Gift Rep Sandy

For now, let’s take a look at most of the significant gift product categories of products you might choose to offer (and you very probably will end up with several). This list is by no means exhaustive, but represents a large sampling of the opportunities available:

•    “General” gifts
•    Souvenirs
•    Gourmet foods
•    Confections
•    Home décor
•    Jewelry
•    Personal care (soap, massage oils, lip balms)
•    Books and/or CDs
•    Housewares
•    Toys/children’s products
•    Cards and stationary
•    Candles
•    Apparel
•    Regionally-made products
•    “Country” theme
•    Hand-crafted or artisan pieces
•    Herbal or natural products
•    Custom or private label
•    Special event (births, deaths, birthdays)
•    Holiday merchandise (Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Christmas)
•    Desk accessories

Nearly all reps try to get as many different types of product lines as they can, and offer a full menu of options for each gift store. Nothing wrong with that! Some reps choose to focus on a single specialization, such as candles, gourmet foods, greeting cards, or in-state products.

Specialization in a single category is sometimes advantageous because neighboring stores in the gift industry, particularly in towns under 50,000 population, do not like to carry the same lines. As soon as you sell one candle line to one store, competing stores in that community will prefer to avoid that line, since part of their competitive advantage is to offer their customers something different. If you only represent one line of candles, you are done selling candles in that town once you make your first sale, and must make your money in other categories. If you specialize in candles, perhaps offering 15 lines, you have a line for every shop in town. PLUS, you become known as the “candle” lady, or “hot sauce guy” or “specialty food rep,” which offers some advantages for word of mouth marketing.

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Setting Up Your Company

Part of getting your business started is setting up the business framework.  There are many books and agencies available to help you set up your company that will go into much more detail than what is listed here.  Since each state and city regulations are different, it is best to contact your local city hall, county, or Secretary of State to inquire about requirements such as business licensing, permits etc. If you have a Small Business Development Center in your area, normally located on a college or university campus, they can be a wonderful resource, for getting you started.

Following are some ideas and suggestions:

1. Decide on a business name.  Some sales reps use their own name as all or part of the name of their business, for example, “P. Jones Enterprises”, rather than a DBA or “doing business as” for their business name. Some of the most famous firms in the world, such as Hershey’s, use a family name as part of their company name.

2.  Set up a separate phone (whether cell or land line) for business calls.  Use an answering machine or voice mail, and make sure you can access your messages from long distance, when you are traveling or during sales presentations. Frankly, in this day and age, a cell phone makes the most sense, but I started with a phone attached to an answering machine (voice mail is still not available here in the hinterlands), and it worked for a while.

3.  If you plan to use email as a way to communicate with your customers and vendors, AND I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT!, use a separate email address from your personal email, to filter your emails as they arrive, making it easier to manage and respond to important business correspondence.  Also, if you use an email address that incorporates your business name, will create subliminal advertising for your business, and creates a more professional image.

4.  Open a separate business checking account for all your business related expenses and deposits.  Distinguishing business from personal expenses is a big time saver come tax time, and eases record keeping, and makes the IRS happy!

5.  Depending on where you live, and your personal situation, you may want to set up a separate address, usually a PO Box, for your business mailing address.

6. Use a separate room or den in your house as your office, at least in the beginning. Note that the IRS allows you to allocate a pro-rata portion of your home expenses as a business deduction. However, watch the rules carefully, as this is a major red flag item for audits.

In summary, the success of your business is entirely in your control and owning your own results is one of the most satisfying facets of becoming a self employed sales rep!

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Thinking like an Entrepreneur!

Once you make your decision to start an independent sales rep firm, even if it does not involve employees, you are taking on the role of an independent entrepreneur.  You will be the one who is responsible with every facet and venue of your business.  Since you will have no boss to answer to, you will need to have the discipline to push yourself.  Some facets of the business you will not like, but you will need to complete them anyway!

Systems for Your Business

As a new entrepreneur, I suggest you take a look at some basic structured systems to implement in your business. Starting and growing a business is really about developing systems within your business.  Most tasks, even sales tasks, can be systemized to make a smoother working operation to catch oversights and errors more efficiently.  Systems are a set of methods and procedures, sometimes policies, to follow for each repetitive aspect of your enterprise.

There are several different types of systems to help you with your business — some of these systems, for example, may include the following:

• The systems you set up to keep track of commission receivable will ultimately determine your success in managing critical cash flow, so you can pay your bills on time, and collect delinquent accounts.

• The systems you set up to turn prospects into customers, and turn customers into repeat customers, will determine the long term health and vigor of your sales rep business.

• The systems you set up for writing and processing orders, including follow-up on orders, will expedite your ability to continue generating sales.

• The systems you set up to monitor your sales goals will keep you on target with the growth of your business

Choices about these systems, including development of policies and procedures, constitute the management level you wish to attain in your business.  Even after you set up initial systems, tweaking those systems, and creating new systems to address recurring problems, lost opportunities, and growth is really your most important work. As the principle operator or owner of a company, setting up systems which are effective and efficient take more work up front, but lead to a streamlined operation over time saving you time to make money!

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A Manufacturer’s Representative, also called manufacturer’s agent, manufacturer’s rep, sales representative, or sales rep – or more commonly, just “rep” – is a self-employed salesperson who contracts direct selling and marketing services to one or more related, but normally non-competitive, companies in a particular industry.

The job of a rep is basically to “represent” the manufacturer’s, distributor’s, or importer’s line of products to prospective buyers, who could be retailers, wholesalers, distributors, or service businesses, depending upon the industry and/or product line. As part of that service, they call on and present the client’s products in a positive light (as a way to solve the buyer’s needs), answer questions, offer materials and information, and ask for orders and re-orders in person, or by phone, fax, or email. Increasingly, web sites are a way to service wholesale buyers.

Sales reps sometimes just represent one company, where they might be paid a base plus commission. More often, however, independent reps serve multiple companies who share an interest in marketing to a category of buyers that the rep calls upon regularly. Reps are usually given a specific (and often exclusive) territory, so customers are not confused by multiple competing sales representatives, and to honor the hard work done by a good rep.

Sales reps exist that target virtually every size of gift retailer from small mom-and-pop stores to large “big box” retailers, including chains. All these reps want to show and sell the newest, most attractive or innovative products on the market (plus, of course, profitable standbys).  When hiring a rep, you save buyers significant time and expense by showing several lines during your visits, and always, they want to know “what is new”! (You WILL hear this question a lot!)

On the other side of the equation, sales reps probably qualify as the lowest cost option for manufacturers interesting in expanding sales regionally or nationally. Independent reps operate as a contract sales person, or in the case of rep “groups”, as a contract sales force, working on a strictly commission basis, minimizing overhead for a producer. Whereas an in-house sales force could cost a potential manufacturer $75,000 to $100,000 per person, with travel expenses – regardless of sales volume – an independent rep only gets a check when they produce sales for the manufacturer.  Since reps can be found in virtually every geographic area in the US, opportunities for a low cost national roll-out are endless, for those manufacturers who choose to grow in this fashion.

Sales reps purpose is to introduce, educate and take orders for product lines and receive a commission as compensation, rather than making your money on the price differential between buying and selling prices.

(For more information on opportunities and information on this industry, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition, “Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing”, on the Internet)

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Malcolm and I are very busy with holiday sales this month!  We have lots of web orders along with running a holiday kiosk in Moscow, Idaho near where we live.

But early in 2010, I will be starting a new series of blog posts on how to become a sales representative to the gift industry.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in this field, or if you are a current sales rep looking for some fresh ideas, make sure to subscribe to get the latest updates next year!

For now, I would like to wish you a very happy holiday season!

GiftRepSandy

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After spending a week in southern Idaho and a week in northern Idaho, I am done with my fall sales trips.

Most of my customers/gift shops are buying very conservatively this fall — but most are still buying.  I have also noticed that the store in north Idaho (Riggins to Sandpoint) seem to be fairing the economic downturn better then their friends to the south (McCall to Boise to Twin Falls).  With all the foreclosure problems in Boise valley, it is no surprise that the gift shops are struggling too.

On a side note, while  I was in Boise, I was able to attend the Boise TweetUp meeting at the Berryhill Restaurant in downtown Boise.  While at the meeting, I was able to meet some of the folks I have as ‘friends’ on Facebook.  Very interesting group of people.  John Berryhill gave each of us a small gift card for the restaurant and I had a really interesting salad with lettuce and fruit!

While in Coeur d Alene, I was able to visit with my friend Kris at the Greenbriar Inn.  Me and Kris have been friends for several years, and I have sold her Wildbeary huckleberry products off and on for most of those years.  The Greenbriar Inn has undergone lots of changes since I first met Kris — and their restaurant and inn is totally different every time I visit her.

Over the next weeks, I will continue to process wholesale and retail holiday orders.  Will be a busy time for us, but hopefully, not too busy to ‘visit’ with you as well!

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Greetings,

I know it has been awhile since I have posted a message.  Lots has been going on in my life.

After two years of poor health, I have finally been diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  Apparently, I have been gluten intolerant all my life, but the symptoms have finally caught up with me these past years.

So, my husband, Malcolm and I have been doing some major changes to our diet.  First, we took about six boxes of food out the cupboard and pantry that I can no longer eat.  (You would be surprised how many items contain wheat!!  I even had to throw away my shampoo!)  We made several of our friends and family happy with all the goodies we were giving away!

From there, I am taking numerous supplements to get my system back in shape.  Half a dozen pills before breakfast, two or three more with each meal, 2 pills in between meals, and a small handful of ’stuff’ before bedtime.  I feel like I am a walking pharmacy!

Up side to all of this is that I AM starting to feel better.  Not so tired, stomach and intestines working better … now if I can make my brain work better, I’d be as good as new!

I am told it will take between six months and two years to really get the problem under control.

Back atcha when I have more information.

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If you hadn’t noticed, the days are starting to get shorter, the nights are cooler, the kids are heading back to school … change is in the air!  Late summer is the time of year that my sale rep business starts transitioning from tourist season to holiday season.  Even though we have some of the hottest days of the year in August, I need to start thinking about Christmas, holiday products to offer my customers, and new products from my list of vendors (lines I represent)

With all these changes, comes new pages and updates to my website:  www.idahogiftswholesale.com.  I will be spend large chunks of time over the next weeks to gathering information, taking pictures, and offering new products to my retail buyers for October/November buying.

On the home front:  I need to take my laptop back to my friends at Cactus Computers in Moscow.  The crazy machine is running slow and crashing programs even after I doubled the RAM capacity a few weeks ago.  We bought a Toshiba laptop in March of last year — a change from our usual Dell purchases – because we were told that Toshiba made the best laptops.  Well, you could not prove that by my experiences with this one!!  Hopefully, my friends can fix the problem and I can go about my business.

We are still spending everyday at the downtown office to access the internet.  It looks like we will not be able to replace our high-speed internet at home.  Malcolm has set up a dial-up service, but I have not yet tried it.  I suppose I will want to go to sleep waiting for it to load up, but at least we will have service at home again.

So enjoy these last days of summer.  I get back with an update on the fall changes as they unfold.

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I know that you have not heard from me for awhile.  Malcolm and I had a very busy July and August.

Historically, the wholesale business is busiest in April and May.  But this year, buyers were very reluctant to purchase many new products for their stores until June and July.  Order tend to taper off in July … but not this year!  I have not looked at the records (been too busy), but I would expect that this July is the best July wholesale month we have had since I started my sales rep business in 2001!!

Reports I have been receiving from around the state tell me that tourist areas are having a good season.  Twin Falls had a long season this year with the falls (due to all the rain), Mountain Home says lots of their visitors are folks who are traveling on the Interstate rather than the typical tourist who flies into the area.  And of course, the beaches in Coeur d Alene and Sandpoint are lined with people.  Maybe Idaho isn’t seeing the recession as badly as other areas in the country!

On another note, Malcolm and I attended the North Powder (Oregon) Huckleberry Festival on July 25.  Check out our post and pictures on the International Wild Huckleberry Association blog.

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Malcolm and I decided to take some time off and drive up to Elk River this morning.  Elk River was having a small Huckleberry Festival and we thought it would be a fun event to attend.

The drive to Elk River is rather long from our home in Orofino.  It was hot today, so the air conditioning in our car was greatly appreciated!  Anyway, once we arrived in Elk River, we were a bit surprised at how quiet the town was!  Not much of a festival, but the town was also featuring their ‘community garage sale’ day.  Of course, we came for the huckleberry items and not the garage sale, but  I did pick up one of the old “Huckleberry Heaven” huckleberry cookbook:  101 Huckleberry Recipes from the Kitchen of Huckleberry Heaven!  A few really interesting recipes that I will probably be featuring on the International Wild Huckleberry Association blog over the next weeks.

Dent Bridge

After having a nice lunch at the Log Inn, we headed home over Dent Bridge.  The gravel road winded through the wooded area between Elk River and Orofino as we traveled home.  Once we hit the top — just before crossing the bridge — we stopped briefly to enjoy the spectacular site!  The beautiful Dworshak Reservoir lie just below us!  The bridge crossed the 52 mile reservoir about 17 miles north of the Dworshak Dam.  (NOTE:  For more information, see Wikipedia)

After returning from our trip, we headed to the office to check on any orders we may have received for the day.

All and all, it was a fun day for the both of us!!

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