One of the ongoing topics for manufacturers’ representatives is “why do” and “how to do” succession planning.  Indeed the feature article in the August 2014 “Agency Sales” magazine, published by MANA, is “Key to Succession Planning: Start Early”.   The article promotes the benefits of starting a discussion early in the life of a rep agency about the future of the agency. 

The answer to the “why do” a succession plan is to continue the life of the agency beyond the founder’s or current owner’s work life.  The answer to the “how to do” a succession plan is not so simple or easy.  To start there has to be a mutually agreed upon valuation of the agency.  Then the parties involved have to work out all the details of the purchase and the transition. 

The value of the rep firm is based on a number of factors, not limited to but including the lines the agency represents as well as the current owner’s knowledge, relationships, and reputation for the way he/she does business in the territory and industry.  No matter the reason for the owner’s departure from the agency, the next owner has to demonstrate to their Principals and customers that he/she is capable of maintaining the level of professionalism, relationships, knowledge, and customer service previously established.   

Now more than ever, with the large number of Baby Boomers beginning to retire or looking at retiring, a solid plan must be in place to realize the full value of the agency and assure business partners of a seamless transition and continuation of the same level of commitment and professionalism to which they have become accustomed.

​IFTTT (If This Then That) is a free online service that helps automate task flows between multiple apps.  In this example, which I use myself, I will show you how to set up an email reminder that is sent to your MRSware Inbox after you receive a phone call.  The reminder is so that I don't forget to make a Journal entry about calls I've had with customers and what we talked about.

1. Sign-up for IFTTT.  It is free.
2. Download the app for Android.  There is also an app for iOS; the example here is based on the Android app that I am using myself.
3. Go to the page on IFTTT where I have shared the recipe, "Received call email reminder".
   
   From the shared recipe page, the service will ask you to activate your Android Channel and your Gmail channel (it is using Gmail to send the reminder email).  Once you do that just fill in your email address you want the reminder sent to and click the "Use Recipe" button.

 
That is it, now you will receive an email with the caller's number, time & length of call.  I have my reminder sent to MRSware (of course) and all I need to do is drag the email over to the Journal icon to create a new journal from it.  Link the new Journal to the caller, summarize what you talked about, and record the time.  New Journal logged.


The above way to remember to enter a journal is one I use, and there are many other interesting things that can be done through this service.  If you create something interesting, let us know in the comments.