Using Sales Reps to expand business

[IATM]

Hi All,

Looking for some advise because admittedly I have hit a crossroad with about 5 paths (probably 4 of them being not ideal).

I currently sell online and on marketplaces. It was excellent and now its ok but I want to expand and be bigger and if truth be told change the direction of the business to more of a wholesaler of goods. Just to give more depth to the idea We have set up 3 brands and we want to get these 'out there' and really build some traction.

I thought of the idea of using sales agents to sell our products and wanted to find out if anyone has experience of doing this and how it helped (or didnt help)

Thanks

Edited by IATM on Tuesday 1st December 10:25

[DSLiverpool]

IATM said:

Hi All,

Looking for some advise because admittedly I have hit a crossroad with about 5 paths (probably 4 of them being not ideal).

I currently sell online and on marketplaces. It was excellent and now its ok but I want to expand and be bigger and if truth be told change the direction of the business to more of a wholesaler of goods. Just to give more depth to the idea We have set up 3 brands and we want to get these 'out there' and really build some traction.

I thought of the idea of using sales agents to sell our products and wanted to find out if anyone has experience of doing this and how it helped (or didnt help)

Thanks

Edited by IATM on Tuesday 1st December 10:25

I have used sales agents to reach the smaller distys that my reps wouldn't really touch, if its a range to be sold into electrical wholesalers then I know the king, an agent of agents. If not then you need to still find a king agent who will be able to "recruit" the other agents and be your main focus into the channel. You will love them, hate them and resent them at various times, please tell yourself this before you recruit them and dont be upset if they turn you down the good ones need "very sellable" kit to make their money.

[IATM]

Hi DSLiverpool,

Your insight is always enlightening when you post replies in the business forum.
My industury is more in the healthcare market and the product is very sellable which works in my favour.
I never thought of the concept of a "king agent" - My mindset was to find a group of agents (commission basis only) that would essentially report into me however your concept might be a lot better for us as this is all new to me.

[DSLiverpool]

IATM said:

Hi DSLiverpool,

Your insight is always enlightening when you post replies in the business forum.
My industury is more in the healthcare market and the product is very sellable which works in my favour.
I never thought of the concept of a "king agent" - My mindset was to find a group of agents (commission basis only) that would essentially report into me however your concept might be a lot better for us as this is all new to me.

Google "Multiquote" see if they can take an advert on the site - NHS procurement site owned by my mate.

Agents - Ask a friendly customer if they know of any agents they actually like (!) and take it from there - you cannot easily control 6 agents countrywide, the king agent gets an extra few % but will do it for you.

[andy-xr]

Spend more money on marketing, bizdev is 80% marketing 20% sales

[IATM]

andy-xr said:

Spend more money on marketing, bizdev is 80% marketing 20% sales

Could you please provide some further direction on what you mean....

[cirian75]

local radio adverts?

Supposed to be quite cheap and effective.

[andy-xr]

If you think sales will come in and the business will grow magically, you'll set yourself up for a fall. Sales can take the baton from where Marketing made the intro, so any sales person you bring in will need to have some things at their disposal in order to sell effectively

For example, you could bring in a sales person and tell them to grown the business, you want £1m revenue in the next 12 months. Here's a laptop, here's a phone, off you go. They cold call, send out info when requested, follow up and qualify whether there's an opportunity. It takes time from saying 'Go!' to getting someone interested

Or, you could plan a heap of activities like events, a social media campaign, send out some interesting research to the target market, and then set the sales team on that market with some incoming stuff to work with and get a feel for things. They have more context and it's more relevant. It should, if you've done your research properly, shorten the sales cycle down.

[richardxjr]

IATM said:

healthcare market ... very sellable ... this is all new to me

Firstly reps and agents are different. It's not cut and dried but this is my understanding, as an agent in a Manufacturer-distributor-end user industry.

Reps are usually employed by you and earn commission from sales they make to your customers. You recruit either business developers (which takes time, as above) or you poach from a competitor. If they earn for you they will need looking after, if they don't they will be a burden.

Agents will already be established in your field and usually add their value on to your trade price when selling your product (usually alongside other products) to their customers.

As an agent I sell Manufacturer's product down into end users, other distributors and other agents. The arrangement works very well for both me and the Manufacturer, who gets a good volume of cost free sales at their usual trade price and a better spread of credit risk. I earn the distributor's margin without any overheads or cashflow and with much reduced credit risk, and am free to work in other directions or introduce other products to my customers. Some customers know I am an agent, others assume I work directly for the Manufacturer.

In my situation the Manufacturer invoices my customers at my selling price and I invoice the Manufacturer for my added margin.

In your shoes I'd be trying to find agents in your industry that are able to sell your widgets alongside their other products. Probably by speaking to customers as DSL suggests above.

Edited by richardxjr on Wednesday 2nd December 10:19