Page 55 - Lighting-Magazine-August-2014

Rep RepoRt

to ofer items that are diferent from their competi- Finding good CandidaTes
tors, and reps are adding new services that they When most retailers need to fnd sales help, they
never did before such as hanging fxtures and de- hang a “Help Wanted” sign in the window or place a
vising atractive displays from scratch (even to the Classifed ad. The lighting business, because of the
point of installing the drywall) just to diferentiate amount of technical knowledge it entails, is unusual
themselves from other reps. — and not just for retailers, but also for reps.
Veteran lighting reps are fnding that if there is “I have found that the best associates come from
a rep in their territory who is going the extra mile lighting dealers and electric supply houses,” Carr
in merchandising and other duties, they need to comments. “There’s a lot to learn about lighting and
up the ante. “The reps who don’t ofer these ser- they’re already familiar with the industry. It’s much
vices are fnding out that dealers don’t want to do beter than pulling someone out of the air through
as much business with them,” states Michael Carr an ad, which is prety much hit or miss.”
of Michael Carr & Associates in Glen Rock, New And sometimes the employee with the most
Jersey. rep potential isn’t someone on the sales foor.
Reps who handle all of the merchandising and Carr has had success hiring someone in the ware-
hanging fxtures have noticed another bonus. “If house who was ready and eager to make a more
I had to wait until the retailer can get around to ambitious career change. Other times, he’s had an
assigning someone in their store to hang all of the employee who works in a diferent department (i.e.
fxtures that came in from their orders, I’d be waiting back ofce or administrative) approach him for the

“The reps who don’t ofer these

services are fnding out that dealers

don’t want to do as much business
with them.”

—Michael Carr, Michael Carr & Associates, Glen Rock, NJ

a long time,” afrms Richard Alan of Richard Alan & opportunity. Admitedly, those times when a rep
Associates, which has ofces in Houston and Baton hires a sales associate from a distributor he/she
Rouge. “Hanging fxtures and doing the merchan- calls on can get awkward between the rep and the
dising ourselves ensures that I, and my associate store’s owner or manager.
Stan Simmons, get our factories’ merchandise in It was a mater of good timing when Tom Under-
front of consumers faster than their competitors wood of Saguaro Marketing Group in Phoenix was
can, plus our products typically get an extra turn.” mulling over the idea of adding an associate to his
Carr echoes that sentiment, stating, “I’ve def- agency — the perfect candidate found him.
nitely seen a diference in sales” since his agency “I have known Dave Wood for years,” Un-
has taken on merchandising displays and hanging derwood recounts. “He spent 12 years with an
fxtures for clients. electrical contractor I called on and later went into
Having to set aside days to hang fxtures and the wholesale distribution business when housing
merchandise at customers’ stores means that was booming. It has been difcult for reps to fnd
reps are taking time away from actively “selling” or qualifed, prospective associates because a lot of
prospecting for new business — which may seem people lef the industry afer the building bust.”
counter-intuitive to what a rep is hired by manu- Even Underwood’s agency name (the moniker of
facturers to do. The solution is to expand their “Marketing Group”) reinforces how his business
company to include associates. model as a rep has changed.

august 2014 | enLIGHTenment Magazine 53