I have been in numerous prospect and client meetings over the last 4.5 years, and I am often asked, “What is the difference between a sales agent vs dedicated sales that VA Partners offers?”
On the surface of it, it may not seem like there is a big difference, but once you dive under the covers a bit – there is more and here is how I answer this:
A sales agent is an individual that will normally work on 100% commission and will represent your product/service in a territory. They will do this on a part-time or full-time basis and they may have more than one product in their portfolio, many of which are similar. An agent will typically represent the product through his or her own company and their rolodex of business is exactly that, their rolodex of business. Agents, because of the nature of their business, may not be as engaged or motivated to always push your product/service as they could have items that are selling with less work, quicker or could be more lucrative.
VA Partners provides sales strategy and Part-Time Sales Rep assistance for a client. We have a portfolio of clients we work with but that is where the similarities with an Agent end. We white-label ourselves and become a seamless and dedicated extension of our clients sales team. In the majority of cases, we will have a client email and business card set up for us and work on a per day fee and commission basis. One of the biggest differentiators we bring is that when we build a clients sales funnel or database, it is for them, not for ourselves. We populate their database, encourage them to come to key meetings and genuinely act as an internal resource. Our end goal is to build their book of business, build their database of qualified contacts and opportunities and ideally get them to a point of revenue where they can hire a full-time sales rep resource.
I have to be honest, I am biased and favour our model vs a sales agent model. The reason, I think, especially for business to business sales for companies that don’t have a long history of sales success in other markets, a dedicated and focused sales effort is required. One which helps to develop the companies brand, mindshare and database of clients. I find there to be great risk in losing touch with your customer base by “agenting out” your sales. This lack of customer ownership to me poses great challenges especially for sustained and long-term growth as the client does not have a relationship with you the company – only the product via the agent. Early on in a company’s growth in particular, you need to know your clients, really understand how your project is used, solve their business pain and they need to know you. This relationship is really the platform for long-term sales success.
To learn more about our sales services, click here.
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