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Bob Trinkle

It is a very sad week for ERA and our members. We must report that veteran rep and ERA Hall of Fame member Bob Trinkle passed away at his home in New Jersey on Sunday after battling a recurrence of cancer.

"Trink" was so much more than a respected rep who gave back to his profession throughout his career and even more so after he retired. He was a teacher ... of reps, manufacturers, academics and anyone who was interested in the rep function. He was an author ... who wrote many articles and, with the late Erin Anderson, co-wrote Outsourcing the Sales Function: The Real Costs of Field Sales, a meticulously researched book that has become a multi-faceted reference tool for both manufacturers and reps. He was a speaker ... whose presentations -- at ERA Conferences and many other organizational events -- were always filled with valuable insights, savvy advice and practical expertise.

At age 20, Trink was jolted into the rep business when his father, Wilmer S. Trinkle, passed away suddenly, leaving his firm, Trinkle Sales, Inc. (TSI) in the hands of his then-college student son. The younger Trinkle endured the loss of 95 percent of the firm's business before slowly rebuilding the firm to become one of the most respected in the U.S. Trink followed his father's example as an active leader within ERA, serving as a Mid-Lantic officer for six years and for eight years as a national officer. In 1973, he became our association's youngest-ever president and the first son to follow his father into that post.

Trink's incredible accomplishments on behalf of ERA were recognized in many ways. He was a White Pin member and recipient of the Key Award and the Honor Award. In 1978, he was inducted into ERA's most prestigious group of reps, the Hall of Fame. No one could have known back then that his most lasting achievements for ERA still lay ahead of him.

There is so much more we could say about Trink ... and there are no words to adequately express how deeply ERA will feel his loss.

Visitation and services are Saturday, April 18th, from 10 am to Noon, at:

Murray-Paradee Funeral Home
601 Marlton Pike W, Cherry Hill, NJ  08002 (856-428-8900)

In lieu of flowers, the Trinkle family would appreciate donations to the American Cancer Society.

Notes to Trink's wife Betty can be addressed to her at home -- 34 Dublin Lane, Cherry Hill, NJ  08003.

Warm regards,

Tom Shanahan
Executive Vice President and CEO
Electronics Representatives Association
info@era.org

ERA ANNOUNCES NEW OFFICERS

The Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) has announced that its Board of Directors elected new officers during its March 20th meeting. The officers, whose terms began at the conclusion of the Board meeting and run through the spring of 2011, are:

• Chairman of the Board
  David Rossi of Empire Technology Group, Skaneateles, NY;
• President
  Robert Walsh, CPMR, of Coakley, Boyd and Abbett, Inc., Framingham, MA;
• Senior Vice President/Fiscal and Legal
  Mark Conley of O'Donnell Associates North, San Jose, CA;
• Senior Vice President/Education
  Ted Curtin, CPMR, of Repworks, Inc., South Hadley, MA;
• Senior Vice President/Membership
  Brad Starr, CPMR, of Performance Technical Sales, Raleigh, NC;
• Senior Vice President/Groups
  Paul Nielsen, CPMR, of Brainard-Nielsen Marketing, Inc., Elk Grove Village, IL.

The March Board meeting closed out 12 years of service as a national officer for the outgoing ERA Chairman, Mike Kunz, CPMR, of R. W. Kunz Associates, Inc., St. Louis, MO. He expressed his gratitude to his fellow officers, board members, the ERA staff and CEO Tom Shanahan, then added, "Our association is healthy and thriving, something Wall Street can't say ... I leave the governance of ERA in great hands, and I thank you for allowing me to serve these past 12 years."

Your Principals' Sales Meetings

As ERA's Marketing Committee, we are requesting your help in promoting the educational programs of our association among your principals and your fellow reps.

Specifically, we hope you will join us in contacting principals who will be
holding national or other sales meetings any time this year and requesting a few minutes on the agenda to remind reps about ERA's educational opportunities. If you feel it's appropriate, link to a sample e-mail you can send as a follow-up. (You can also "borrow" from the sample message for your initial communication.

We are confident that your principals will view your initiative favorably.
This concept has been very successfully implemented already this month at three national sales meetings.

ACTION ITEM: Once you have approval from a principal to schedule time on a meeting agenda, just notify Tess Hill (mailto:thill@era.org) of the name of the company, date of the meeting and number of reps expected to attend. You will be sent copies of a quick-reference, one-page handout.

We deeply appreciate your help and support. Bringing more reps into the educational "loop" of ERA benefits every one of us and our profession as well.

Many thanks!

ERA Marketing Committee
Dan Parks, CPMR, Committee Chair, West Electronic Sales Team
(dan@westelec.com )
Alan Ahern, D. A. Crowley & Associates (aherna@dacrowley.com)
Ted Curtin, CPMR, Repworks, Inc. (ted@repworks.com)
Tom Griffin, Catalyst Sales (tgriffin@catalyst-sales.com)
Rich Hobby, CPMR, RAH Associates (richh@rahassoc.com)
Paul Nielsen, CPMR, Brainard-Nielsen Marketing (paul@bnmsales.com)
Mark Rossi, CPMR, Empire Technical Sales (mrossi@empiretechnical.com)

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SAMPLE MESSAGE TO PRINCIPALS
(to be adapted as you see fit):

Dear ________________;

Thanks for talking to me about your upcoming sales meeting.

As I mentioned, in addition to being your rep, our firm is a member of the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA), the 73-year-old organization that provides many business education programs for both reps and manufacturers.

We are members because we firmly believe that the continuing education of our personnel is mutually beneficial. It enhances our professionalism and improves our value as your field sales team.

Would you please support ERA by taking just a few minutes at your sales meeting to remind your reps about the educational opportunities our association offers and to distribute a one-page ERA flyer? I will provide the flyer for your review in advance of the meeting. Or, if it is more convenient, I will be happy to speak to the reps during the meeting.

We will deeply appreciate your support. By helping to spread the word about ERA's programs, you will send a powerful message confirming the value of continuing education for ALL your reps.

Thanks again, and I look forward to hearing from you.

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