Insiders say the best way to get qualified names of distributors is by joining the 900 global software sellers and specialists in the Software Publishers Association (SPA; 202-452-1600; annual fees start at $700).
Bob Davies, CEO of Software Business Technology, in Sausalito, Calif., says even the smallest "distributor wanted" ad placed in Spanish-language versions of U.S. trade magazines and in Mexican computer journals can yield dramatic results. Since it's not unusual to find key Mexican distributors headquartered in other Latin American cities, see the SPA's International Resource Guide (Latin America volume, $200) for country-by-country distributor profiles and lists of marketing advisers.
Above all, look for distributors whose corporate mission is in sync with yours; the more forward-thinking they are, the better. Don't go for those who are diversifying into software that has very different applications from yours, warns Randy Newell, sales director at DataEase International, in Trumbull, Conn. "That's begging for trouble."
Exporters base a distributor's worth on a handful of criteria: the number of end-users it can reach in a given business cycle, the type of value-added services it provides (such as cooperative advertising or Spanish-language technical-support services), and the quality of its trade references. It's also important to know how much of the distributor's "mind share" you'll get; the number of products each distributor's salesperson handles will hint at that. Once you've drawn up your shortlist of candidates, visit those that insist on hard numbers that show increasing U.S. demand for your product.
Before you commit to a marketing strategy, listen to Comdex's Latin America Conference cassettes (702-733-5217, $75) for a rigorous introduction to marketing throughout that region. Also, see Lawrence Tuller's Doing Business in Latin America and the Caribbean (AMACOM, 800-538-4761, 1993, $29.95) for tough-to-find details on political red tape, labor pools, and tax issues.
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Other People's Time
As our consulting firm grows, we're finding it hard to keep tabs on employees who frequently visit clients. We want a real-time system that readily tracks how well reps stick to a daily schedule of appointments so managers can help them better manage their time. We use pagers, but phone contact isn't enough.
Matthew Mikell
Marketing Analyst
Terasys
Naperville, Ill.
Is there a problem with the results your field employees are turning in? If so, why aren't they getting desirable results? Have you hired the best people in the first place? Are you setting unrealistic goals? And are your managers expert time managers? "If they can't manage their own time, how are they supposed to manage reps' time?" asks Merrill Douglass, cofounder of the Time Management Center, in Marietta, Ga. His book Manage Your Time, Your Work, Yourself (AMACOM, 800-538-4761, 1993, $15.95) will help you start thinking about what tracking systems might work for you. "It boils down to the manager's personality," Douglass says. If you're anxious for blow-by-blow feedback, take a tip from Marilyn Ounjian, CEO of Careers USA, in Philadelphia. She keeps tabs on reps by having them supplement phoned-in updates with hard copy that managers can critique. (See "The Daily Sales Report," Good Form, January 1991, [Article link].) Her 50 sales reps update a one-pager listing the basics of each site visit -- the client's name and phone number, the rep's time in and out, and what was accomplished. It works, notes Ounjian, because it's filled out and faxed back to branches within 30 seconds.
If such micromanagement doesn't appeal to you, you could design a similar report, provided "it makes managers facilitators, not just trackers," says Douglass. Chuck Piola, executive vice-president at NCO Financial Systems, in Blue Bell, Pa., did just that, opting for a weekly report that asks only for stops made, deals closed, and interesting "road stories." Piola maintains that if you hope to keep good people -- and you're fair -- quotas and commissions should manage their time for them.
Another tactic is applied by Gary Dewey, sales director at Bohdan Associates, in Gaithersburg, Md., who coaches reps to allow the client to dictate the length of meetings. His 70 reps, rigged with notebook computers with electronic mail, set a day's agenda a few days in advance, knowing they'll stay at each appointment as long as they have to. But when they finish up early, says Dewey, "they know that means 'Time to make a cold call.' " Dewey recommends Time Systems' intense time-management workshop (800-441-6600, about $180 per person) for you and your force. Its experts examine your business from the top down to find and fix weak communication links. Time Systems also offers publications and monthly workshops throughout the United States and Canada. And if you decide you still need a real-time tracking system, the National Association of Professional Organizers (602-322-9753) can refer you to local office-organization experts who can help. n
-- Reported by Karen E. Carney and Phaedra Hise.
