For the past three weeks we have been discussing the rep-principal relationship and how it needs to be  improved, for the future. We listed what the reps want from this relationship and what the principals want from the relationship and just by comparing those two lists we can see that there are some wide gaps between. Which leads me back […]

Turn around is fair play: last week we discussed what the principals want from the rep-principal relationship, now we are going to discuss what the reps want. As we mentioned last week, these are wish lists only, some of the things both these entities want are not fair or even practical, but it symbolizes the chasm between their agendas, which […]

Last week in the first column of this four part series we discussed how the rep/principal relationship is no longer as productive as it once was. We discussed the disconnect between what the reps want out of the relationship and what the reps want from it.  And we discussed how this relationship has to not only be examined and re-examined […]

Overall, the sales rep-principal relationship is not working the way it used to. In fact, it is archaic to the point of being unworkable. Let’s look at this issue from both sides and examine why it just doesn’t work. From the Reps point of view here the challenges of being a rep in 2021: Reps are wary of principals especially […]

After years of avoiding representing PCB shops, the reps are back looking for a good company, or two, to represent. There are a couple reasons for this. One is the onshoring of the market due to the pandemic and the tariffs. The other is that they feel – and several have told me this – that the fabricators are being […]

For years one of the most difficult relationships in business has been the one between an independent sales representative and the principal, the company she is selling for. This relationship has been tenuous at best and adversarial at worst. In fact, most of the time it has been adversarial. The principal’s constantly resenting the money they were paying to their […]

Let’s face it those of us in the board industry have not always treated our reps fairly. We have not supported them, not been honest with them, not trusted them and yes, not paid them – the biggest sin of all. There seems to be some kind in instinctual adversarial relationship between board shops and their reps. I cannot count […]

It’s no secret that the independent representative/principal relationship is one of the rockiest in the manufacturing world. Here’s a typical example of how it can go wrong: The dance between reps and principals usually starts this way: a company decides it needs more sales and wants to leverage its sales budget, so it recruits a network of reps. Often, the […]