What is a Multi-Line Field Sales Company?

Manufacturers’ representatives are called by many names, but the best way to define one of these firms is to think of it as an outsourced provider of field sales services to multiple manufacturers of complementary products.

When a manufacturer, distributor or service company determines that an important element of its marketing plan is contacting its customers face-to-face on the customer’s turf, it has three options:

1. Conduct the field sales process with non-sales company executives and managers who sell part-time.
2. Hire direct sales employees whose full-time job is to contact customers and service them.
3. Appoint professional, multiple-line field sales firms as strategic partners.

These field sales companies may be known as reps, agents, manufacturers’ agents or representatives, sales agencies or even brokers. They work primarily on commission and pay their own expenses in return for a contractual agreement to be the exclusive “agent” of the manufacturers they represent in a given territory, market or for specific accounts. They profit by leveraging their time so that sales for multiple manufacturers can be made with the same customer, often on the same call.

Why sell through professional Multi-Line Field Sales Companies?

1. Predictable Sales Costs That Go Up And Down With Sales -- The manufacturer and sales agency agree in advance on a set rate of commission and the agency pays all selling expenses.
2. Lower Sales Costs -- It is estimated that today’s average industrial factory direct salesperson costs $150,000 per year. Producing $2,000,000 in new sales each year, the cost of sales would be 7.5%. A field sales agency producing the same volume at a 5% commission rate would cost only $100,000.
3. Increased Sales -- The average factory-direct salesperson is in a territory for two years or less before he or she is promoted, transferred or defects to a competitor for more money. The multi-line sales agency has a lifetime commitment to the territory, thus holding better relationships with the customers.
4. Immediate Access To The Market -- Sales agencies are an experienced sales team already in the territory. They are familiar with the area and have good prospects ready to consider the new line. Many agencies have multiple sales personnel and provide much deeper coverage than a single direct sales employee. Small, single-person agencies can provide excellent coverage in many niche markets.