When you see the letters CPMR after the name of a manufacturers’ representative, it signals completion of a three-level on-campus executive course designed to enhance professionalism and productivity for the representative’s firm, as well as for principals and customers.

CPMR-designated representatives have taken positive action to earn the right to use those four letters after their names.  Their reasons are both internal and external – to improve their own performance and knowledge base, but also to demonstrate to business colleagues the extra degree of commitment that certification confers.

Just as the CPA has pursued education and demonstrated proficiency beyond that of just any accountant, so too the CPMR has taken courses, passed examinations, and shown a drive for excellence beyond the ordinary. The CPMR designation provides positive assurance to principals and customers alike that a representative exemplifies the highest standard within the sales profession.  He or she is a Certified Professional Manufactures Representative.

HOW YOU AS A CUSTOMER BENEFIT FROM WORKING WITH CPMR REPS

• You have the assurance of qualified third parties – the certifiers – that the rep knows how to run his or her own business and to train personnel to supply customer services at the level customers need and deserve.
• You know that CPMR reps have taken extra steps to demonstrate commitment to the territory, the industry, the factories they represent, and the customers they serve.
• You know that sales calls will be doubly productive, both because they will cover a group of related products in which you are interested, and because the presenter has been trained to use YOUR time efficiently.
• You know that you are dealing with someone who subscribes to the CPMR Code of Ethics, calling for the highest standards of integrity, confidentiality, and excellence.

HOW YOU AS A PRINCIPAL BENEFIT FROM WORKING WITH CPMR REPS

• You know that your representative is committed to creating a total quality rep firm, exemplifying top standards of professionalism in serving you as well as other principals and your mutual customers.
• You know that your representative has the time and organizational management skills to have participated in the demanding CPMR program while still maintaining the orderly conduct of business.
• You know that the rep firm managed by a CPMR has demonstrated continuity and stability in the past, and has taken affirmative action to assure it into the future.
• You know that the certified representative has had special training in using portolio synergies on your behalf.
• You can be confident that the CPMR rep subscribes at all times to the stringent requirements of the 12-point CPMR Code of Ethics.

HOW YOU AS A REP BENEFIT FROM THE CPMR PROGRAM

Whether or not you seek and receive certification, you benefit from the elevation of respect that the CPMR designation provides for the manufacturers’ representative function.

• You enhance your own knowledge base and management skills, making yourself a more effective executive, trainer, and sales person.
• Through the multi-industry training program, you develop a network of peers in your own and other industries, equipping yourself to access ideas and techniques that have worked elsewhere and that can be applied in your own company and industry.
• By earning the right to use the CPMR designation following your name, you provide those with whom you do business an unbiased third party testimonial to your demonstrated proficiency at what you do.
• Above all, you have the satisfaction of leadership, of knowing that you are in the vanguard of your profession, meeting and setting the standards that others can only seek to emulate.

HOW THE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM OPERATES

The Certification program for manufacturers’ representatives was inaugurated in 1989, following seven years of research and development. The program is operated by the Manufacturers’ Representatives Education Research Foundation (MRERF), through its educational subsidiary, the Institute for Professional Advancement.

MRERF is a not-for-profit organization sponsored by some thirty associations of manufacturers’ representatives in a variety of industries. It is dedicated to enhancing awareness in business, industry, government and academia of the multiple-line synergistic sales function as conducted by professional independent sales organizations for the benefit of both the manufacturers who outsource the sales function to them and the customers to whom they bring their portfolios of lines. As an integral part of MRERF’s activities, it also develops programs to improve the effectiveness of members of its constituent associations and publishes materials to educate manufacturers on working with reps more effectively.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE CPMR PROGRAM, CONTACT:

Dr. Marilyn Stephens

Manufacturers’ Representatives

Educational Research Foundation

Institute for Professional Advancement

P.O. Box 247, Geneva, IL 60134

(630)208-1475

email:info@mrerf.org

http://www.mrerf.org