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synergies between and among the items andsystems in the product basket.Asked how his reps balance their timewhen making calls to pitch the products ofAnamet, Bemag Transformer, Ideal Industries,Ouellet and others in Alberta, portionsof British Columbia and the Northwest Territories,Tuggle replies, “Simply put, we ensurethat our salespeople are calling on any companyor person who can potentially createdemand. There are many ways to createdemand but the bottom line is that if you’renot calling on your customer’s customer, thenyou’re not creating demand for your product.That is one of the key benefits to havingmanufacturer reps as, typically, independentsemploy far more salespersons than manufacturerswho have direct sales people”.Because the needs of each of the suppliershe represents dif fer, Thomas Brockwayprefers to limit their overall number in hisroster. He insists that this is the best wayto make his manufacturer/sales representativeratio realistic and manageable. “Wetry and have manufacturers with synergiesthat produce realistic ef ficiencies for us inour territory coverage,” says the owner ofBrockway Enterprises, who entered theindependent rep business in 1988, startingBrockway Enterprises headquartered inLower Sackville, N.S., to service all of AtlanticCanada. “Additionally, we try not to be allthings to all people and remain in the marketsegments that best suit our knowledge baseand strengths.”The local marketing edge and expertisethat independent sales reps bring to the tablefor electrical suppliers works to perfection inparticular regions and provinces. Guy Goupil,president of Contact Delage Inc. in Longueuil,Que., says his firm’s most outstandingstrength is in “Being regional, knowing ourmarket, knowing local codes and regulations,knowing how local people do business. Withglobalization, corporations have to competeagainst the lowest-cost producers from anywherein the world. Both distributors andmanufacturers have had to cut costs to meettheir profit objectives. So, when introducinga new technology or new product in the field,manufacturers know we have the regionalpresence to do this quickly”.Covering both the Quebec and the OttawaValley regions, Marc Laplante of Laplanteet Associés in Longueuil says he noticesdefinite regional characteristics. “There aresome major differences in the way businessis done in various areas. Some productswe sell in Quebec do not sell in the Ottawavalley. Some cities have incredibly strongrelationships between contractors and distributors;others are very price-driven andmargins are lower.” Laplante goes a stepfurther, stating that what sales reps aretasked to do also shifts from one territoryto another. “In some areas, the reps are theones expected to generate the work fromthe spec level, so the reps there have a verystrong engineer customer base. In otherDownload the Extech Catalog Today!www.extech.com/catalogcities, those reps are expected to be strongwith the builders or contractors. The beautyof the independent rep is that he adapts veryquickly to the variations in diferent marketconditions and requirements.”Atlantic Canada, according to Brockway,has its own challenges. “The biggestdifference comes with our market sizeand geography,” he remarks, noting thatAtlantic Canada represents 6 to 8 per centof the Canadian market, and its territoryencompasses 2.4 million people in fourINNOVATION I SELECTION I SUPPORTwww.extech.com l www.flirthermography.caDistribution & Supply • Spring 2011 19