Gift Rep Sandy

Posts Tagged ‘independent sales representative’

“Theme” niche markets are very popular, and a good way to position yourself in the industry. Often this represents your area of product emphasis, rather than exclusivity. Gift stores are looking for that unique line that no other store carries.  While meeting this preference is difficult to accommodate across a large area, the idea is more feasible if you work in niche markets.  Examples of niche market specializations could be cowboy-themed products, or perhaps themes such as chocolate, huckleberry, “in-state”, gold jewelry, or woodcrafts.

If you do offer a specialization, make sure you communicate that fact, to take advantage from a reputation standpoint. Often, the narrower your niche, the more potential success you will experience – especially if you find a popular consumer market that is not addressed sufficiently in the marketplace.  Trying to be everything to everybody ensures that you will appeal at a high level to almost no one, although that is the more traditional model for reps. Remember that if you take the wide spectrum approach, each mini-niche you offer among your lines, is competing against a rep that might be SPECIALIZING in that niche area.

As you spend time with your lines and your customers, you will find under-represented specialty markets.  These are great opportunities to change and refine what product lines you are selling.  Not all the answers or directions come at once when you start, so allow yourself the option of changing with your themes, as you become more knowledgeable about the opportunities in your territory, and as markets change.

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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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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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This is my first post to my new blog:  GiftRepSandy.

So named because I am an independent sales representative for the gift industry and because my name is Sandy!

Stay tuned for more information about sales reps, the gift industry, and the ins and outs of my day!!

8kcr4nincs

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