“Why don’t they teach about manufacturers’ representatives in business schools?” It’s a common question from MANA members, and one that has triggered MANA’s outreach to the academic community, most recently at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business MBA program. As part of MANA’s engagement with the academic community, MANA CEO Charles Cohon participates […]
A MANA representative member recently called for help working through a difficult issue with a sub agent. A few days later, he followed up with this email: “Hi Charley, “Based on our conversation I was able to win an extra month’s commission from one principal while gaining a larger commission rate with the other for […]
Michael F. Gibbons, FCSI, GRP, CCCA was recently honored by the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) organization at their “Cities Alive” conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Gibbons is president of Architectural Systems, Inc. & Green Roof Consulting, LLC, a MANA member since 1982. He received their Civic Award for his long term involvement in the organization’s […]
I just got back from what turned out to be one of my favorite business trips of all time. Now, I have visited some amazing cities on business, including Tokyo, London, Stockholm, Salzburg, and Helsinki. So when I tell you that one of my favorite business trips of all time was Salina, Kansas (population 47,846) […]
Involving a lawyer is the worst way to launch a rep/principal relationship, except for all the other ways that have been tried. (Apologies to Winston Churchill.) With all due respect to MANA’s friends in the legal profession, one thing I’ve never heard a rep say is: “I think my lawyer would make a great manufacturers’ rep. […]
When a manufacturer requires call reports from a manufacturers’ representative, does he or she jeopardize the independent contractor status of the manufacturers’ representative and risk becoming responsible for the employer’s share of social security tax and the federal unemployment tax (FUTA) on commission payments? This is a frequent and sometimes contentious topic between manufacturers’ representatives […]
Once you make initial contact with a list of manufacturers’ representatives who are interested in representing your line, the interview process begins. The interview will probably happen in two phases: A phone interview to establish that there is serious mutual interest and an in-person interview at the representatives’ place of business to help the manufacturer […]
It’s the same reason so many people love Coca-Cola™. Associations. People associate the flavor of Coca-Cola with happy events: a baseball game, a picnic, a childhood birthday party. The flavor launches memories of those happy events, so naturally many people love Coca-Cola. The reason reps love the rep business? Associations. So many of us associate […]
“My principal suddenly wants weekly call reports and quote updates,” said a MANA representative member. “I need to spend my time selling, not writing reports. And isn’t there some sort of IRS rule against call reporting for independent contractors like manufacturers’ agents?” I couldn’t agree with you more that he should be allowed to maximize your […]
“So, how did things turn out with that quote we prepared for Acme Corporation?” Following up and reporting on open quotes is a task principals frequently assign to manufacturers’ agents. And there are any number of apps and cloud-based document sharing tools manufacturers’ agents can use to trigger themselves to follow up on a particular quote on […]
As the largest North American manufacturers’ representative association we often get questions from manufacturers and representatives about best practices and how to maintain long-lasting, mutually-profitable relationships. In this post we share 11 recent questions and our replies. Should the manufacturers’ representative get copied on all the RFQs coming from the customer to the principal? Many […]
Regular readers of Agency Sales magazine know Harvard MBA Bob Reiss as a “super-rep” whose business successes were so innovative that they were featured in a Harvard Business School case study titled “R&R” after the name of Reiss’ rep firm. Decades later, that entrepreneurship case study remains one of Harvard’s top-selling teaching aids used in […]
Outsourcing your sales functions to manufacturers’ reps can be a great way for your company to hit aggressive sales goals while reducing sales costs – everybody knows that. But manufacturers’ reps also bring three surprise benefits that only the most experienced manufacturers know about. Now MANA pulls back the curtain so everyone can take advantage […]