Below you will find MANA’s carefully curated list of best practices for manufacturers selling through manufactures’ reps.
Contents
- Understand the Manufacturer-Manufacturers’ Representative Relationship
- Select the Right Manufacturers’ Rep
- Create Fair and Balanced Written Agreements
- Develop Trust and Open Communications With Manufacturers’ Reps
- Form Rep Councils to Improve the Rep-Manufacturer Relationship
- Create Mutual Action Plans on How to Grow Territory Sales
- Set Up Territory Visits for Maximum Benefit
- Run Impactful Sales Meetings
- Develop Missionary Territories
An understanding of the effective way to partner with your manufacturers’ representatives is crucial for developing long-term and mutually profitable relationships
- Analyzing the Manufacturers’ Rep-Principal Relationship (Special Report)
- Understanding the Outsourced Sales Professional (PDF)
- Working Together as Trusted Partners in Profits (Video, 7 minutes)
- Sales Reps/Manufacturers — Adversarial or Cooperative (E-Book)
RELEVANT AGENCY SALES MAGAZINE ARTICLES
- Tips for Manufacturers to Get and Keep Their Reps’ Attention
- Manufacturer or Rep: Who’s Responsible for Generating Sales Leads and How?
- Understanding the Rep’s and Manufacturer’s Role
- The Secret to Success With Reps: It’s Not Business, It’s Personal
- What Do Manufacturers Look for in a Rep?
TELEFORUMS AND PODCASTS
Teleforums are hour-long conversations with people who know the topic. Podcasts are shorter interviews with knowledgeable people.
- Working as Partners in Profits (MANAcast)
- Understanding the Rep-Principal Relationship (Teleforum)
- Sales Reps and Manufacturers — Adversarial or Cooperative? (Teleforum)
- Outsourcing Selling Preview (Podcast)
Sync your phone to your car speakers and listen to the teleforums or podcasts as you drive to and from work.
Learn the importance of and how to conduct a thorough interview and due diligence process. You want ensure there’s a high probability the relationship works well for both of you prior to signing the agreement.
- Selecting the Right Representative or Principal Partners (Special Report)
- Tips on Using MANA’s RepFinder® (MANAcast)
- Selecting the Right Sales Channel Partner (Video, 10 minutes)
- Create a Successful Rep Network (Video, 11 minutes)
- Get Them to Call You Back (Video, 7 minutes)
- Our 53 Best Interview Questions When Hiring Manufacturers’ Representatives (Blog)
- Rep-Friendly Policies to Include in E-mails to Prospective Manufacturers’ Representatives (Word doc)
RELEVANT AGENCY SALES MAGAZINE ARTICLES
At the conclusion of the selection process, manufacturers sign agreements with their manufacturers’ representatives. These agreements need to work for both parties; otherwise, they work for neither. These agreements govern how the relationship will work and spell out the rules of engagement.
- Manual for the Creation of a Rep-Principal Agreement (Special Report)
The manual contains background and rationale information for the clauses found in a typical manufacturers’ representative agreement. You will also find sample agreements in it.
For help with agreements, MANA recommends you contact our list of Rep Savvy Attorneys.
What commission rates apply for the products or services my company supplies?
- Simplified Commission Rate Ranges (Survey)
- Commission Survey (Special Report)
RELEVANT AGENCY SALES MAGAZINE ARTICLES
OTHER RESOURCES
- Product Liability Protection for Agents — By the Numbers (Article)
- Example of Agent Menu Services for Missionary Line Launch (Legal)
- Sample Letter to a Principal Concerning Product Liability Coverage (Legal)
- Intellectual Property Protection Guideline (Legal)
VIDEO
- Extended Post-Termination Commission Clauses (Video, 7 minutes)
Manufacturers and their manufacturers’ representatives need to communicate in an effective manner. For communications to flow freely, the trust level must be high. These communications deal with relevant information that provides value for both sides of the relationship.
- CRM — Friend or Foe? (Agency Sales)
- Manufacturer and Rep — Working Together (Agency Sales)
Once you establish your manufacturers’ representative network, you want them to sell lots for you. You work together as “Partners in Profits” and an effective tool that fosters this type of a relationship is a Rep Council. The Rep Council provides focused feedback and recommendations on ways you can improve how you work with each other. You select a small number of your manufacturers’ representatives and sales management staff to make up the Rep Council.
- Open Doors by Building an Effective Rep Council (Special Report)
- Agent Council Operating Charter (Guideline)
RELEVANT AGENCY SALES MAGAZINE ARTICLES
- Mutual Action Planning (Agency Sales)
- Mutual Action Planning (Teleforum)
- How to Handle Territory Visits (Teleforum)
- Passport Into Territory (PDF)
- Maximizing the Value of Field Visits (Agency Sales)
- How to Run Impactful Sales Meetings With Manufacturers’ Agents (Teleforum)
- The Company Sales Meeting: Creating a Focal Point (Agency Sales)
- The Secret Strategy of Meaningful Sales Meetings (Agency Sales)
- What Makes a Successful Sales Meeting? (Agency Sales)
- Developing New Markets With Professional Field Sales Agents (Special Report)
- Developing New Markets With Professional Field Sales Representatives (Video, 7 minutes)
- Developing New Markets With Professional Field Sale Representatives (Podcast, 7 minutes)
- Example of Agent Menu Services for Missionary Line Launch (Legal)
- Developing New Markets With Professional Manufacturers’ Reps (MANAcast)
- Developing New Markets (Teleforum)
- Guidelines for Developing New Markets With Independent Sales Representatives (PDF)
- Market Development Fees — An Expense or An Investment That Brings a Substantial ROI? (Microsoft Word doc)
- The Need to Invest in the Rep’s Efforts (Agency Sales)
- Market Development Fees (Agency Sales)
- Tips for Developing New Markets With Reps (Agency Sales)
- Working With Reps to Develop New Business (Agency Sales)
Watch: MANA’s Steps to Becoming a Quality Principal Program (6-minute video)