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March 2025 By Mark Hogan In January, I wrote that it’s going to big year for MANA. While focusing on the word “big,” I would humbly add to that list, “big growing pains.” The website launch in January was bumpy to say the least, and as your captain, I apologize for... Continue Reading
March 2025 By Sid Ragona As a MANA member and certified SCORE business mentor, I’ve often heard “If you don’t plan, you plan to fail.” Yet many businesses operate without a formal business plan. This raises an important question: Do they need one? Fifteen years ago, the... Continue Reading
March 2025 By Jack Foster In Part I of a lengthy interview with Agency Sales, Kurt Sieber, Edge Manufacturing Technologies, discusses a number of the issues that concern him and other independent manufacturers’ reps. Kurt Sieber’s rep roots can be traced back to 1977 to the time he... Continue Reading
March 2025 By Jack Foster If there was any consensus late last year among reps participating in a MANA Special Interest Group teleconference for single-person agencies, it was that being a one-man operation is very challenging. That understatement started the conversation as MANA reps shared... Continue Reading
March 2025 By Jack Foster At some point if there’s one question that each independent manufacturers’ rep has to ask and answer it is, “What do I do when one of my major lines terminates the relationship?” That was the topic addressed late last year by MANA’s... Continue Reading
February 2025 By John Haskell Having a sales manager is the first step. What does the sales manager need to deliver? The most important question for the rep firm that develops a sales management system is what immediate results are expected, by when and how will the top management of the firm... Continue Reading
February 2025 By Mark Hunter Slow down your sales process and you’ll speed up your closing. One of the big issues I find with salespeople is they race to get to the proposal, to the presentation, to show the customer everything that they can do. Hold it, slow down! You’re neither... Continue Reading
February 2025 By Dave Kurlan One of our favorite garden plants is the Endless Summer Hydrangea, the first hydrangea bred to bloom all summer long, every summer. And they always do. Except last summer. Except this summer. Last summer, they barely flowered at all and this summer they flowered... Continue Reading
February 2025 By Nathan Jamail I want to dive into a topic that’s often overlooked in sales but is a total game-changer: the neuroscience of influence. We all know that trust is the foundation of any solid relationship, whether it’s personal or professional. But what if I told you... Continue Reading
February 2025 By Jeff Beals You have probably heard the saying, “To be successful, surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are.” It’s good advice especially for sales professionals. Surround yourself with top-notch people. Leadership guru Jim Rohn famously... Continue Reading
February 2025 | Principal Focus By Jack Foster Here’s the approach one manufacturer took when she went about building her outsourced independent rep network: “To begin with I look for people who are systematic and organized more than looking for the typical outgoing type of... Continue Reading
February 2025 By Scott M. Sanders A sales rep in the food sourcing industry contacted my office in a somewhat frenzied state, exclaiming:“I set up my principal with long-term distribution through one of the big-box grocery stores, and then they soon after terminated my contract and owe me... Continue Reading
