Michael Chusid
Building Safety
Building Safety

Representatives

Get your reps and distributors to sign up for this

The following is a message from David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP, publisher of www.localproductreps.com. I endorse his service.

I used to work with a specifier who put the company name and website along with the representative’s name, phone number and email address in every section. The reps loved seeing their name in print. The contractors loved not having to look up the contact information. The architects loved it too. But with all double-edged swords, the other side was equally as sharp. The contact information became quickly out of date. I would get annoying emails and calls such as, "Frank's number is disconnected what is his new number?" "I called Joe and he no longer represents that product." "Sally's email bounced back." “The company’s website link is not working.”

Sometimes I spent more time updating contact information than I did writing specifications. I searched my big box of loose business cards and two full rolodexes only to find I mostly had out of date cards. Sometimes I found a card for a rep’s current and all past companies. I would check product binders (remember those?) only to find yet another out of date contact. I would check the company website only to have to fill out an online form or the site would only list top executives instead of local representatives.
 
Why isn’t there one place that has current representative information? That way I can concentrate on writing specifications. If this site was accessible to everyone, then I would not waste time answering questions about contact information. Others could easily look the information up.
 
Since there was no such a website, so I had to create my own. Thus was born “Local Product Reps” website (www.localproductreps.com). This site is far from complete but is a good start. My goal is that this site will grow to be the source for product rep contact information. My website will benefit everyone involved in the construction industry.

Inside Mind of Specifier: 8 Things Product Representatives Should Know


This webinar is a great tool for building product sales representatives.  The presenter is Liz O'Sullivan, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, SCIP, a Denver architectural specifications writer. Her firm, Liz O'Sullivan Architecture, LLC, provides architectural construction specifications consulting services to other architects. Her blog, lizosullivanaia.wordpress.com, offers many insights that building product manufacturers can use.


Product Reps – A Worthy Rant

From a blog post by Cherise Schacter, CSI, CDT. She serves in an administrative capacity in a large A/E firm and has some gripes about the way some product reps treat her. I concur with the advice she gives below:
  1. DO NOT assume that just because a woman is scheduling your lunch & learn, that she does not know what she is doing.  Likely I could teach you more than a thing or two.
  2. DO NOT ask me to order your lunches or go around and take individual orders for lunches.  We have as many as 6 lunch & learns a week sometimes.  I am pretty sure my rather large company did not factor into our operating budget doing your job for you.  We give you full instructions as soon as you schedule. Please read them.
  3. DO NOT leave your mess behind for someone here to clean up.
  4. DO NOT call me demanding that your Product needs to be immediately inserted in our specs because you talked to a Principal about it.  Name dropping one of my bosses is not going to get you into our Masters any faster.  We have procedures here and that boss will let me know when he wants your product incorporated into our specs.  If you are not in yet, there is a reason for it and I likely know that reason.  For example, maybe another Principal with whom you did not meet had a disaster on their project due to your product.
  5. DO NOT send me 30 pages of poorly written manufacturers specs and expect it is getting into my Master anytime soon.  Your company clearly has not taken the time to be a member of CSI or to learn the spec writing principles and language that is essential to specifications in the project delivery process.  I have spent as much as three days rewriting a manufacturer spec to make it usable in our CONTRACT documents.  If you want your products put in my master quickly, learn how to give me the specs the way I need them.
  6. When you come to visit, DO NOT talk to me like I am some kind of moron because you assume I am a flunky.  I don’t care if it is me, my Administrative Assistant or the janitor, I will not tolerate it.
  7. Manufacturers, at product shows, LOSE the slick used car salesmen in the 3-piece suits.  I can spot them a mile away and avoid them like the plague.  I want someone authentic and engaging who knows their stuff and will give it to me straight.  If your product is not for me, that is what I want to hear.  Be real and do not be pushy.
  8. At product shows, give me the information I asked you for.  DO NOT try to keep me at your booth for 4 hours telling me about every single product under the sun that you offer.  I have a lot of people to see.  It leaves a bad taste in my mouth when you try to corner me and I probably won’t stop by again.  If I ask you for additional information and to follow up after the show, you should probably do that.  Not one of you did from the last show I attended.
  9. At product shows, DO NOT assume that I am not worth your time because my badge says engineering and you rep architectural products.  Not only is most of my history in architecture and, for all you know, I may end up back there but I am also a leader in my very large CSI Chapter counting many of our local architects as friends.  My good opinion of you and your products, whether I spec them or not, might just carry some weight somewhere.
  10. Honey (I assume if you call me that, it is OK to call you that), my eyes are up here, in the middle of my face.  Please talk to those eyes, there are some brains behind them.
The bottom line here, you don’t really know who you are talking to, who they might know or where they may be going in their career.  It is in your best interest to leave behind a favorable impression with EVERY SINGLE person you meet.


Selling Through Independent Agents


Manufacturers’ Agents National Association (MANA) is a good resource for manufacturers that sell (or are considering selling) through independent rep agencies. I got the following message from Jerry Leth, the organization's General Manager, spelling out their services to "principals", the companies that employ agents:

FIND REPS:

We help manufacturers find prospective professional manufacturers' reps through the RepFinder, an online directory of our manufacturers' representative members. We suggest you try our “Test Drive” to get an indication of the potential number of MANA representative members  that might be prospects for your company.  Before you actually try the test drive, watch the “Tips for Successful Search Results” tutorial.  Alternatively, you can advertise for representatives either in Agency Sales magazine or through our new MANA Online “Rep Wanted” Advertising Platform.

WORK WITH REPS

We also provide a number of resources to help manufacturers learn how to get the most from their manufacturers' representative relationships.  We recently created our Steps to Being a Quality Principal program that enhances the learning process and we conduct our “Best Practices With Reps, Planning With Intent” manufacturers’ seminar twice a year.

We publish Agency Sales, the premier monthly magazine that provides relevant information on the representative business. 

The annual membership includes all the educational resources other than the ““Best Practices With Reps, Planning With Intent” seminar.  If you decide to purchase any of the ads, those are extra as well.

Read the MANA “Analyzing the Manufacturers' Rep-Principal Relationship” special report to learn more about the right way to work with representatives.

Advancing the professionalism and utilization of independent manufacturers' representatives.

New service helps locate sales reps

http://localproductreps.com, a new website, a has the potential to deliver three valuable services:

1. Help specifiers and contractors locate local sales reps.  Suppose an architect looking for an door hardware representative to assist with a project; the architect doesn't care which manufacturer, but wants a rep that is local, knows local conditions, and can come to the job site on short notice. The architect can probably find such a rep by visiting manufacturer websites or calling manufacturers, but this is time consuming and not always productive.  The new website allows the architect to enter, for example, "CALIFORNIA" and "Division 8 - Doors and Hardware" and locate Valarie Harris, FCSI and other qualified sales representatives. (I hope the site is refined in the future so I can refine the database so one can search, for example, by Zip Code and by MasterFormat section numbers.)

2. Give reps a way to promote themselves. While the database seems set up to allow individual reps to enroll themselves, I am sure a manufacturer's sales manager can figure out a way to enroll all the reps for the company.

3. Provide a recruiting database where manufacturers can locate reps and agencies to that can be approached to join the manufacturer's team.

I salute, David G. Axt, CCS CSI SCIP, the site's publisher, for developing this and wish him success. In a phone call with David, he points out that many manufacturers have cut back on the extent of their rep force and reps make fewer cold calls on architects; this has made it harder to know local reps. More, architects used to be able to find a rep's business card in a manufacturer's three-ring binder, but few firms use them anymore. He recommends that websites for product manufacturers include contact info for local reps.