Benefits of Getting to Know Your Manufacturers’ Reps

By Evelyn Witterholt, RCS Reporter. 

Contractors can get a leg up on the competition by establishing relationships with their manufacturers’ representatives. 

Randy Chaffee a manufacturer’s representative for Marco Industries recently told us all about the job of a manufacturers’ representative and how contractors can benefit from having a good relationship with them. When contractors have a good relationship with their manufacturer’s representatives, they can get the inside scoop on what a distributor has in stock. Representatives know exactly what materials are available, which ones have been ordered and which ones will be in soon. They are willing to share all of this information if their relationship with the contractors they communicate with is solid. 

For over four decades, Randy has been working as an independent manufacturers’ representative for a variety of different companies. He currently owns the agency for representatives called Source One Marketing. Through Source One, Randy works with a variety of companies including Marco Industries as a representative.  

Not only do representatives try to sell manufacturers’ products to potential customers, they also aim to create long-term customer relationships. In Season 4, Episode 1 of Roofing Road Trips, Randy said, “The most important part is not the sale. The most important part is keeping the business long term.” 

Randy states that one of the best ways to maintain business long term on his end is to create relationships with contractors that can benefit them both. He talks about how it’s not just on the contractor to establish these relationships, but it’s also on the representative. “I think we as reps need to do a better job sometimes with spending time with the salespeople from the distributor to get to know their contractors better,” he says. 

Representatives usually work in one industry, but because they represent different manufacturers, they have access to different supplies that contractors need. “There's going to be something that you could probably use a little help with. So as a rep having multiple lines, I can find that niche right now,” he says. 

Learn more about MARCO Industries in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.MarcoIndustries.com.  

Listen to the entire podcast to learn more about how manufacturers’ representatives operate and how they can help your contracting business.