The Representor, Winter, 2012

The Representor, Survey Spotlight, Winter, 2012 Issue

Recapping the results of ERA's most recent member surveys ERA's latest surveys of members covered rep firm Web sites (conducted in November) and manufacturers' training programs for regional sales managers (conducted in December). The goal of these regular surveys is to provide members with comparative information they can use to measure their individual companies against their peers. Following are the highlights of the latest survey results. Following are the highlights of the survey results.

Rep firm Web sites

A total of 180 rep firms of all sizes provided data on the content and management of their Web sites.

67 percent reported that the rep firm owner, president or other employee is responsible for maintaining and updating their sites, and 22 percent use an outside service provider or other resource.
58 percent said they update their sites on an "as needed" basis, while 23 percent reported updating their sites monthly or quarterly; 14 percent admitted they do not update often enough.
A significant majority (70 percent) cited Web site costs of under $1,000 per year; 23 percent reported they spend $1,000 to $2,000 per year, and only 7 percent said their annual costs are more than $2,000.
In terms of the content of rep firm Web sites, the three most commonly cited pages, named by 87 percent of respondents, are line cards, details about the firm and "Contact Us" forms; 77 percent of the sites include product lists and territory details; and 70 percent have pages listing branch offices and personnel.
Other content listed by respondents includes: the firm's memberships and affiliations (57 precent); links to other companies or organizations (49 percent); the firm's distributor partners (39 percent); a news/updates page (37 percent); request forms for quotes/samples (43 percent); staff biographies (30 percent); and photos (25 percent).
56 percent of respondents said they are satisfied with the content, appearance,
effectiveness and ROI of their sites; 33 percent are only somewhat satisfied; and 11 percent are dissatisfied.

Manufacturers' training of regional sales managers

The survey of manufacturers about their companies' training of regional sales managers (RSMs) asked about both new RSMs and the continuing education and training provided to all RSMs. A total of 79 respondents provided the following information.

Regarding the training of newly hired or appointed RSMs:

56 percent said that only experienced candidates are appointed; and 23 percent reported they have no structured training program.
53 percent reported they use veteran RSMs as trainers and/or mentors; 42 percent rely on other company executives or managers as trainers/mentors; 27 percent said new RSMs conduct self-training using company guideines and materials; 16 percent have veteran salespeople, reps and/or rep council members help train new RSMs.
The key contents of RSM training cited by the respondents are: comprehensive product and application training (85 percent); background on customers in the new RSM's territory (81 percent); introductory visits with all reps or salespeople in the territory (78 percent); background details on all reps or salespeople in the territory (65 percent); and company guidelines regarding working with and communicating with the field sales force (58 percent).
57 percent of survey respondents are satisfied with their training programs for new RSMs; 36 percent are only somewhat satisfied; and 7 percent are dissatisfied.

Regarding the ongoing training and continuing education of ALL their companies' regional sales managers:

36 percent reported they have no structured program.
64 percent said they provide ongoing product and application training; 63 percent reported regular communications with and among RSMs to share market trends, new applications and other information; 42 percent support RSMs' involvement in educational teleforums and Webinars; 38 percent support RSMs' attendance at industry conferences, seminars and other events; and 24 percent provide RSMs with feedback and/or reports from rep council meetings.
44% of survey respondents are satisfied with their ongoing training and education programs; 46 percent are only somewhat satisfied; and 10 percent are dissatisfied.

ERA members receive much more detailed reports of every survey, including questions not covered in this summary and cross tabulations so they can analyze results by size of firm or other pertinent criteria. Members can check the results of all surveys to date on the password-protected pages of the ERA Web site. Go to www.era.org, and click on Member Surveys.

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