Why do company's change reps so often? It seems you just get to know a rep and they quit or get fired. It used to be the same reps for years but these days the reps are with one company for a few months then another? Certain reps are good and I do well with them and then they walk in with another line from a different co.
I think it's because they are under so much presure by their bosses. It used to be that a sales rep was more of a "missionary man." That's an old term for a person who was just supposed to make you love him and his company, not call in every night with a big order. And, they'd only come around a couple of times a year. Then they'd take you and your wife out to eat that night, or take you to lunch, pay for a lot of your stuff at conventions, give you tickets to sporting events, etc. You got to feel so obligated to them that you felt guilty buying from others. Then, they'd casually mention a new product or two.
Their companies used to provide them with company cars, expense accounts big enough for them to stay in nice hotels, as well as eat and feed you, well. Now, they have to pay for all that stuff themselves, or on a really tiny allowance.
I've noticed something new that really annoys me. And I don't blame the sales reps. They all want to "inventory their product." You walk into a showroom full of customers and find some girl counting your frames and rearranging them. I even found one in my stock room once going through the boxes, putting her stuff out and everybody else's stuff back. I liked her, but never bought much from her again. And since I had known her for years, when she was with other companies, I had a feeling this was some 26 year old idiot sales manager's idea, not hers.
She recently, sensibly, found a better line of work. Being an optical sales rep isn't the relaxing job it used to be. Too many different lines. Too much unreasonable expectation by the frame companies.
It's the greedy foreign owned companies. Not the sales reps faults.
ESPECIALLY not my local Nautica rep's fault. She can do no wrong.
But it all goes in cycles. Once the 26 year old idiot sales managers mature enough to realize that they can't sell frames or keep good help with high pressure, they'll suddenly go running to their bosses with a great "new" idea: Let's just "schmooze" the customers with a "friend", not a high pressure rep with a "sales goal." B&L knew that in 1955.
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"Come see me now, heah?"
Bob,
I tend to agree with you, I would NEVER let a rep lose on my boards.. ME & my OPTICANS are the ones that know and run my boards NOT a sales rep..thats like having a car dealer sale you a car and then come by and take it out every so often for a test run and add stuff to it when THEY felt like it :)
I had my opticians maintain my boards and they MADE time to keep it in order and to check on the stock and rotate frames around..
I just think thats part of the responsibilties of the optician.. s/he should KNOW their own patients likes and needs more so then a rep looking to increase sales.. and lets be honest the "rep" is their to make money more so then just be your "friend"..
Not to bash "reps", I kow many, and know the "**** " they have to put up with :) BUT in the last year alone I have had three OD accounts who caught frame reps "removing" other frame manufactures from their board and replacing it with thier line while the were "managing" the frame boards
You remove a frame from my board.. put it in your case and put YOUR frame back up their and charge me? .. in my eyes thats down right THEFT.. I woulda had you arrested.. The weirdest one was I know an MD who has a dispensory and I sold him some frames I got through a "big purchase",factory direct, I made and the regular frame rep came around who had that line and she told him "I didn't sell you these" and took them off the board and started to LEAVE his store!!! She actually told him HE couldn't sell them because he DIDN'T buy them from her...he calls me and wants to know whats the deal.. I tell him their is "no deal".. it was a legal legitimate purchase and tell her if she set one foot out the door with them then call the police and her company..he didn't call the police (like I would have) but the company and she had to bring them back ...
Myself.. I think she got off to easy, who knows how many times she has done that little "trick" and got away with it...
BTW she had written an order for EVERY frame she removed and was having them resent back to him and was CHARGING him for them..
Some reps I like.. some are gossips and some I have known are down right dishonest.. I guess it's like the rest of society.. I know that I would NOT let them track thier own frames and rotate frames and have access to my frame boards unless I was thier watching :)
Jeff "is it me or optical people getting even more "whacky"" Trail
Bob's right. It used to be that the frame rep was your "partner"- if you needed a back ordered frame badly they would take it out of their sample case and rush it over to you- they would make appointments to see you early in the morning or after closing hours. Now some wet behind the ears MBA has them acting more like a not very caring used car salesman. I don't mean to paint all the frame reps with this brush- there are still many ethical, caring, dedicated reps out there- nor do I especially blame the individual reps who are under the gun to come back with a sheet full of orders. They have to make a living the same as the rest of us. I do blame the attitude of some of the big players, and I don't think I have to mention their names- we all know who they are and how they act. Back when I had my own retail/wholesale optical company I would on occasion get calls from headhunters outside our industry asking me if I could recommend any frame sales reps to them. They said that being a frame rep was probably the toughest sales job imaginable, and if they could hack that they could sell anything! It's not a job that I would willingly do, especially with the attitude many of the "biggies" show these days. It's too bad the industry has come to this- like Bob, I remember some great times and great relationships with many frame sales people. Who knows, maybe the pendulum will swing the other way, but I won't hold my breath.
After dispensing for 12 years I went over to the frame rep side and hated it! Turns out I was too nice. I wouldn't make them purchase a certain amount to offset an exchange. I would take things back even if they weren't placing an order. I did take frames out of my bag to help with backoders. And all I ever got was a hard time from my manager (and the loyalty of accounts- lots of whom have come on board with the lab I now work for :) ) I much prefer the lab end of that side of the industry. There is plenty of pressure and more than enough competition but it still is in my opinion the better of those two options
While we're on the subject, and this doesn't have as much to do with the sales reps as it does with the "wet behind the ears MBAs" that IGUESS mentioned, often in the recent past, I have ordered a few frames, and three or four days later, the UPS man arrives, and our two front desk girls come back, huffing and puffing, carrying what appears to be a small coffin from this same frame company. I turn white, because being old and not trusting computers, I immediately think that they have sent me 144 frames instead of the 14 I ordered. We immediately slash open the box, and inside is a mirror, large posters, ugly cases that nobody wants, little wooden frame racks, brochures, etc. WAY DOWN at the bottom is a little box with the 14 fames in it. What do they think I'm running? A dignified optical dispensary or a sporting goods store? I've largely stopped this by telling the frame reps, "Just send me the frames, and none of that (one of the words that Steve's computer puts up as ****)!" But sometimes, the (****) comes anyhow. Another thing is those HUGE, full colour catalogues they keep sending me. Do they think my back room has the capacity of The Free Public Library? Where would I ever put them all if I kept them? That's why I subscribe to Frame Fax, just one nice little book. You could say, "Well Bob, some people like that stuff, so just throw it away." Well, I"M paying for all that junk that "some people like (probably 20 year old girls fresh out of tech school)".
If "some people like that stuff", either give me a discount, or charge "some people" extra for it. Marketing. NUTS!
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"Come see me now, heah?"
Out here in Texas, frame reps change sort of regularly, a lot has to do with the travel involved. I actually had a moment of insanity and applied for an open rep position several months ago, thought it'd be neat to travel and have an "extra job", problem was that I was "over-qualified" and that since I owned a retail store, no one would buy from me as a rep..too much proprietary information about. The big difference in today's reps is that most are independent contractors, on commisiion only, and returns are subtracted from their sales, they have to pay all their own expenses and have no benefits, except what they can afford themselves. In Texas, most reps are on the road and away from home about 8-10 days per month. They might drive 100 miles to keep an appointment only to have someone cancel out when they get there! I, for one, am very considerate of our reps, it's a tough way to make a living! We put the inventory date on the demo lens, gather up all of the reps product before they come in, and discuss new styles and exchanges. works lots better than turning the frame board over to them.
When I was in the DC market 25 years ago, the frame reps were good and knew their product. They stayed with their companies for along time and they knew not to come into your store unannounced or to call you on the phone with some BS promotion that did not fall into YOUR marketing plans.
About 10 years ago, the used car dealers got into the act and frame reps became the scum of the earth.
They are getting better, but not by much.When a new rep comes in, I don't have time to "educate" them on how their frames work nor explain how they are obvious knockoffs of other more established frame lines.
Oh, and I also second the cry of stop sending me all that POP **** . What garbage!
A frame rep came into my new retail location the other day and suggested I put more of their product in a feature display in our waiting room. I informed her that my intent of the display was to give a good representation of the eyewear throughout our eyewear studio.
Dido to the other comments regarding "Hands off the Merchandise." These folks actually take classes in merchandising to position their product in an area which will be most conducive to sales. Almost like the prime real estate around shopping malls sought after by restaurant chains. I have yet had a frame rep pay me or offer a discount to advertise their product in a stratigic location like the premiums we pay when advertising in newspapers, bilboards, etc. Just because we may sell more of their product "DOES NOT" necessarily mean we are being more profitable. Therefore, board management programs without effective retail management practices can result in several problems.
I inform my reps that I don't want any frames sent to me without my consent. If I do receive an order which I did not consent to, I call the company and inform them I am refusing to pay the bill and insist that the rep picks the box up. I refuse to waste my time and money repackaging and mailing boxes back to the frame companies.
Although I have a very good relationship with most of my frame reps, there are some I wouldn't trust them any further than I could throw them.
Kevin
You guys are all correct! Most reps would change to work for different companies becuause they don't make enough income to cover their daily 100+ miles expenses. On other hand, The company would change sales reps. because the reps didn't clean up enough of their inventores!
I would assume the market is flooded with way too many brand names and none of them could survive over a certain period of time!
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