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May 2025 By Mark Hogan The following story struck me as a great example as to why rep councils are so helpful. A manufacturer member shared his experience with rep councils, highlighting their value in gathering honest feedback — but also revealed an unexpected bonus: a cure for his... Continue Reading
May 2025 By Marnee Palladino As I begin my term as Board Chair with MANA, I can’t help but think back to when I first started my rep firm. Ten years ago, I had one-third the manufacturing lines, one-tenth the experience, and one-sixth the number of people. I was only just getting to know... Continue Reading
May 2025 By Jack Foster “I love doors and hardware!” If those words betray a real sense of enthusiasm, that’s exactly what they’re intended to do. And that’s the way Amanda Wilson begins a conversation describing how much she cares about being an independent... Continue Reading
May 2025 By Jack Foster Faced with the multiple challenges of everything from how to devote sufficient time to large principals’ products, reporting activity in the territory, dealing with unresponsive customers and simply responding to waves of business-related emails and text messages,... Continue Reading
May 2025 By John Haskell As reps, the only thing to sell is sales. How you go about selling the products you represent is critical to your success and the success of your relationships with the manufacturers you represent. Selling requires discipline and structure. It also requires someone to... Continue Reading
April 2025 By Dave Kahle Managing time effectively is a skill that can significantly impact your success as a sales professional. Salespeople often face tight schedules, juggling multiple clients and tasks simultaneously, making it easy to get overwhelmed. But what if there was a way to... Continue Reading
April 2025 By Bob Wendover There is an old adage that says, “A watched pot never boils.” Today that insight seems to be 10 times as true. With the evolution of society and the introduction of digital technology, we now expect to have anything we want, any time we want it, with the... Continue Reading
April 2025 By Nathan Jamail Let’s consider something that’s all too real for sales leaders: decision fatigue. You know that feeling when you’ve been making decisions all day, and by the time you get to that last one, you’re just tapped out? Maybe you second-guess... Continue Reading
April 2025 By John Chapin Lately I’ve heard two sales “gurus” in particular talking a lot about the importance of tone and how to use it when selling. By the way, tone is not the cure-all I’m talking about, it is actually one of the results of using the cure-all. As a... Continue Reading
April 2025 | Principal Focus By Jack Foster A MANA member rep was placed in the unenviable position of having to make a decision between fracturing a customer relationship she had worked years to establish or ignoring a directive from one of her principals to stop selling to the customer.... Continue Reading
April 2025 By Jack Foster In the course of a MANAchat, reps were cautioned that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will never replace them, but what will replace them is someone who is using AI. That’s how sales consultant and regular Agency Sales magazine contributor Mark Hunter opened the... Continue Reading
April 2025 By Leslie S. Marell Starting and running a business requires courage, persistence, strategic thinking, and effective implementation. After working with sales representative agencies for over 25 years, I have observed — and am impressed by — the resilience and determination... Continue Reading
