In Honor of NEMRA

In case you’ve been wondering where all the rep principals and manufacturer sales management are this week, the answer is Washington DC, at the NEMRA Conference. In honor of this being “Rep Week”, we wanted to share the rep input we received in our 2008 ElectroIndustry Survey.

According to over 100 reps throughout the country, their initiatives, in order of importance, are:

We also asked them about their concerns in 2008:

What does this mean?

Reps are focused on supporting distributors who support them. With the rise in private labeling, concerns about being compensated based upon what they service/sell (POS concerns), distributor purchasing consolidation and the insecurity of a 30 day contract (losing a line, manufacturer consolidation), reps are more aligned with their distributors than ever before.

In essence, can they “trust” the national distributor (corporate) to support their local efforts? Can they “trust” a manufacturer to support them?

The recent move by Nelson & Associates to reduce the number of lines that they represent indicates a level of focus, and trust, to/with selected manufacturers and one manufacturer’s interest in considering longer-term agreements may help differentiate those companies in the long run.

Whom should reps align with, for their own interest … the distributor or the manufacturer? With the industry changing, rep interests may align more with independents than with chains, leaving manufacturers with challenges in how to best service those organizations (unless the “right” systems are in place to support and compensate them).

There are many pressures on reps as their margins get squeezed. Distributors who strengthen their personal rep relationships while continuing to provide themselves with manufacturer flexibility will be able to gain “in-field” support and compete effectively.