Expert Access (Free Phone Consultations) ...
... for legal, tax, professional field sales, insurance, public relations, rep network management and executive recruitment advice are always available, free of charge, to members from ERA’s team of savvy consultants.

How many times have ERA staff members referred members with specific issues and questions to the Expert Access team? Countless! And very often, it is obvious the member making an inquiry is not aware of this service or has forgotten it exists.

Expert Access works very simply. You have a question ... you call an expert to get an answer. The 15-20 minute telephone consultations often resolve the specific issue or question in that single conversation. If a member needs more extensive advice or professional consulting, that can be arranged on a fee basis, but there is absolutely no obligation.

So ... if you don’t already have these phone numbers and e-mail addresses in your “arsenal” of strategic contacts, now is the time to add them.

Accounting & Taxes
Stan Herzog
847-405-0405 ~ sherzog@theahagroup.com

Advertising & Public Relations
Larry Kaufman
312-649-9408 ~ lak@bworld.com

Insurance
John Doyle
888-243-0174 ~ jdoyle@adcbenefits.com
Pat Brown
847-559-1331 ~ patatabp@sbcglobal.net

Legal
Gerald Newman
312-648-2300 ~ gerry.newman@sfnr.com

Professional Field Sales
Ray Hall
312-656-6062 ~ rhall@era.org

Rep Network Management & Executive Searches
Jim Hartranft
262-945-9200 ~ jlhconsultinginc@earthlink.net

ERA’s Confidential Matchmaking Service ...
... allows members who wish to buy, sell or merge a rep firm, find a sub-rep or form an alliance with other reps (within or beyond their territories) to advertise to fellow members via free, targeted e-mails to specific regions.

The Matchmaker Service operates totally at the discretion of any member who wishes to use it, and it has helped scores of members connect with each other for their mutual benefit. A number of retiring reps have sold their firms ... other reps have bought companies ... and still others have built marketing alliances of many types — all starting with a Matchmaker e-mail.

The Matchmaker Service works quickly and easily. A member who wishes to advertise or explore a business opportunity simply contacts ERA’s Tess Hill, sends an e-mail outlining the content and intended recipients of the Matchmaker e-mail, approves a draft of the message and then sits back to await responses.

It is up to the Matchmaker advertiser to decide whether responses should come directly to him/her or if the message should be sent “blind,” i.e., with no identification of the advertiser. With blind listings (which are the most frequent choice), all responses come to Hill. She acknowledges the response and forwards it immediately to the advertiser. So a member answering a Matchmaker ad does not learn the identity of the advertiser until he/she is contacted, and the advertiser maintains confidentiality until he/she contacts a respondent. In the six-plus years that this service has been offered, it has been used more than 100 times, and there has not been a single report of a breach of confidentiality.

ERA’s Customized Survey Service ...
... provides members with the ability to easily create, transmit and tabulate Web-based surveys of customers, principals, distributors and/or employees. Staff assistance is included to develop a survey, and sample questionnaires are available for members to adapt for their own use.

Through this service, members can take advantage of ERA’s experience with electronic surveys and access to a subscription on-line survey service. Instead of subscribing individually for such a service, which costs about $600 per year, members can work through ERA at lower cost, e.g.: only $200 for surveys of five or fewer questions. Many survey designs and question formats are available; automatic electronic tabulations of responses are included; and for some answer formats, responses can be provided in a spreadsheet. The survey fee also includes advice from and complete coordination by the ERA staff. For details on conducting your next business survey through ERA, contact Tess Hill at 630-545-9101 or thill@era.org.