Global trade is custom-made for the independent sales representative business model. Global manufacturers and franchisors with an international outlook fully understand that without local personnel presence it is difficult to develop sustainable sales.
Representatives are uniquely positioned to become eyes and ears for international manufacturers. Multinational companies do recognize that the local representatives are strategic partners crucial to success.
International companies understand that a motivated local sales representative can not only help them to leverage local relationships but also create mutually profitable strategic partnerships.
The big question is How to do that? What are remote sales representative expectations? Are new age tools like salesforce, Fuze, or google Jamboard sufficient?
Certainly, not sales function can only be automated to a limited extent; it still needs onsite relationships and face-to-face meetings at customer site/ office and informal atmosphere at times to build confidence.
Clearly, communication is the cornerstone in making or breaking the sales representative and manufacturer’s relationship. One of the most common reasons that commission agreements are terminated is a breakdown in communications.
Some minimum points manufacturer should consider while appointing sales agents are;
There is no alternative to picking up the phone and having an old-fashioned conversation instead of exchanging emails or cryptic WA messages. Best relationships generally stem from unscheduled communication either over a cup of coffee or at a tradeshow booth, or driving between sales calls together. If a mail extends to more than 6 pages without any agreeable outcome, it is best to pick up a phone and call. The human voice has a healing effect and gives a better sense of the issue at hand.
A principle has full right to do due diligence & satisfying themselves for:
Once the principle is satisfied there is no harm in offering extended termination terms, adding incentives clauses to their contracts, and helping representatives with territory development costs. It is important to understand that company reputation in a distant market is not only built by quality product or service but a satisfied distributor, franchisee, sales agent, or independent sales representative also play an important part in creating brand perception and company image.
Click here to view Selloverseas’s pricing information as SellOverseas offers most economical packages starting from 1USD only to appoint independent sales representative on commission basis or fixed payout, as per required business category and zone of interest.
This is the most common question asked by sales managers. It’s a self-created conundrum by introducing ‘you get paid if you do this and that’. Instead of ‘You earn good money for doing a good job.
By introducing performance pay schemes, sales managers create a game and commission agents optimize their playtime to achieve maximum outcome.
However, no matter how the rules are tweaked, it always ends up with exploitation of one side or the other.
Sales manager realize that “If they pay same commissions for repeat sales, they could end up paying money for doing nothing after a while. If they don’t pay for repeat sales, agents will try to attract customers who may not have long-term interest.”
At this point sales manager try to change the rules, add exceptions and introduce new bonuses.
Our advice! Tread this path carefully depending on your target market, customer segment (B2B or B2C) and long term objectives; there is no one size fits all.
Happy selling!
Our experience has shown that “work from home” and “flexible schedules” is most common attraction to commission only sales agents beside the other usual things. It is more about the freedom and aspirational aspect rather than fix career path or planning.
“Exceed XXX value in commission and spend 9 all-inclusive nights at the Mauna Lani Bay in Hawaii”
“Be among top 5 commission earners to get year round paid passes to Disney World”
The above statement may draw attention; however the expectations may have to be toned down as they may not be diligent in generating reports or sharing their network of contacts.
Selloverseas.com has comprehensive database of commission only sales agents and home based franchisees.
