ERA MANAGEMENT & MARKETING CONFERENCE – ERA National Conferences are unique educational and networking events devoted to management and sales issues shared by reps, manufacturers and distributors. Attendees have given recent conference outstanding ROI ratings.

ERA WATER COOLER – An Open Forum During Times of Uncertainty – ERA’s weekly teleconference series provides an open forum to both ERA members and non-members. Participants can join in on the conversation and contribute to different topics by sharing challenges that ALL of us face today.

ERA PODCAST – ERA’s monthly podcast series, ERA Talks, features informative and educational interviews with industry leaders in a quick conversational format.

TELEFORUM LIBRARY for rep and manufacturer personnel focus on sales strategies and relationship-building topics. They are conducted by ERA sales consultant and professional coach Nicki Weiss. One or more veteran reps or manufacturers also co-facilitates each session. Teleforums are conducted every other month (alternating with Webinars), and all registrants receive the audio files for future reference. Since January 2009, ERA has offered 30+ teleforums covering a broad range of topics for both reps and manufacturers in the ERA Teleforum Library, and as an ERA Member you can now access the audio files of these programs.

ERA WEBINAR LIBRARY – interactive seminars that are also offered every other month. They cover a broad range of subjects targeted to rep firm and manufacturer personnel. The member cost per connection is $65, and a single connection can be used by multiple attendees in one location. Audio and PowerPoint files from all ERA Webinars to date are available for purchase at just $20 per program.

CERTIFIED SALES PROFESSIONAL (CSP) PROGRAM – Offered through MRERF, the multi-day Certified Sales Professional (CSP) program is offered throughout each year in various North American cities and is recommended for salespeople in both rep firms and distributor companies.

ERA CHAPTER PROGRAMS – Local educational events in ERA’s 20+ territories are often open to manufacturers at low or no cost.

ERA UNIVERSITY – Provides member firm personnel, family members and others with hundreds of online business and personal development courses offered for only $79 per course (for 12 lessons or 24 hours of instruction).

THE REPRESENTOR – a quarterly magazine mailed to all ERA rep and manufacturer members. Classified ad rates for members are discounted 20 percent.

ERA CONTRACT GUIDELINES & EVALUATIONS – are available on ERA’s Web site for agreements between: reps and manufacturers; stocking reps and manufacturers; reps and employees; reps and sub-reps. Also available are forms/guidelines for reps to evaluate prospective principals and for manufacturers to evaluate prospective reps.

ERA ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY DICTIONARY of Abbreviations, Acronyms, Nicknames, Terminology ERA’s new Industry Dictionary is available to ERA members as a searchable glossary of industry terms and acronyms – make sure to check periodically for updates!

EXPERT ACCESS is a free service to members offering telephone consultations with ERA professional resources in these fields: Legal; Fiscal and Taxes; Insurance; Rep and Distributor Recruitment and Management; Starts-Ups; Strategic Planning; and Buy/Sell/Merge Opportunities.

CONFIDENTIAL MATCHMAKING SERVICE allows members seeking new personnel, alliances and/or buy-sell-merge opportunities to advertise to fellow members via free targeted emails. For details, contact Stephanie Tierney at 815-931-9095 or stierney@era.org.

Among the many intangible benefits of membership are ERA’s many outreach and collaborative efforts, including:

A member of the Small Business Legislative Council;
A member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce;
A co-sponsor of the annual Electronics Distribution Show;
A working partner with ECIA, MANA, NEMRA and other rep associations in various industries; and
The founder and supporting member of the Manufacturers’ Representatives Educational Research Foundation (MRERF), sponsor of the Certified Sales Professional (CSP), Certified Professional Manufacturers’ Representative (CPMR) and Manufacturers Best Practice (MBP) programs.

Recognized Resource suppliers provide ERA members with services and discounts tailored to meet the needs of reps and manufacturers. They include:

UPS shipping services
Office Depot and Pennywise Office Products
Avis and Hertz Auto Rentals
Empowering Systems, RPMS, Eyond MRS Software and Perfection Data
Services to assist with rep and distributor recruitment, management and training, strategic planning, employee or prospective employee testing and evaluation, POS and other customized reporting, executive searches and recruitment, start-ups and more
It is the mission of ERA to support its members in optimizing the professional outsourced field sales function in the global electronics industry by providing programs and activities that educate, inform and advocate for manufacturers’ representatives and the manufacturers they represent.