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All sales agents are self employed representatives, they earn commission from the products they sell on behalf of represented companies, normally they carry a range of products, which can be anything from greetings cards to three piece suits (not literally). Most will specialise i.e. An agent that visits mostly toy shops will obviously focus his product range on toys, therefore you'll need to find an agent that already carries products similar to your own, I'll tell you how to find agents later in this section, but please before you skip to that bit read all of this section as it will help avoid some of the problems that may arise. Look out for vat register agents Many agents are VAT registered, on one hand this is normally
a good sign, they are obviously committed and are turning over
a good amount of sales.
How much to pay agents When to pay an agent Paying the agent is also important, prompt payment means your product continues to be shown, some companies only pay their agent when they get paid, personally I don't believe in this method, normally I'll pay my agent thirty days after the sale, this is normally acceptable to most agents and helps to keep your agent loyal. Your agent is not exclusive to you Agents areas Most agents will cover what seems a huge area i.e. The north
The East, Scotland, The Midlands, working the area as a round,
starting at point A and finishing at point B, they'll have a certain
amount of customers in that area which they visit on a regular
basis, from start to finish, the round normally takes between
six weeks and three months.
It is important to remember that an agents loyalty lies with his/her retailers, Agents are looking for a product that sells to their retailers and then sells well to Joe public, thus maximising his commissions while keeping the retailer happy and giving the agent good repeat orders every time the he visits the retailer. Often an Agent will take on a small company such as yourself, do his round showing his retailers your product, at the same time examining how it sells, if sales are slow or poor the agent will soon loose interest relegating your product to the boot of the car or only showing it when asked too by a retailer or may even drop it altogether. Build a relationship with your agent It is advisable to get to know your agent as well as you can, phone them, have a chat, don't talk about your product, find out about them, build a friendship, hopefully this will also build loyalty, constant communication is the best and only way to draw an agent into your company and get an agent in your corner. Remember agents can be fantastic and really put your product on the map. There are many problems that can occur with agents which you can not foresee or prevent, however what you will get is sales, even if it's only one or two a month, it's one or two you would not have had. Drawbacks Some agents that already carry products such as the ones you manufacture will take your products on, then simply not promote your products at all, Knocking 'you' the competition out in that area, the reasons for this would only be know to that agent, i.e. he/she may have more than just an agency with the products already being carried and does not like the thought of competition. He/she may have been asked by a company he already represents to approach you for an agency, then simply not show your products, again getting rid of any competition. My best advice is, find an established agent, ask them lots of questions, i.e. Do they carry anything similar, what other companies do they work for, are they full time, etc. Get as much information as you can and then decide. When you do find an agent you are happy with let them run with
your samples for around three or four weeks if there are no sales,
politely ask for the samples to be returned, then move onto the
next agent. Finding Agents Trade Fairs By far the most cost effective, educational and pleasurable way to find an agent is to visit a trade fair, finding a fair is fairly straight forwards, find a trade magazine related to your industry, in the magazine I guarantee there will be a mention of at least one up and coming trade fair, you'll find out more about fairs and trade magazines and their relationships in the promotion section. The advantages of visiting a fair The next great thing about fairs is that you can get a good look at people already in your field first hand, you can find out their prices, delivery times, how the product is made, in fact everything you need to know about the competition, and get plenty of new ideas to boot. Now by far the best thing about fairs from your point of view is that dotted around the fair, normally at all exits are notice boards, these notices boards have one purpose, and that is for you to advertise on for an agent! Before you leave for the show get on the computer and make yourself up some adverts, say on an A5 or even A4 sheet, like this:
Place your ad on every notice board you see. There will be a considerable amount of agents attending any one fair, I'll explain why. When a manufacturer exhibits his products at a fair the majority of the people that visit his stand will not place an order (something you may want to think about if you are considering exibiting at a fair), they will, in most cases leave a card with their contact details and ask for a rep or agent to call, in fact in this day and age the manufacturer will simply have to scan the visitors pass and their contact details will be logged automatically into a computer as an inquiry, anyway I digress, this inquiry is what's called a sales lead in case you didn't know, this lead will be passed on to the agent. Now then, most manufacturers don't have time to man the stall
for the entire show, so they get the agents to man it. So now you can see the advantages of advising at such an event.
Visit the shop along with your product, when the owner is not busy, simply start a conversation regarding that you notice she sells widgets tell her that you make widgets also and are looking for a good agent, simply ask her if she knows or could recommend one. At this point the conversation can take many turns, without doubt she'll know several agents, most times people are quite happy to help others and you'll get a lead, she will probably want to see your widgets so that she can assess which agent would best suit you, at this point there is a strong chance of a sale, if she starts asking about prices, quantities, etc. (things she doesn't need to know just to recommend an agent), then she is giving you buying signals, at this point you should go in for the kill and get an order, this is a very soft sell approach and can be very effective. Ask an agent
Once you get one agent then life becomes easier, to find another agent simply ask your agent if he/she knows of any agents that would be suitable in other areas, the chances are extremely high that he will know one and will not hesitate to help you. Buy them!:
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