Outsourcing Selling

Some people can’t bring themselves to visit a dentist. Others struggle to get themselves into their accountant’s office at tax time. And for many, fear of the unknown keeps them from reaching out to a lawyer whose specialty is manufacturers’ representative law. In this episode attorney Matthew Benson discusses the kind of conversation he and most MANA-associated attorneys have with MANA members before the clock on hourly billing starts to run, for example: What are my legal rights? How much will this cost? How do you evaluate my case? How long will this take? What disruptions may be incurred in my business? With Matthew’s insights, we discover that launching a new relationship with a lawyer who specializes in rep law involves minimal cost and absolutely no Novocain.

You’ve caught the interest of a manufacturer who needs a representative. The phone interview went well, you’re made it onto the short list of candidates, and the final face-to-face interview is coming up fast. The days when you can “wing it” are gone, say GSA Optimum President John Beaver. What kind of research should you do? What kinds of topics should you cover in your presentation? How should the interview be structured? In this episode John Beaver discusses the best practices in preparing for and delivering your pitch for a new line. “Unless you’re interviewing for the same line we are,” says John, “in which case I highly recommend you wing it.”

It’s more than making sure the T’s are crossed and the I’s are dotted. A good rep/principal agreement requires strategic thinking before the first clause is even written. In this episode attorney Daniel Beederman reviews the strategy underlying the creation of a successful rep/principal agreement.

The rep was doing a great job for the manufacturer, but the certified letter just arrived in the rep’s office anyway. Why did this happen? Not for the lack of sales activities. Not for the lack of sales. It was for the lack of Backselling. Bottom line, the rep did a great job with customers but a terrible job with the manufacturer. The manufacturer only knew what the rep was telling her, and the rep wasn’t telling her anything. So she assumed the sales were just luck and that the rep was milking her line. In this podcast John Haskell who writes under the pen name Dr. Revenue discusses how reps can backsell to their principals and avoid being terminated, not for a lack of performance, but for a lack of communication.

What’s it like to be a rep or work with reps in Canada? It’s the same as it would be in the United States, but it’s also different. In this podcast we speak with Canadian rep Craig Lindsay, President of Pacesetter Sales & Associates, who share the misconceptions and misunderstandings manufacturers and reps have about how reps operate in Canada. Among the challenges Craig’s firm has mastered is servicing a mostly long and narrow sales territory, some 2,800 miles long but just 100 miles deep. That’s because most of Canada’s commerce occurs within about 100 miles of its border with the United States, although Craig’s salespeople do cover the entire country. Craig brings 25 years of experience in his own firm, eight years of experience on MANA’s Board of Directors, and a commonsense perspective on international commerce to this interview.

At a joint meeting of the Manufacturers' Agents National Association (MANA) and the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA), MANA's CEO Charles Cohon shared his predictions for the rep industry.   "I think the best way to explain why we are here today comes from Nvidia cofounder Chris Malachowsky, who was quoted in Forbes about his firm's success.    "He said, 'There's a California surfing competition that happens in a five-month window every year. When they see some type of wave phenomenon or storm in Japan, they tell all the surfers to show up in California, because there's going to be a wave in two days.'   "That is why we are here today. We are going to take a look at the indicators that tell us how the rep business is changing so we can get our firms ready for the wave that isn’t here yet, but is coming.   "Or if you prefer a hockey reference, I will paraphrase Wayne Gretzky and say that we are here because we know we can’t succeed by skating to where the puck is, we have to figure out how to s