Many manufacturers’ agents join MANA because they are looking for new lines to represent. While most think only of looking at the classified ads in the back of Agency Sales magazine, there is another resource, the Online Directory (LineFinder®), that can also help you locate possible principals to represent.
We currently list close to 700 manufacturers or service providers in the Online Directory who joined MANA because they are looking for manufacturers’ agents. While the Online Directory is set up primarily for manufacturers to find agents, it can also be used by agents to find lines.
Go to the Member Area of the web site and click on the link that says “Search for Manufacturers”. You can only search manufacturers by product category so choose the category or categories that interest you and click “Begin Search”. This will bring up a list of MANA associate members who manufacture what you want, along with contact information and their web site if they have one.
Please note that you can download these results into a spreadsheet for easier analysis. Call us at (877) 626-2776 if you need help with this.
If you contact one of these associate members and tell them you are interested in the line, you will probably make the sales manager’s day. You are saving him the trouble of doing a directory search himself and this will also give you the inside track on getting the line.