The Lighting Rep Network, a one-year-old association for reps in the lighting market, says it can help lighting reps find new lighting lines to sell that meet its standards for product quality, customer service, commissions and shipping methodology.
Michael Katz, a veteran of the lighting market and one of LRN’s founders, says the flood of new manufacturers entering the lighting market from both Pacific Rim manufacturers and inside the United States has created a need for an organization like LRN that can help lighting reps determine which new lighting manufacturers are credible suppliers of lighting equipment. He said LRN, which he launched last year with the help of Dan Schmalen, another lighting industry veteran, checks on the quality of the products; ensures they have a proper third-party listing from UL or another testing agency and are certified by the DLC (DesignLights Consortium); and helps new lighting manufacturers develop proper commission programs for reps.
LRN currently has 150 rep members and five lighting manufacturers — Envoy Lighting, a commercial/industrial lighting manufacturer; True North Lighting, a LED lighting equipment manufacturer; Lumencia, a provider of lighting packages for multi-family housing; Emergensee, a provider of life-safety products for the lighting market; and YS Lighting, an outdoor LED fixture manufacturer. Katz told Electrical Marketing that lighting reps can join LRN for free and that lighting manufacturers usually pay a monthly retainer and a percentage of sales.
LRN’s two founders have a ton of lighting experience. Katz, the network’s president, has worked in the electrical and lighting field for almost 30 years. He has been an electrician and lighting rep; started up his own lighting maintenance company with two partners; and worked for a manufacturer — Best Lighting, a lighting company owned by his father and brother. He has also consulted for Texas Fluorescents and Mobern Lighting, helping them set up their rep networks, and started up his own lighting companies. Dan Schmalen, V.P. of marketing, has worked with Best Lighting Products, Pacific Coast Lighting and Lamps Plus.
Katz says he got the idea for LRN while helping Texas Fluorescents set up a rep network. While talking with reps about taking on the line, he kept hearing about the difficulty they were having in evaluating credible new manufacturers, particularly in the fast-moving LED field. He knew dozens of LED companies were entering the lighting market, and saw 80 new LED vendors at LightFair 2013 in Philadelphia that had never been to the show before.
While talking with the prospective reps, Katz asked them, “What if you had an organization that could at least quantify the companies that you might be looking to rep?”
“These companies come in from China,” he says. “Or they are U.S.-based companies looking to get into LED lighting because they are already into LEDs or die-casting or some form of manufacturing solid-state or castings. Reps need someone who could validate which are legitimate companies as far as manufacturing, structure, stock, and that they have bodies who can pick up the phone and understand a little bit about lighting.”
For manufacturers, LRN’s services include finding reps in local markets and producing webinars, marketing materials, e-blasts and other marketing pieces. Katz uses Creative Marking Alliance (CMA), Princeton Junction, N.J., to create these materials and to produce LRN’s new website www.lightingrepnetwork.com.
LRN also offers offshore manufacturers an understanding of the U.S. market that might be tough to find elsewhere. Katz has taken at least 15 business trips to the Pacific Rim, particularly China, to visit with lighting manufacturers there, and Jonathan Korbeil, who works in sales management for LRN, worked for a lighting manufacturer in China for seven years and speaks Mandarin. Katz says Chinese-based lighting companies may or may not have someone on staff who speaks English, and that Korbeil helps with translation. It helps those reps who might be skittish about taking on a Chinese lighting line, even if that company already has a U.S. presence with a warehouse, inventory, or sales office, he says.
Katz says now LRN has several hundred thousand dollars of revenue to support future growth and that there are probably 450 to 500 more lighting reps in an estimated 50 regional market areas that could benefit from LRN membership. He says some of these potential members may also be firms that sell lighting as part of a broader product package and are part of the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA), Portsmouth, N.H., but that most of them are reps that focus 100% on lighting and sell one of the big lighting packages like Hubbell Lighting, Cooper Lighting or Lithonia Lighting/Acuity Brands.
Katz can see the day when LRN has an annual conference for his members, but says his main goal right now is building LRN membership by helping more lighting reps vet new lighting lines, and helping more lighting manufacturers find good local representation. “Having spent 10 years as a rep, I am a very rep-oriented kind of guy,” he says. “The reps fight the fight every day. They wake up every day and work hard to make a sale and they don’t get paid until they make that sale. They are the guys who need the help.
“There’s no real lighting association that works for the lighting rep. There is ALA (American Lighting Association) and there is NEMRA, but there is no lighting association that works for the lighting rep. They need somebody that can bring them a legitimate line. Right now they are getting emails from Chinese and American-based manufacturers they have never heard of. There is no credibility.”