SALES, SALES REPS, AND ORDERS

In order to get orders, you must have someone or some site or place selling your product. You can attempt to get sales yourself. You can post your designs on social media, or take your items to stores in your area, or even get your samples together and exhibit at a trade show. However, very few succeed at selling large amounts via social media or by calling on stores directly; and trade shows are costly endeavors and rarely economically successful for first-time exhibitors. Therefore it is wiser to start with a Sales Rep. You can start contacting sales representatives that sell similar merchandise and lines to yours or who work with the same types of retailers that you foresee your item line selling at. A good sales rep will sell your item, along with all the others that they rep, at trade shows and/or out of their showroom (showroom rep) or they’ll drive it around to stores and buyers, along with other lines in their car (road rep). These sales reps have existing relationships with stores. Buyers want to give them orders and they are much more adept at getting many buyers to look at your line, whereas you may not even be able to get in direct contact with one, even after repeated calls and emails.  There is a list of Independent Sales Representatives and Multi-Line Showrooms that includes reps from all over the country and lists what lines they currently rep, what types of retailers they sell to, and so forth. 

One additional benefit of having a sales rep is that they deliver feedback they receive from a variety buyers to you. It is helpful to hear what many customers feel about your merchandise or line. With customer feedback, you can revise, improve, and enhance your product line, so ultimately it will sell more and be more profitable.

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