm gives them or how poorly the reps communicate.
One saving grace is that most of the other reps for that manufacturer are just as bad.
Don’ t Join This Club
Is that a club your rep firm wants to belong to? Do you want your firm to be one of the reps that are all talked about as a homogeneous group of“ mediocre salespeople” or do you want to stand out?
How Do You Make Your Rep Firm Stand Out?
Management of the sales force is the best starting point. Getting your principals to know about, understand and respect the way you manage your business is a huge starting point for separating your firm from the rest.
Backselling Your System and Approach
First you have to develop the sales management system.
What do your salespeople do to manage their business? What do you do to help them succeed in building the business? What systems do you have for rewarding salespeople who achieve specific goals? What do you do about less-than-satisfactory performance?
Every rep firm owner / senior manager will answer these questions in his or her own way. The key is to answer them and then tell the manufacturers about your system— backsell!
Backselling the system to the manufacturers is the starting point for standing out. Communicating the way you run the business gains credibility and positioning for the rep firm.
Selling back up the channel so that the management of the manufacturers know and understand the discipline, structure and responsibilities of your sales force is the building block for standing out among a group of mediocre rep firms. And, most of the reps that work for most of the manufacturers are“ mediocre.” That is one of the reasons so many managers at the manufacturer