by Marilyn Kahler, Tri-Fab Solutions
Recently a conversation I had with a few fellow reps resulted in an interesting and useful exercise — examining how I, as a rep, spend my days. This exercise was really an outgrowth of the larger question: “Where does all the time go?”
Well, here goes! Here’s a partial list of what I do on a given day:
Selling — Speaking directly to customers obviously remains the number-one activity that a rep must perform. Some conversations are short and others, depending upon the details, are quite lengthy. Many of the conversations I have with customers require in-depth engineering discussions. Before you know it, a good deal of your day is gone.
Staying in touch with principals — Perhaps second only in importance to selling, communication with principals is critical to an agency’s success. We need to proactively keep our principals informed of their programs in process, potential customers, new opportunities and existing customers.
Let me give you an example of how such communication can be completed inefficiently vs. efficiently. In the past, I’ve had principals ask for trip reports on a weekly or monthly basis. It’s very time-consuming and if I did this for all the principals, I wouldn’t have the time for sales calls. My response to those requests has been that if I had someone sitting here in the office that had the time to do that, that would be all well and good; but that’s simply not the case.
Conversely, what I’ve done is to make sure that I proactively communicate with them both in generalities of what I’m doing and specifically on new opportunities, potential customers, RFQs, POs, work in progress, etc. I know that it all comes down to the fact they’re going to be asking “What have you done for me lately?” if you don’t stay in touch. By my communicating on a regular basis, they’re never going to be asking that question.
Checking on existing orders — Are orders on time or delayed? If it’s the latter, a good deal of your time is spent determining ways to limit the delays or learning what’s causing problems and then explaining matters to your customers. All this has to be done with the goal of satisfying your customers — no matter how long it takes.
Following up on quotes — When submitting an RFQ, time is critical. That’s why I have to stay on top of this part of the process to guarantee that principals respond in a timely manner.
Obtaining purchase orders — Getting the order is what it’s all about for the rep and that’s why it’s critical to spend time on a daily basis to ensure the purchase orders keep on coming.
Checking on new opportunities — Whether it’s traditional ‘cold calling’ or seeking opportunities to sell new products into existing territories, or existing products into new territories, these activities remain the lifeblood of any agency’s activities. It’s always beneficial to remain in contact with the customer for every quote until it’s either placed elsewhere or my principal has received the new PO.
Taking action on emails and other correspondence — Operating in today’s high-tech environment principals and customers want/need answers as quickly as possible. That’s why I and other reps remain on call to ensure questions get answered and problems get solved immediately.
Completing all of these activities leads directly to the importance of effectively managing time. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in a minefield of activities on the computer. Time management and discipline have to come into play to ensure that priorities are established and followed — not necessarily in the order in which I’ve listed them — but rather in the order that proves to be most effective for the rep.
Marilyn Kahler has been the owner of Tri-Fab Solutions, Scottsdale, Arizona, since 2008. The agency represents several companies that manufacture custom mechanical components for customers in Arizona. She joined the agency in 1986 as the business development manager. Prior to this, Kahler spent eight years as a successful real estate agent. She has been a member of MANA since 2004 and has served on the association’s Board since 2024.