Are You Ready For A Sales Rep?

The article below was completed by guest contributer Lara Brynildssen. Lara owns and is the primary sales rep for LJBryn&Co., a Midwest-based independent rep group specializing in children’s gift, toys, gear and apparel. Learn more by visiting www.LJBrynAndCo.com. 

You had a great idea to design and manufacture a line.  You’ve sold it to a few stores in your neck of the woods.  You’ve even gone to a few regional trade shows, or retail expos, and your line sold pretty well, so you forge ahead with plans to expand.

And now you can hardly keep up…  Stores are calling you for re-orders but you’re on the other line and miss the call.  You’re so busy dealing with supply, manufacturing and design details, you don’t have time to promote and sell your line anymore, much less follow-up with existing accounts.

What’s the answer?  You’re still just starting up.  You’re short on time but you’re short on money too.  You can’t afford to hire any full-time sales employees, yet the business plan you wrote for the bank shows monthly sales growth. How do you grow your sales if you’re just keeping your head above water running your new business?

You hire independent sales representatives.   A rep’s primary responsibility is to sell your products.  A sales rep isn’t a magic bullet to increasing your sales—and finding the rep that’s right for you isn’t always easy—but if you want to increase your sales volume, assembling a team of reps throughout the US and Canada might be the solution.  

Think about it this way:  Say you have 100 accounts.   Right now, individual buyers call you to place orders and re-orders.  Depending on what part of the country they’re in, and what part of the country you’re in, you need to be accessible for order-taking 12-14 hours a day, in addition to the business of running your business, marketing, etc.  By assembling a network of regional reps, you increase your sales (over time) but minimize your sales-related workload.  Now you’re dealing with 8-12 reps instead of 100 accounts.  Your reps take on the business of the day-to-day contact with your existing accounts.  They’ll also introduce your line to their existing account base and, before you know it, you’ll need an assistant to process the influx of new orders!

Are You Ready For A Sales Rep?

I’m going to tell you flat out that if you’ve designed a tee shirt line and have a collection of 6 or 8 tees that have done pretty well when you’ve sold them at your local Mom2Mom or craft show, you’re not ready for a rep—yet.  How can you get your line ready for a rep—and the increased sales that go hand in hand?

There are several things you need to have up your sleeve to be ready to hire sales reps, primarily:  a constant stream of new products.  Reps sell, and buyers generally buy, in a two-season cycle, even if your product is the perfect, seasonless boutique item.  If an account buys your line in Fall, they’ll want to see new products from you in the Spring.  I’m not asking you to re-create the wheel every 6 months. Buyers do want to be able to recognize your unique brand.

What I am saying is that if you sold pink and yellow tank tops and short sleeve tees in the Spring, for the Fall buyers want long sleeves, different colors, new graphics and maybe a jacket.  Your best sellers like “I’m a Big Sister” or “Princess” might always stay the same—and that’s OK.  Don’t stop producing your best-sellers till you see their sales dip.  Work with your rep to market those original designs as the core collection of your brand and supplement them with new seasonal designs twice per year.  If you aren’t always designing and manufacturing new products, you won’t be able to keep up with the cyclical demands of your buyers.  Plus, a rep won’t show your line if there is nothing new to show.

Why will the rep stop showing your line?  The primary reason a rep gets an appointment with a buyer is to show fresh, new products.  Buyers are always on the hunt for the latest and greatest to showcase in their boutique and reps love to be able to say confidently, “This is a fantastic line.  Check out the new samples they just sent me.”

It’s not always a plus to tell buyers that you’re in 100 stores in California and that distribution is the reason your brand should be in their store too.  What’s more enticing to a buyer is to hear from a rep that your brand has great sell-through and a fantastic track record of designing and shipping new products.  After all, your buyer is making an investment bringing in your brand.  If your brand sells well, that makes her job easier.  She keeps buying your products every season when the rep calls to say your new samples just arrived.  If your brand doesn’t sell well or never has new products, that costs your buyer time and money because she has to research, buy and set up a new vendor to replace your brand.

What else do you need to have all buttoned up before starting your rep search?  A few easy basics:

• A sales pitch defining your unique brand
• Wholesale line sheets or a catalog
• Wholesale order form
• Easy-to-navigate, high-quality, professional website
• A basic understanding of how reps work and get paid
• Defined expectations for your reps, i.e. road work, tradeshows, a permanent showroom, opening new accounts and servicing existing accounts
• Time to build a relationship with your rep

This isn’t an exhaustive list because all reps work just a little differently.  The keys are:  define your brand’s product cycle, define why you need a rep and then search till you find the rep that will help make your brand a shining star in your industry.