The "Role" Of An RSM In The Manufacturer World

If I click the agree button 97 times, will that adequately confer my agreement with this rant?

The best part is that I can literally hear the sound of all those RSMs out there saying "whew...sure glad he's not talking about me...."

                 The Role of an RSM in the 21st Century Security Industry

There isn't any one specific function this role entails. The perfect way to explain the role is an highly engaged and active "Traffic Cop".

First and Foremost, the most important facet they are "selling" is the organization they work for, and themselves.

An effective RSM most be engaged within the sales territory they are covering. They most engage with the A and E community, End Users, and the resellers.

An effective RSM most understand their landscape - who are their "promoters" and who's along for the "ride" and has no real "value add".

An effective RSM most protect their "promoters", if they don't the "promoters" will become apathetic, which will result in the RSM having to work harder in territory and create the need for new promoter/s.

An effective RSM must be technical enough to have a dialog with the A and E community, yet if they're overly technical they'll not have the time to make efficient use of their time; which will sooner or later compromise their #'s. They must be able to move discussions to the appropriate support team members within their orgs. (sales engineers or other tech. staff).

An effective RSM must be fluent in "steak house" small talk, however that too is a fine line, you must remain in control and not compromise your reputation by being known as a "boozer".

An effective RSM must understand the true "give" and "take" of a partnership. No one can "win them all". Even though a sales guy in a specific territory might have sold $3mm in a specific year, it's unwise to " put all of your eggs in one basket". If the RSM is effective, he can convey the message in such a way, that the "big sales guy" won't vent about the lack of attention he's getting from a particular vendor.

An effective RSM must be able to break bad news to a partner, such as pricing issues, no registration, or other matters, while maintaining the relationship.

The long and short of it is the in 2016, an truly effective RSM must wear many hats and must be able to interchange them multiple times on a daily basis. Its not an easy job to do well, many people have the role, but I'd estimate, 20% are truly effective. I tip my cap to those.

"3. If you come into town to see a customer that I brought you, and I'm not included in the meeting....there's a bit of an issue."

Just had a manufacturer do this one to me.  I caught them in the act... not very pleased.  This makes me extraordinarily unlikely to bring that RSM in on future deals.

I cannot agree enough with the initial post.  Many RSMs seem genuinely ignorant of the damage they are doing to themselves.

IMHO, most of #1's complaint seem to be that the RSM does not invest enough time/resources into the partner relationship.  

Though I don't see a reason not to demand improvement, I'm wondering what the underlying cause is.  Has it gotten worse recently?

Moreover, it appears that you are apparently disenchanted with the performance of RSM's in general, since you mention no specific manufacturer.  Which would indicate that the problem lie not with individual RSMs, but with the role of the RSM defined by the manufacturers.

Is it possible that the role of the RSM is changing to a less dealer-centric model?

Also, i dont need an email each week with the only words consisting of:

What can I quote you on?

Because once I did give you that oppurtunity and you were way higher than any of your competitors, and I let you know that. So you asking me the following weeks the same exact question is pretty much insanity.

Also, quit showing up unannounced, you always show up when I am busy as hell. Schedule something atleast a week in advance, chances are I really wont agree to the meeting anyways because I dont have time to choot the chit which is all you really do since you really dont know anything about your products.

An RSMs Response:

First let me state the following; I agree with your post. What you have listed are good points and ones that should be talked about. Second, I have spent years as an integrator, working with good and bad RSMs (one is particular would only call asking for POs, I never did meet her face-to-face), as well as a Sales Engineer and as a RSM. So, if I may, I would like to add some color to your points, as I think they are valid.

Preface. It seems to be two main types of RSMs, while I am sure there could be sub-types to each of these we will just focus on the main two. Type 1: Relationship based, channel manager. Type 2: Technical based, sales manager. The type of RSM will be based both on the person themselves as well as the type of manufacture they are working for. Example, a manufacture that sells through distribution and uses manufactures reps, will tend to have Type 1 RSMs. They focus on managing the channel and ensuring the local distribution branches and manufactures rep can talk about their products. Conversely, manufactures that use a direct model, selling direct to the integrator (not to be confused with selling directly to the end-user) will tend to have Type 2 RSMs. They will have a broader technical aptitude and tend to be more sales centric and strategic in their approach.

These are general statements, no doubt there are exceptions to the rules.

To your points:

1. Totally agree. Auto-response should only be used to let you know that it may take longer than normal for a response, due to a vacation or meetings. Not an excuse to be ignored.
2. This is something that has always been difficult, as an RSM. If an RSM has a very larger territory with many integrator partners, this may not always be easy to do. What I have found helpful is when an integrator has asked for more of my time. Have a frank conversation with the RSM about investing in your team.
3. I do agree with this, however with cavoites, I will leave that for another post as I know it can be a heated conversation.
4. As a rule of thumb, RSMs tend to be scheduled out about 2 weeks out. At least this is what I have seen personally and with the teams I have worked with. As for setting up other meetings on visits, this will depend on a number of factors:
   1. Type of RSM
   2. Time – Some months it is hard to get our expense reports in on time, let alone do outbound sales calls and prospecting. Personally, I have found it valuable to partner with integrators on prospect targets together, this goes back to the strategic approach.
5. Leads, here is the dirty truth, we do not get as many leads as you think. 2-3 a month at the most. If an RSM has a multi-state territory, these leads may not always fall in your area.
6. Could not agree more on this. Personal emails with bullet point updates to integrators are very important. NOT the mass marketing emails. I never read those as an integrator.
7. Valid point, should always leave with action items. Sales Training, technical training, sales strategy, etc.

My last point, lay out your expectations to the RSM. I know some will ignore it, and some will try but may fail and some will make adjustments. While the conversations where not always easy, I did value the integrators that would take time explaining what they expcted out of a RSM.

Good post, good topic, good input.

Dear RSMers...please bring doughnuts, a carafe of Starbuck's pikes peak roast and some live active case studies using your products in our region. Who cares what is going on in po'dunk other side of the planet.