Sales Agents and Distributors

How to find outside help to sell and distribute your products

By LaRita Heet, Freelance Writer, Journalist, IBT Designer, LMH Communications

No matter how great your products are, you can't sell them if consumers can't find them. Don't have the resources to go out there and peddle your wares yourself? No problem! Outside sales agents and distributors can help you out — distributors get your products into stores, restaurants, and more, while sales agents sell your goods on your behalf.

The three top solutions for finding and using outside sales agents and distributors:

Understand and evaluate your products and markets to find the sales rep firm that fits best with your company and products.
Contact your industry's trade association for a list of members who provide sales or distribution services.
Identify those sales agent/distribution companies that seem to match your products/goals, and contact them for more information, and interviews.

Find sales agents who specialize

One benefit of an outside agent in your industry is his experience – he'll likely have a better-than-average understanding of the industry, products, and best places for distribution and sales.
Try: Start with the master – Manufacturers' Agents National Association (MANA), "The One Association for All Agents and Manufacturers." Next, check out their MANA's Sister Associations list.

Reap the rewards of using reps

Choose a sales agent who has experience marketing and selling similar products to yours – not direct competitors', of course – so he is familiar with that segment of the industry.
Try: Find excellent info at Manufacturers' Representatives Educational Research Foundation (MRERF); for your industry-specific MRERF-sponsoring rep trade association, visit the MRERF Directory. Ready to interview prospective rep firms? Use MRERF's Evaluation Questionnaire.

Choose the right channels

Not sure which distribution channels you need? Analyze your competitors' channels to get you started. Here are some options: direct sales, wholesalers, retailers, and direct mail.
Try: Go to National Association General Merchandise Representatives (NAGMR), a professional association of consumer products sales reps/distribution channels, for food, drug, and mass merchandise trade. Input your company's info and NAGMR will contact their "matching" member firms for you.

Go worldwide

Many sales agents and distributors get their products into stores around the world. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the number of American businesses sending their goods/services overseas has tripled since 1990, and two-thirds of those companies are those with 20 employees – OR LESS!
Try: First stop for the small biz exporter? SBA: International Sales. Visit SBA Office of International Trade. Check out Export.gov for excellent info, and to take their Export Questionnaire. For more great tools, go to Business.gov's General Resource List.

Remember – less is more: Don't sign a several-years-long outsourcing contract; instead, go for a year or two at a time, so you can change contract terms easily.
Know the sales rep's responsibilities: An outside manufacturer's rep generally sells in a defined territory, and often sells to distributors.
Understand the distributor's role: Distributors usually buy products for resale, adding cost to those products he distributes. He handles many, often competing lines, maintains inventory, and distributes product anywhere.
Plan for anything: By hiring a commissioned sales agent, you won't be stuck paying the agent a salary – if sales drop, so do his commissions.