SHOPFLOOR ANALYSIS | Reps
A REPto protect
Many retailers have complained recently that they rarely see reps these days while others complain that too many just drop in unannounced. We look at the role of the sales rep in today’s post- Covid market and shed some light on why the term ‘rep’ often comes with some negative connotations. Toby Griffin reports
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n the famous soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the tragic heroine bemoans her lover’s surname, musing that
a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. In the present-day KBB world, does the word ‘rep’ suffer from a similar stigma? Over the years, I’ve noticed how reps in our
industry often don’t like to be described as reps. For some, the title appears to hurt.
As someone who has recently done a bit of ‘repping’, I must say it felt like it was a loaded term – but why is that?
It appears that the person who provides the vital link between supplier and customer, oils the cogs, finds solutions, helps with merchandising, trains the
team in new products and is generally the first point of contact, has got something of an identity crisis. ‘Rep’ is, of course, an abbreviation of the word representative, and a quick search of synonyms to this title finds deputy, attorney, ambassador, minister, delegate and envoy, all of which bring feelings of status and power – a million miles away from the sometimes denigratory image and use of the title rep. So why is there the stigma attached to it in the KBB sector? Jamie Palmer, business development manager at Davroc, explains how the job title of rep can have negative connotations.
“Reps,” he says, “can sometimes be perceived as someone who doesn’t want to work in the long-term
interests of the customer.”
Jon Earl, regional sales manager at Formica Group, says: “I don’t like the title rep – as I used to be told ‘reps have reputations’.
In many customers’
eyes, reps are just there to serve, and it’s not a two-way relationship. You are also often called a rep when something goes wrong as a form of put-down.” But these feelings are perhaps not universal with Chris Astles, showroom manager at Quarrybank Boutique in Wilmslow, Cheshire, saying: “I personally don’t have an issue with the title of rep any more than I do with the titles areas sales manager or business development manager.” Barry Abrahams, owner of the Arlington Group, defiantly proclaims: “I’m proud to be called a rep.”
• August 2023
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