Items tagged “Department Stores”

You’ve decided you want a sales rep and you’ve decided you’re ready for one too. The next step is defining what sort of sales rep you should hire. I’m using the word “hire” pretty loosely here… If you want to work with an independent sales rep, both of you create a contractual relationship rather than an employer/employee relationship. You don’t typically pay an independent sales rep benefits or withhold taxes from her commission check. If the relationship ends, the sales rep won’t receive unemployment benefits. These are some of the legal reasons why sales reps are independent.

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?

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.

I have always heard the advice, “Do what you love!” As a partner in a successful ad agency and marketing director at Earnshaw’s, I often got to do what I maybe kinda liked. At least I knew I was using some of my G-given talents. I have always been drawn to the creative side of marketing, primarily on the word side (since I found out in high school I could not draw well enough to be commercial).

Several years ago, I attended a retail association’s meeting prior to the start of a national trade show. The leaders had gotten the names of every first-time exhibitor at the event. Each buyer picked one name out of a hat. They were asked to go to that exhibitor first thing and thank them for attending the show. The idea that retailers thanked a manufacturer for supporting a trade show struck me as a practice that truly recognizes the time, money and effort that manufacturers expend when they participate in a trade show.