At a recent Manufacturers
Association of North America (MANA)
seminar, a manufacturer asked
us for some idea of the
criteria a good agency uses
when seeking new lines. We
asked a few successful
agents--those who are able to
turn down a few lines now and
then--what they looked for in
a principal. We weren't
talking about products; we
were talking about the
characteristics of the
principals that were important
in the selection process.
Here's a combined list they
all seemed to agree on:
A history of quality.
The agents wanted to know
about the principal's
track record in terms of
service to the customer
and to the agencies
already on board. They
often talked with
customers and agents
already handling the line
before accepting the line.
A well thought-out
pricing policy. This
doesn't mean that these
agents were looking for
principals with the lowest
prices, but they were
looking for principals
whose prices reflected the
quality of the product and
the service. Competitive
pricing was important, but
the better agents claimed
that they never had any
trouble selling a
higher-priced product when
it was a quality product.
Financial Stability.
Apart from being concerned
that their commissions
will be paid on time,
agents want to know that
their principals are
operating from a strong
financial base that will
assure a lone-term
relationship.
Good Delivery Record.
Production capability and
delivery go hand-in-hand,
but even when a company
has good production
facilities, they can and
often do fall down on
delivery. Do not be
surprised if an agent
candidate wants to meet
your shipping supervisor
during a plant visit.
Technical Support. If
you are selling engineered
products, a good agent
will be especially
interested in the
technical support that
will be available to him
or her. And they will want
to know what it takes to
get your technical people
in the field to meet with
prospects and customers.
Good Sales Support.
Sales correspondents,
expeditors, telemarketers
are all important to an
agent who is looking to
build a solid relationship
with a new principal. In
fact one agent we talked
with claimed that he could
learn more about a
principal's sales by
spending an hour talking
with the sales manager's
secretary than he could
spending a day with the
sales manager. This, we
suspect, is an
exaggeration. But it does
point up the fact that
agents will be looking for
input in places you might
never consider.
A good website - your
website is often the
umbilical cord between you
and your network of sales
representatives,
subsidiaries, franchises
and joint ventures.
It should provide
technical specifications
on all products sold,
parts lists, contact
information and
more. An Intranet
can also provide,
purchasing history,
shipment status, sales
incentive information and
more.
