How Do I Get the Attention of European Principals?--09/13

How Do I Get the Attention of European Principals?

That’s the question a rep asked when I spoke to the Manufacturers’ Agents of Cincinnati (www.maccincinnati.org) in 2011. And it was a fair question to ask. MANA’s RepFinder database gets MANA rep members lots of attention from North American principals, but not nearly as much attention from European principals. It took two years of research and investigation, but now we have the solution! The solution presented itself when we asked ourselves a related question: What tools do European principals use when they are recruiting European reps? The answer, overwhelmingly, is the “come into contact” rep-principal online matchmaking database run by the Internationally United Commercial Agents and Brokers (www.IUCAB.com). Europeans use the phrase “Commercial Agents” to refer to manufacturers’ reps. IUCAB is an association of 17 European country-specific rep associations, now 18 with the addition of MANA. The “come into contact” platform is very impressive. European principals make 100,000 unique visits to the site each year, and drive 600,000 page views annually. Once we learned that the “come into contact” platform is where European principals go to look for European reps, we asked ourselves: “Wouldn’t that be the logical place for European principals to start their searches for North American reps too?” Absolutely! So MANA has partnered with IUCAB to build a North American rep search into the “come into contact” platform, and www.commercialagents-northamerica.com is now available exclusively for MANA members. Only MANA rep members are eligible to be listed in the North American “come into contact” platform, so add your company to the database for free today and enjoy these benefits: You will be notified by e-mail whenever a European principal that fits your line card advertises for reps on the “come into contact” platform. Once enough MANA members add their companies to the database, we will launch a searchable database that lets European principals find your rep company to offer you their lines. Although listing is free to MANA members, it is not automatic. You need to know your MANA Organization ID number (easily available by logging onto www.manaonline.org) and then log onto www.commercialagents-northamerica.com to fill out your member profile. That will make it easy for European principals to find you and for you to receive a notice every time a likely principal advertises for a North American rep just like you. We know you will enjoy this new benefit of your MANA membership. Please let us know how we can be of further service by sending an e-mail to mana@manaonline.org or calling toll-free at (877) 626-2776.

MANA recently met with European rep associations to discuss opportunities and problems that face reps on both sides of the Atlantic ocean, and also how to assist European manufacturers find MANA reps in the U.S. Reps associations from most European countries participated in this IUCAB conference. Pictured left to right are: Enric Enrech (Spain), Jan Bjornum (Sweden), Jaap van Till (IUCAB), Charles Cohon (USA), Ralf Scholz (Germany), David Johnson (UK), Walter Krammer (Austria), and Olivier Mazoyer (France).

That’s a very short declarative statement that brings to mind reps and manufacturers skipping through the morass of the business market place enjoying mutual profitability and growth. But underlying that declarative statement is a plethora of details that can get in the way of a successful working relationship. Let me offer this cautionary tale of a manufacturer that made product marketing decisions that influenced the effectiveness of its rep network, not in a positive way. This large manufacturer with a well-established rep network had a history of being very rep friendly and offered significant compensation for functions performed by their … Read the rest