“ My response to that was I didn’ t invite him in to tell us how to run the business. My goal, on the other hand, was to have him assist us in creating a consistent plan for working with reps. I’ d be shortchanging us and him if I described the result of this plan as‘ good’ or‘ satisfactory.’ Actually, we wound up hitting a homerun and, in fact, I’ d advise other manufacturers to follow our path if they feel they can locate the right rep to work with.”
The Value of the Rep as a Merchandiser
The phrase“ Jack of all trades, master of none” came to mind when a principal recently introduced the subject of merchandising at an industry meeting. According to the manufacturer,“ It’ s completely unreasonable for me to expect that all my reps are able merchandisers. In general, the reps I work with possess any number of qualities that truly add value to our relationship. There are, however, several that I work with that exhibit a merchandising talent that allows them to stand apart from the rest.
“ I value the ability of my reps to merchandise our products and that’ s something that’ s high on my list when evaluating reps. Generally, I check with my distributor to determine whom they would recommend. Then I visit the distributor’ s counter areas to see for myself if their rep does a good job. Finally, when I get to the interview stage with a rep, I’ ve got an entire list of merchandising questions / problems that I pose. I’ ve followed this process for the last several years and I haven’ t yet made a decision that I regret.”
Learning What Reps Want / Need
There’ s so much to learn during down times at industry meetings. It’ s during those unofficial networking sessions where principals and reps let their hair down that you can learn a great deal about relationships. For instance, here’ s how one manufacturer described his view of the repmanufacturer relationship:“ It’ s not unusual for me to hear complaints from some manufacturer friends concerning the reps they work with. Here’ s the real problem— they fail to look at the relationship from the rep’ s side. All they really do is consider their personal needs. They’ ve got to familiarize themselves with what the reps’ needs are before they can really work smoothly as a team. What I’ m talking about here is the ability to have a meeting of the minds on all subjects whether that means factory support, advertising, commissions, and several other questions that they seldom address. As an example, after years of experience, I’ ve made it a habit to ask a prospective rep where he wants his or her agency to be in five or 10 years. How they answer that question lets me know something about their needs and goals. In addition, it tells me something about how they’ re looking at us as an integral part of their plans.
“ After I determine how we fit into their future plans, then I have a lot more to go on when making decisions on which agency I’ ll ultimately choose to work with. At the same time that doesn’ t mean that all reps have to have lofty goals for us to be willing to appoint them. For example, what if a territory is small and doesn’ t really have the potential to grow dramatically. If the rep lets me know that he wants his agency to remain at the same level it is now in five years, that’ s not all bad. With all the other variables being equal, I’ d probably go to market with them. On the other hand, if a rep