Gift Rep Sandy

Posts Tagged ‘House accounts’

Even if you have a written sales agreements, issues or disagreements can come up – even if it is addressed in the agreement.  Situations like these require some difficult decisions as it is not easy to find a win-win solution.

Some of the biggest problems I encountered with breaches in sales agreement revolve around territory and/or house account issues.  For instance, it is easy for a potential buyer to call a vendor direct (not realizing that you are the sales rep) and place an order.  The vendor processes the order forgetting to give you credit for the sale or to inform you about the new customer.  Like I said previously, vendors are busy people wanting to get products manufactured and shipped as soon as possible.  Most of the time, these instances are just oversights.  Personally, I chose to ignore these minor occurrences.  Most of the time, I ultimately found these store buyers and took the re-orders anyway.  Also, I felt my relationship with the vendor was more important than making an issue over a small commission.

When the situation becomes serious, there are a few courses of action.  First and best option always is to talk to the vendor about the problem.  Visit in person if possible.  There may be many different reasons for the situation and your vendors should have the chance to explain.

If the first option does not work, or if the vendor is not willing to pay you, you can file a complaint in small claims court in the county where the vendor is located.  You need written proof of your attempts to collect.  If you kept good records, it should be easy to prove the breach in the written agreement.  Or you can turn the vendor over to a collection agency.  Once again, you need actual written records including a demand for payment before a collection agency is willing to assist you with collections.

Lastly, you always have the option to terminate your services with a vendor who does not pay you.  I found this option was often my best choice because I did not have the time or the inclination to follow a legal course of action. At this point, the relationship was damaged and I no longer wished to represent their products anyway.

Whatever action you decide to take, these cases should be weight by questioning whether the money you receive is worth the effort or time you need to take to collect it.  In most of my cases, my time and peace of mind was more important to me than filing any legal actions.  But, of course, the ultimate choice to handling the issue is really up you!

House accounts are store buyers the vendor has been working with directly within the territory you are servicing.  How you can deal with a producers’ house accounts depends on what your vendor and you decided together is in the best interest of your mutual customers.  Here are some of the options to consider:

• Servicing all of the vendor’s house accounts.  Should you and your vendor decide to use this approach, it is very helpful for the vendor to send a letter of announcement to their customers.
• Servicing only certain specified vendor’s customers.  A list of these customer should be provided by the vendor.
• Servicing none of the vendor’s house accounts.  In this scenario, having a list of these accounts listed in the agreement lets you know which stores these include.
• Servicing the house accounts at a reduced commission level.  This arrangement works as a compromise to the either/or options listed above.

I have worked with vendors using all four of the options listed.  Having a detailed list of which accounts are house accounts and how they need to be handled is essential to the agreement as it will provide the information you need when approaching your potential buyers.