MANA Seminar Provides Manufacturers with the Lowdown on Working with Reps

Savvy manufacturers know there's no shortcut to finding the right reps for their product lines and managing those relationships for peak sales results. Vendors that want to build on this expertise, as well as companies new to the electrical market or to using independent manufacturers' reps, will want to check out a seminar on utilizing a rep sales force on Oct. 18-19 by Hank Bergson, former CEO of the National Electrical Manufacturers' Representatives Association (NEMRA), Portsmouth, N.H., and veteran sales trainer and electrical industry consultant Kris Hefley.

Sponsored by the Manufacturers Agents National Association (MANA), Aliso Viejo, Calif., the day-and-a-half seminar is at the American Management Association Executive Conference Center in Chicago and will offer attendees the following information:

• Solid sales and marketing tactics to use with reps.

• Tips for leveraging synergistic products.

• Time-tested techniques for selecting, recruiting and hiring the right rep for your organization.

• Explanations of partnerships and expectations.

• Information on how to motivate reps.

• Tips for implementing effective communications with reps.

• Directions for planning, pioneering and achieving top performance.

• Directions to avoid multiple-line conflicts.

Says Bergson, who has more than a 40-year career in the electrical industry as both a manufacturer and as NEMRA's CEO, “It's important for manufacturers who are making the move to an outsourced sales force to be able to change their mindset about how to go to market. It's no longer a top-down, money-driven approach to sales and marketing. It's now a partnership with an independent sales force that serves as their eyes and ears in the territory. This is part of what we will focus on in the MANA seminar.”

For more detailed information on this seminar, contact MANA at 877-626-2776 or visit www.manaonline.org.