5 Ways To Meet Your Sales Rep's Needs
By Mark V Wiley, Chief Editor, Water Online Advantage
Many manufacturers in the water and wastewater industry contract independent sales reps to bring their products to market. Rep firms provide the local connections, project awareness and ability to build proposals across multiple vendors that equipment suppliers can’t create alone. Because sales consultants work with multiple principals, it’s imperative to maintain a productive and healthy relationship with your sales network or risk losing their focus on repping your product line over other product lines they can prioritize.
The relationship between rep firm and manufacturer is a fragile one with either player able to move on if expectations aren’t being met. However, as many treatment equipment suppliers know, replacing competent representation can be extremely difficult. Therefore, it’s mission critical to be recognized as a best-in-class principal. This helps you hold on to profit margins and commands your rep firm’s respect.
Here are your Sales reps’ 5 requirements of a Grade-A principal:
1. The product must arrive on time
With today’s supply chain woes, making sure product arrives on time is difficult. But it’s also essential for reps looking to maintain credibility. It’s especially true if one of the differentiators in winning the bid was tied to product availability. Ensuring internal controls and logistical procedures are in place to standardize product packaging and delivery is critical. Beyond this, providing your rep with easy visibility into your supply chain allows them to reassure their customer and/or obviate early around supply chain disruption. Your sales rep needs reassurance that when they sell your product, it's going to show up on time.
2. The manufacturer can provide install help
Typically, contractors install your product on site. With more complicated installs they may need help and this is a great way to differentiate your company from the other principals your rep firm works with. The more support the manufacturer offers around an install, the more valuable they are for the sales rep, the independent contractor, end user and all involved in the project. Reviewing the help you provide prior to install, during install and post install can provide you with a comprehensive plan to support your rep throughout the project.
3. The product must work as indicated.
When the manufacturer tells the sales rep that their equipment works a certain way, it must perform as promised. There is no place for misunderstanding in this relationship. Your sales rep is your frontline person that deals with the irate customer when things don’t work according to spec. It can take years for your rep to win the opportunity to replace an existing line at a utility or industrial plant. You have one shot for your product to shine. Make sure that your rep knows your product’s benefits, functionality, and limitations. This comes from in-person training, technical literature and videos and providing them with a clear channel to your internal engineering and sales support teams.
4. Open lines of communication
Beyond product support, hours are critical for reps when negotiating deals. They need to be able to reach your regional managers, engineers, and support staff without delay. Days without response can quickly cause a rep-vendor relationship to sour. Create a list of communication protocols you can live to and share with your reps for candid feedback. Once agreed, manage vacation schedules and meetings to ensure that your reps can always find a knowledgeable team member when they need one.
5. Payment must come on time
Finally, what makes a sales rep love your brand over all others, is a clean commission plan and being paid on time. Minimize complexity to avoid ambiguity and ensure that both you and your rep are in lock-step agreement on compensation. Never let a late payment go without explanation and if necessary, a sincere apology. Prompt and accurate payment on goods sold is as good as any incentive in getting a rep to lean into prioritizing your solution over others.
We Can Help
These are the five most direct needs that you as a manufacturer should consider in supporting your sales reps. Beyond these, there are indirect needs that your rep firm might not be aware of that competing firms are benefiting from.
As more and more buyers conduct their product discovery activities on the Web, many treatment equipment suppliers use Water Online to generate interest in their products and feed sales leads to their rep firms. Our content presentation model means that when bidding on jobs, contractors and operators recognize your brand as a product they want to work with and your company as a best-in-breed reliable vendor, elevating you over the competition when all else is viewed as equal.
