Improving your Local Agents & Distributors Network

OEM companies are using a network of local agents / distributors as the company’s front-end sales force, supporting the company’s sales managers. Maintaining a better local representation can improve sales results and reduce the direct cost of sales.

An existing network of agents and distributors may face the following challenges:

• High commission rate due to sales manager – local agent friendly relationship that prevent hard negotiation process.
• Unsuccessful representation due to a history of Inheriting agents when the company worked according to a different strategy and sales directions.
• Bad documentation: different contracts signed by different representatives, no signed NDA, etc.
• No Sales Targets are set to the local agents and there are fewer new opportunities and fewer new accounts since it is easier to search for opportunities at known customers.
• Missing Opportunities in the territory.

The consulting services Human-impact provides results in a decrease in the sales force cost. In addition, organizing all activities of agents & distributors to set higher sales targets that may bring a higher sales level. The services supporting this process are:

• Local Representative Selection when needed, in a territory where there is no representative or the current representative need to be replaced.
• Commission & Contract Negotiations to reach unified contract with a lower and adjusted commission rate.
• Sales Target Plans for the agents are needed from the same reason that sales managers need them, and can be integrated in the contract.
• Periodical Review to assess the performance of each representative.

Usually, local sales representatives serve the company for a longer period than sales managers that are employees of the company. It is essential to invest in order to make this network of agents and distributors more effective and successful.

All activities are coordinated with the territory sales manager and the company sales strategy.