Just as so many other reps who have been profiled in the pages of Agency Sales magazine, Kelly Smith didn’t start his career as a rep. Smith, who today heads the Tipp City, Ohio-based Innovative Tech Sales, began his path to “repdom” working for close to a decade with a fastener distributor.
“One of the lines that the distributor carried was a manufacturer of threaded inserts. They had one direct employee who covered our territory, and I spent a great deal of time traveling with him visiting customers. After spending a lot of windshield time with that employee, he eventually retired, but not before placing their line with a rep agency.”
Smith co-founded that agency and eventually bought out his business partner. “Purchasing an agency and becoming a rep was something I had talked about forever and eventually made the move. I’ll admit that in making the move I probably jumped first and asked questions later, but it all worked out. I’ve been a member of MANA from the very beginning and also aligned myself with the Manufacturers’ Agents of Cincinnati (MAC). Both organizations have been incredibly helpful.”
As he looks back over the years since becoming a rep, Smith recalls, “As a new rep I probably made plenty of mistakes. I can remember wanting to appear to have more than one line and, in fact, I found it was easy to find new lines. But then it was difficult to develop real solid relationships with principals. In dealing with prospective principals, I can recall constantly trying to get more information out of them, but not all of them were really willing to share. On top of that, many of them really didn’t even know how to work with reps. The concept of working with reps seems rather foreign to them. In addition, there are some manufacturers who have worked with reps in the past and for a variety of reasons it simply didn’t work out. It’s easy to find a line to give you a commission, it’s difficult to find a real partnership for the long term.”
Today Innovative Tech Sales remains as a single-person operation, currently representing four lines. In serving the heavy truck and automotive industries the agency also provides executive sales consulting and part-time sales management as a service.
If there’s anything Smith has learned during his years as an independent manufacturers’ rep it’s that “You’re fortunate if you’ve managed to be very successful with a line. On the other hand, however, by achieving that level of success, you’ve also managed to put a target on your back. And, that ever-present target can result in the rep being terminated because he’s too successful.” That scenario is hardly news to any experienced rep.
Addressing that subject, Smith recalled advice he received years ago that at the time he considered a bit counterintuitive. “I don’t recall who told me this but at the time, I thought it didn’t make any sense. If you sell too much and are really successful, the manufacturer can’t fathom why they are paying you such large commissions. I can recall a time when I landed a large project that the principal didn’t think I would have success with. They paid me my commission, but at the end of our contract, we were terminated. It was all about us being so successful that we drew their attention and generated too much income.”
Smith added: “There are some principals who recognize that when the rep is successful, they’re also going to be successful, and we both make more money. On the other hand, there are those that want to know how you did it. They want to relate your success to the amount of work you did. Then, they get a little bitter about having to pay you.
“And then there can be the manufacturers who don’t take into account all the ancillary expenses such as travel and entertainment, health care, etc., the rep faces — and the manufacturer doesn’t have to pay. They all come out of those commissions.”
He continued that too often principals get hung up on the subject of how much time the rep spends on their line. “When a manufacturer asks that question of me, I tell them I can’t and won’t make any promises and let them know that how much time I spend on their line is project dependent. In all honesty, I’m an open book and it might be weeks or months before any results can be seen. But then, that’s where the benefit of representing complementary lines comes in. You never know what might develop when you’re presenting one line and an opportunity develops for something else that you represent that might meet the need of the customer.”
He continued that communication between rep and principal is very important when addressing a subject such as how much time you spend on a given line. “I’d maintain that I have a much more integrated line of communication than many other agencies. And, I’m also okay with the fact that if a manufacturer is paying me for existing business in the territory, that I’m going to be in very regular communication with them.”
Staying on the subject of paying commissions, Smith explained that when it comes to territorial or market development fees when a prospective principal has no business in the territory, “I generally introduce the subject and have had some level of success. However, I am willing to go without such a fee if the manufacturer is willing to provide viable leads, some existing customers, or information concerning some customers they have been successful with.”
If regular communication with principals is important, so too is it with the agency’s customers. According to Smith, “I’ve learned how important it is to stay in touch with people in the manner that they prefer. I’ve always been an outside salesperson and people my age still probably want to have in-person meetings. In the past I’d say that about 75 percent of my contacts with customers were in person. As times have changed, however, that’s down to about 30 percent now. Others, on the other hand, are shocked if a live person answers the phone.”
Then there’s the question of generational differences when it comes to communication preferences. “A great number of younger people (e.g., engineers) didn’t grow up in an environment where they had in-person visits. To force them to operate in that manner will make them uncomfortable. That’s why we make use of everything from the phone to texts to email. All of my communication efforts are aimed at meeting people where they’re at.”
Finally, when Smith is asked if looking back over his career he would choose to once again be a rep, he answered: “There’s obviously a lot of stress that accompanies the job. And, for those who maintain that as a rep you don’t have a boss, I’d respond that sure you do — your principals and your customers are your boss. But having said all that, I have truly enjoyed being a rep and in control of my own destiny. I would do it all over again.”
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