By Howard Collier, Collier Corporation It happened to me. It was a number of years ago, I was calling on a major industrial manufacturer who consumed large volumes of brass rod. The brass rod mill I represented was getting ready to have a major layoff. They had never had a layoff. It was late Fall, […]
by Jerry Leth, Vice-President and General Manager, MANA When a manufacturer approaches a prospective manufacturers’ representative, the manufacturers’ representative wants to learn two things. First, does this company supply a product or service my customers need? If yes, the next thing they want to learn is, do they understand the professional way to work with […]
by Tim Ryder, President, Ryder Sales Agency, Inc. The adage of being a “Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none” does not necessarily apply to independent manufacturers’ representatives. While the “business” end may require that we become “Jacks” of the many facets of running our agencies (such as HR, IT, accounting, engineering, healthcare, management, etc.), our “profession” requires that we […]
“Relationships and reputation drive success with manufacturers’ reps,” says an article in The Fabricator magazine written by Senior Editor Tim Heston. “Manufacturers’ representatives can help a shop grow and diversify. But finding the right rep isn’t straightforward. The rep and fabricator need to be a good fit, and both need to scrutinize the other’s relationships […]
by Ed Juline, CPMR, CSP, Mexico Representation The selection of manufacturers’ representatives can be one of the most overlooked yet critical activities that a sales manager or leader can undertake. Once the decision is made to include the use of reps as an alternative or supplement to an internal sales force, the process for the […]
by John Beaver, GSA Optimum Or how about a remark from a prospective principal during an interview that the prospective principal liked the owner of the previous representative firm, but felt they just didn’t have the manpower to grow his line? How about the representative owner who says he just can’t make any money as […]
by John Beaver, GSA Optimum Whether you are playing in the World Series, or running for President of the United States, or interviewing for a new line, the outcomes will all have two things in common. Number one is that there is no prize for second place. And number two is that, although preparation won’t […]
by Danny Collis, President, Collis Group, Inc. As the result of the time I’ve spent in my career, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect upon the attributes one must possess in order to be a successful independent manufacturers’ representative. I had many other things written down before I came to a realization just recently that […]
By Ed Juline, CPMR, CSP, Mexico Representation While being a manufacturers’ agent or representative is a well‑developed profession in the U.S. and Canada, the entire concept of outsourced sales forces is still mostly unknown in Mexico. Many of the reasons companies fail to sell their products in Mexico through reps fall into these categories: Being […]
By Jerry Leth, Vice-President and General Manager, MANA People ask me quite frequently, “Why should I join MANA? What does a MANA membership do for me?” When I started at MANA after retiring from a long sales career, I reverted back to the approach I learned when I first started in sales. Those of you […]
By John Davis, Paul Davis Automation In the October 2016 issue of Agency Sales, Charles Cohon — MANA CEO — provided an excerpt from MANA’s Executive Secretary, P. Edwin Thomas (MANA Minute — “MANA Featured in Billboard Magazine”). I am glad that Charley quoted Mr. Thomas for two reasons: (a) I learned a new word […]
by Craig Lindsay, CPMR, CSP, Pacesetter Sales & Associates I am sure for many Baby Boomers (like me) this question comes up on a regular basis and like many situations, we have options: Jump in with both feet and figure it out. Wait awhile and see what everyone else does (leading edge not bleeding edge). […]
This article from the July 1949 issue of The AGENT and Representative magazine (which eventually became Agency Sales, the Manufacturers’ Agents National Association (MANA, www.manaonline.org) monthly magazine, tells the story of an independent sales rep whose customer convinced a manufacturer to fire the independent sales rep and pass through the independent sales rep’s commission as […]
By Kenneth Hooper, President/CEO, NEMRA When a sales representative looks across the landscape of professional associations they will see a near-boundless variety of choices. Some choices are defined by vertical representation and industry-specific expertise. Other choices provide diverse representation focusing on the needs of a role within the sales process. And then there are mixed […]
By Tom Hayward, CPMR, United Sales Associates Sometimes change is naturally accepted and sometimes not. If change happens to us, typically we get to work right away as we must adapt and survive. For manufacturers’ representatives, if we lose an employee, we get to work right away on finding a new one. Same as if […]
By Tom Hayward, CPMR, United Sales Associates So really, as a MANA rep member what has MANA done for you lately? Well, you get the iToolbox e-mails, and with each month a new Agency Sales magazine arrives. Good stuff. Oh, and there are the legal resources, consulting services, contract guidelines, videos, webinars, educational programs and […]
By Greg Bruno, President, Midlantic Enterprises, Inc. Every principal that works with representatives will say that they want more time from their representatives. But very few seem to make a consistent effort to win the hearts and minds of their representatives and fewer actually achieve this goal. There is one word that if used regularly will likely […]
By Stephen Fowler, President, PERCS How to plan ahead so you can ask the right questions of customers and principals. Alice asked the Cat, “Which way ought I to go from here?” The Cheshire Cat responded that “…depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” Alice immediately understood questions were not always […]
By Jerry Leth, Vice-President and General Manager, MANA I graduated from college with a mechanical engineering degree. My first job was as an assistant to the plant engineer at an instant coffee plant. Thirteen years later, I left the coffee business and began a sales career. In 1988, I started my own manufacturers’ representative business. […]
Save the Life of Your Manufacturer-Rep Relationship By Jerry Leth, Vice-President and General Manager, MANA In June I attended the MANA Attorney Forum and AMRA (Alliance of Manufacturers’ Representative Associations) meetings. At both events, I heard a recurring theme: when high-quality manufacturers create relationships with professional manufacturers’ representatives, the results way exceed expectations. Unfortunately, I also […]