Can Sales Reps Survive?
Adding new tools & responsibilities keep reps relevant, for now
By Judith Rosen
Publishers Weekly, Jun 14, 2010

Like other segments of the book business, the job of sales representatives is being dramatically transformed. "Last year was probably the most austere and crisis-mode period reps have experienced in a long, long time," says Paul Williams, executive director of the National Association of Independent Publishers Representatives.
Contractions in the book business in response to the Great Recession led to cuts in sales forces for large houses like Simon & Schuster, while commissioned rep groups that service independent publishers have also felt the pinch.

Recently Nolo Press, in Berkeley, Calif., dropped its independent rep coverage for the Midwest. "These decisions," says Jackie Thompson, Nolo v-p of trade, "are sometimes driven more by in-house resource issues than by commission costs. We have a reduced sales support staff and therefore have to carefully assess the amount of time spent on various support tasks, including rep support."

Still, the key to the rep business may no longer be synonymous with the key to the car. Independent reps continue to call on as many stores in their territory as possible, but they also tweet, blog, e-mail, Constant Contact, and GoToMeeting, as well as phone, to stay in touch with their accounts. "If there's a rep who can call on an account in person, it usually benefits the account," says Kurtis Lowe, head of group for Book Travelers West, who until last year was the only rep traveling to Alaska. Now he uses what he calls "a hybridization of personalization and electronic contact."

Full report at PW.