Division of labor

Harold, an independent sales representative, peers out of the corner of his eye at Emily, his sales manager. Emily, usually low key, is extremely excited. They are in the showroom with Grady, a buyer for a major retail chain, and Grady is asking to be quoted…on everything!

Grady, the buyer, leaves and Harold tries to avoid making eye contact with Emily. He needs to make sure he looks excited when he does look at her. Harold takes a breath, puts on a big smile and turns to look at Emily. Just as he feared, she is so excited that her eyes are almost rolling out of her head. “Is that great or what?” she erupts. “Grady loves our line! Yes! You, my friend, better get to work on those quote sheets.”

Harold looks like he has a high-speed motor in the back of his neck as he rapidly nods his head up and down in agreement. He blurts out, “I will get on it right after the show.”

They part, and after Harold walks out into the hall, he sighs and slowly leans against the wall. He is no longer smiling. He knows he will have to fill out quote sheets for every item requested by the buyer. That will meaning filling in all of the prices, weights, case packs, cubes, pallet quantities—and on, and on, and on.

As time consuming as it is, it wouldn't be so bad a task if the manufacturers he represents provided all the information in one place. But many only provide some of the information—and if they provide all of it, it's spread out between the price list, the catalog and various emails and letters. His face is lined with worry as he thinks through how many quote sheets he will have to fill out, and ponders how many orders he will actually get as a result.

Grady, the buyer, is an old customer of Harold's and has never before been in Emily's showroom. What Harold knows, and Emily does not, is that the same thing has happened in every showroom that Grady has visited. In fact, it happens every year: Grady loves everything and buys almost nothing.

Harold, the sales rep, cannot possibly fill out all the quote sheets for all of his lines that Grady has requested. There is just not enough time to accomplish that and everything else he needs to do. He is going to have to pick and choose which items to quote.

When Harold makes his decisions he will take into consideration the quality of the sales information he has been provided by his manufacturer, the likelihood that the item will be purchased and whether the line is already listed with Grady's company or not.

Most of Emily's line will probably not be quoted. Why not? Because it is a brand new line that is not listed with the buyer's company. Because Emily's sales material only presents some of the information needed and he knows he will have to pull teeth to get the rest of it. And because he believes (and ultimately it is just a belief) that Emily's line may not be strong enough.

Right or wrong (and it's probably wrong for Emily, the sales manager, and right for Harold, the independent sales representative), Harold's decision to quote only one or two of the items that Grady requested will likely doom the chances of Emily's line getting placed with Grady. Emily will think that they just weren't chosen. What she won't know is that they never had a chance because quote sheets for all of the items were never done.

For that reason, Emily should have her company, not Harold, fill out the quote sheets. Day after day, items never get quoted because independent sales reps are forced to make the ultimate decision whether to quote or not. That's why they have absolutely no business filling out quote sheets.

Why this responsibility has migrated to salespeople is a matter of cost cutting by the buying side, a lack of support staff at smaller manufacturers and an inability of (or unwillingness by) salespeople to say no. Filling out quote sheets used to be the buyers' responsibility. They would secure the information needed from the manufacturer and fill out their own forms. As retailers cut back on their buying support staff, they handed the responsibility back to the manufacturer. Manufacturers passed it on to the sales rep. This created several problems:

1. Sales representatives took on a new business function for which they received no increase in compensation. Suddenly they found themselves with additional, uncompensated labor doing paperwork—time they once spent on selling.
2. The number of quote sheets that were actually filled out dropped like a rock. Why? Because salespeople had to start making decisions on where to focus their time: paperwork or selling. Why should they fill out quote sheets for products that were a long shot or for buyers who requested too many and committed to too few?
3. Manufacturers seemingly felt no pressure to provide the necessary information in a digestible format. Because it was reps and not buyers who were asking for all the information, manufacturers most likely paid little attention when their reps complained about having to work too hard to get the information needed.
4. Quote sheets are filled out incorrectly. The passage of data from manufacturer to rep to buyer means that the number of errors goes up. Errors can mean fines and fines can mean financial loss for rep and manufacturer. The resulting blame game leads to broken relationships.

So why should manufacturers trust filling out quote sheets to someone who does not work for their company? Think about it: The manufacturer is turning over the responsibility for quoting prices, freight and FOB responsibility to someone who has no accountability. The rep may lose some commission or even the line for making an error, but the manufacturer can take a bath on unexpected costs. Even if the manufacturer catches the error before shipping, it can spark a standoff with the retailer.

By taking back the responsibility for filling out quote sheets, manufacturers will, indeed, be facing additional costs of business. They will, however, secure a number of benefits: peace of mind that the quote sheets are complete, accurate and handed in; an increase in the number of orders and listings; a decrease in costly errors that result in losses and lost customers; a closer working relationship with their buyers and a better understanding of the buyers' companies; and a better understanding of what their customers are looking for and what factors come in to play when they consider buying a product.

Everyone will benefit from a manufacturer taking back control of the quote process. Retailers will be quoted on everything they request. Salespeople will have more time to devote to selling. Manufacturers will reduce errors and increase sales.

It's time for manufacturers to take back control over the quote process.