F.A.Q.

Austin gets weirder!

Help arrives in central Texas! Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Alliance has not had a field salesmen that is resides in Central Texas. It has been remotely covered by “visiting” salespeople from Dallas and Houston. While the coverage has been professional, the time to achieve the depth of coverage to Alliance’s standards has not been there. In fact, Alliance has been plagued with finding the right person in the market since the retirement of Del Stair.
	To achieve a different result, Alliance went outside the traditional routes and hired David Lehuquet from the financial industry. When the first initial contact was made, the caller was blithely unaware that it was 6:45 in the morning. David answered his phone and it was clear this person is ready to work. Conversely, David was drawn to Alliance since his family is in the plumbing industry “back East.” He and his family have lived in Round Rock, Texas for well over twenty years.
From all accounts, he has the drive and the chops to become successful in one of Texas’s hottest markets. Alliance is confident that this die-hard Eagles fan will blend in well with the Cowboy fans in Austin and San Antonio. As of September 8, 2021, Alliance welcomes David to the fold and the Alliance training begins.
*About Alliance Manufacturer Representatives*
Alliance Manufacturer Representatives, Inc. is a plumbing representative like no other. Not only to we provide market access to manufacturers due to our relationships developed over 30 years, but we are a full service agency. Alliance can assist its manufacturers is a variety of ways to overcome obstacles from situational consulting to engineering. Alliance and its team that covers the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana and they have never encountered an obstacle that cannot be overcome. Alliance maintains a low line card count to assure personal service to our principals is never compromised, come see the difference.

Changes in Big - D

June 1, 2021, Alliance chose two new players in the first round of the 2021draft. There was a lingering open position in Dallas since COVID and it was a priority to fill. During the interview process, Alliance found themselves with two quality candidates. Both Gabe Lazalde and Mark Yblood demonstrated unique qualifications for the Northern Texan region. “At Alliance, we choose professionals that can adapt well to our company and we also review some unique skills the composes our criteria. Both of these candidates scored in a virtual tie; therefore, we chose them both because we knew how difficult it is to get quality candidates that fit our exclusive requirements,” Cary Ostera, the President mentioned.
	Gabe and his wife recently relocated from Utah and they have fallen in love with Dallas. Alliance is lucky the company that transferred him to Texas had to lay him off due to COVID. His infectious positive personality is just one of the reasons why he will excel in our industry. While his experience in sales is HVAC and steel raw materials, we know he will adapt to our industry easily. After talking with people that know Gabe, it is clear that he knows what it takes to take care of the contractors and distributors in need. Gabe will be working in the Eastern half of the Metroplex and East Texas. He loves BBQ and is on a quest to find the best.
Gabe’s new sidekick is Mark Yblood.  He is a grizzled veteran of industrial sales in the construction industry with Grey hair to prove it. A long-time resident of Mansfield, Texas, Mark is well-rooted in Texas and has many friends throughout the state. Don’t let Mark’s laid back approach fool you, he has the experience that most salesmen wish they had while staying true to his beliefs. His demeanor allows him to easily flow from CEOs to the drivers hauling our manufacturer's products in West Texas. A gentleman that is well suited for the territory. He loves to travel in September, so get your orders in for that personal touch!
With Alliance in good hands, this afforded Christina Vessels, an Alliance veteran of nearly a decade, to take advantage of an opportunity to go in business with a friend of hers for more than twenty years. “Alliance has selected some fine individuals that can handle the market, so I feel great about leaving Alliance in good hands and I look forward to what the future can bring in my own new endeavors. I have enjoyed my ten years with Alliance and I know they will do well” Alliance is going to miss Christina and all the tales of her pup “peanut”, but we are overly optimistic on the transition for the months ahead.
*About Alliance Manufacturer Representatives*
Alliance Manufacturer Representatives, Inc. is a plumbing representative like no other. Not only to we provide market access to manufacturers due to our relationships developed over 30 years, but we are a full service agency. Alliance can assist its manufacturers is a variety of ways to overcome obstacles from situational consulting to engineering. Alliance and its team that covers the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana has never encountered an obstacle that cannot be overcome. Alliance maintains a low line card count to assure personal service to our principals is never compromised, come see the difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Manufacturer's Representative?

if every manufacturer could build exactly what the users require in design, quantity, quality, usability and on time delivery, then every product would eventually find a use. The end result is a well-balanced use of resources; otherwise, call fantasy land. This is a picture of the real world. As you can see, the tiles usually don't always fit together so easily. For a variety of reasons manufacturers might need help getting products to end users.

One example might be that the manufacturer's resources (people, materials, and capital) are limited, and they cannot actively seek new customers. Large manufacturers rely almost exclusively on mass merchandisers and they require an often-insane advertising budget. This forces the giant manufacturer to leverage their economies of scale in order to generate the cash needed for mass merchants and high profile advertising.

The majority of the time, large assembly line operations have to balance quality with production costs with an acute sense of the bottom line. This is where the smaller manufacturer has the edge. They are able to produce higher quality products that appeal better to the public at large at a fair cost, but with limited marketing and advertising budgets. Often times a new product requires training before it can be sold, installed or used properly, or must be installed by trained professionals, in either case this limits who can buy the product. Another possibility is that the manufacturer is unfamiliar with the market in which they are selling their product.

Since the advent of global marketplaces, this last example is quite common. If such situations occur, manufacturers often enlist the help of an area representative. Sales Representatives always know a great deal about the particular nuances of the marketplace. Reps are also knowledgeable about the existing products and the need for new ones. One of the other strong attributes of a Rep is the strong relationships that they maintain with everyone within the distribution chain. The primary mission of all Manufacturer Sales Representatives is to inform and train a great number of distributors, dealers, and users.

The manufacturer's representative then becomes the eyes, ears, and voice of the manufacture in a given area. Manufacturers' Representatives help bring all the 'tiles' together and then strengthen the bond between each one. A Rep is often the grout or the mortar in the mosaic...

A Comprehensive Look

A major MRERF (www.mrerf.org) educational venture informs top executives in America's top companies about the benefits they receive from the rep system of outsourced selling. The educational message, presented as a special supplement in Fortune Magazine's Industrial Manufacturing and Technology edition, in November of 1999, reached close to a quarter-million CEOs, COOs, CFOs and other top executives. Countless more will see the reprints, either in print or here on the web; download the Fortune Magazine article.

How many manufacturers use representatives?

According to the Research Institute of America, more than 50% of all U.S. manufacturers (and up to 95% in such fields as the plumbing industry) use representatives, exclusively or in combination with direct sales forces. While small companies may go the rep route out of economic necessity, even mega-corporations find it productive to utilize reps to efficiently cover particular market segments or specialized niches.

Can I buy directly from your company?

No, we set up distributors all across our territory to handle direct and commercial sales. We can certainly point you to one of our distributors that is closet to you. Please call us or email Customer Service for specific information until our distributor locator is finished on our website.

Can I contact you directly for other information?

Absolutely! We can handle almost any request that you can come up. We routinely handle service questions, literature requests, technical questions, delivery and lead-time questions, general problems, distributor referral and anything else that may come to your mind. We boast an inside sales staff of five individuals at your beckon call. Give them a try, they are the best in the business!

Can I visit your showroom?

We do not have a showroom as we are not distributors of our products; therefore, there is not a showroom to visit. We would normally route you to one of our distributors that can be handle you on a personal level.

I am having a problem, can I get some assistance?

Sure! That is one of our many roles that we fulfill. Our distributors handle hundreds of product lines within their company. because of that, it is impossible for them to become true experts on are given line. This is where we come in. If we do not know the answer immediately, we have the resources to find out promptly.

Who is responsible for service after the sale?

Most all of our manufacturers that we represent offer a standard warranty that covers material and/or workmanship, but not labor charges. If you purchased the product from a contractor, which is the recommended path, the contractor should handle any warranty issues that arise. If you purchased the product directly from one of our distributors, you carry the burden to service the product within the parameters of the manufacturer's warranty. This is why we always recommend purchasing your products through reputable contractors.

Can you recommend a contractor?

Basically No. We deal with so many contractors that singling a few out would be unfair to the others that are just as qualified. Once you locate your own contractor, we can certainly tell you if we have ever dealt with them. On the other hand, if the product that you are interested in requires a certified installer, we can certainly refer you to them.

What lines do you have?

You must be a registered user to access a list of manufacturers. If you desire a listing, please contact us during normal business hours and we would be glad to help.