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 […]
by Mark Hogan, President and CEO, MANA October marks the founding of MANA, a milestone we celebrate by enhancing the benefits and content available to our members. Beginning this month, Agency Sales magazine readers will notice a new addition: a curated list of relevant trade shows. A new contributing author, Robin Copple, makes his debut. And you […]
by Jerry Leth, Vice-President and General Manager, MANA I help many of our manufacturer members do RepFinder® searches to create lists of manufacturers’ representatives they can contact to see if they are interested in selling their products or services. Most, but not all, of the results that come up look attractive but I also see a […]
by Mark Hogan, President and CEO, MANA When I was implementing process improvements on the manufacturing floor many years ago, it became clear that each worker wanted just three things: tools to do their job, information to do their job, and no hassle. Over the years, I’ve realized that this notion holds true for every […]
by Michelle Jobst, CPMR, Jobst Incorporated For most of my career, attending one of my principal’s sales meetings or other rep-focused events meant that I was the only woman in the room. Later in my career, I began The Business Women’s Circle®, a collaborative peer business networking group with only women in the room. But […]
by Mark Hogan, President and CEO, MANA It is both a literal and figurative heavy responsibility to be the new curator of the MANA archives. When I collected 39 boxes from my predecessor, Mr. Charles Cohon, I couldn’t help but wonder exactly how much they weighed. To my surprise, the total weight was a staggering […]
by Sid Ragona, Ph.D., Ragona Scientific, LLC The world of commerce is getting smaller and it is becoming quite commonplace for overseas manufacturers to seek out American representatives. For this editorial, I interviewed a number of European sales managers who have been in charge of worldwide sales for several decades and I asked for their […]
by Mark Hogan, President and CEO, MANA I simply wish that my mentor, Jeff Witt (May 30, 1945 – March 9, 2024), could witness my inaugural words as president and CEO of MANA. His recent passing weighs heavily on my heart. Jeff epitomized the quintessential manufacturers’ representative: thoughtful, diligent, knowledgeable, and ethical. Jeff set an exemplary standard as […]
by Charles Cohon, President and CEO, MANA The time has come for me to take the succession planning advice I have often given to manufacturers’ reps. It has been my honor to serve as MANA’s CEO since 2011 and to help celebrate MANA’s 65th, 70th, and 75th anniversaries. But MANA’s future anniversaries, and there will […]
by Jerry Leth, Vice-President and General Manager, MANA One of MANA’s highest priorities is helping manufacturers’ reps and manufacturers develop mutually profitable, interdependent, and long‑lasting relationships. Part of the process includes relationship reviews — manufacturers’ representatives and principals should constantly be reviewing each other’s performance with the goal of improving the relationship. Improving the relationship […]
by Charles Cohon, President and CEO, MANA In my last post I started a discussion about why Artificial Intelligence (AI) won’t be the end of reps. Now I will share two stories that show why AI can’t replace reps. AI Can’t Ask for a Favor Someone at my principal in Europe decided to ship mounting […]
by Charles Cohon, President and CEO, MANA A sonnet written by a machine will be better appreciated by another machine. — Alan Turing, English computer scientist widely considered to be the father of artificial intelligence. Will there always be reps? That’s a question that I was asked when reps’ role delivering three-ring engineering binders was […]
by Jerry Leth, Vice-President and General Manager, MANA To be successful in sales requires creating high-trust relationships with customers. We like to buy from those we know and trust. When you search for manufacturers’ representatives to represent your company, you want to find those with high-trust relationships with the customers for what you supply. They […]
by Charles Cohon, President and CEO, MANA “I put $3 million down that hole in the ground and never heard it hit bottom.” — Thomas Edison When we think of Thomas Edison, we think of his successes. The electric light. The record player. But in 1881 he spent $3,000,000 to build machinery that he thought could extract […]
by Lisa Wilson, L.S. Wilson & Associates, Inc. Did you ever notice that when you pick up the phone to make a doctor’s appointment, call your insurance company, call a retail store or just about any company, you almost always get some kind of automated system? The message often states that “We are busy taking […]
by Charles Cohon, President and CEO, MANA “Some may think these trifling matters not worth minding, but they should remember that human felicity is produced by little advantages that occur every day.” — Benjamin Franklin What did Franklin mean? One example dates back to the days when America was still a British colony. Streets were […]
by Tommy Garnett, CPMR, CSP, Garnett Component Sales, Inc. Recently, I was attending a MANA function with many other manufacturers’ representatives and my peer group from various industries across the U.S. During the conference, we held an open forum Q&A and amongst the group were many single person agencies or simply rep agencies seeking advice […]
by Charles Cohon, President and CEO, MANA When manufacturers call me looking for help finding reps, I suggest that they take a lesson from gold miners. If you are looking for gold, start by looking for quartz. Gold often occurs in between quartz crystals. Looking for quartz can help you find gold you otherwise would […]
by Jerry Leth, Vice-President and General Manager, MANA As a manufacturer who partners with manufacturers’ representatives, we hope you create relationships with your manufacturers’ representatives that work well for both of you and last a long time. Your manufacturers’ representatives create high‑trust relationships with customers who then purchase what you supply because of that trust, […]
by Charles Cohon, President and CEO, MANA Yes, sometimes reps write a six figure or seven figure deal and get to keep all the money. And it happens more often than you’d think. How does this happen? It happens when the rep sells their rep firm to a new owner and retires. What kind of […]