What’s More Effective: Hiring an Internal Sales Team or working with a Sales Agency?

You can have a fantastic product line that everyone loves.  But without sales, you’re dead in the water!

Brands and wholesalers need to have a sales force to promote their products to retailers most likely to buy your products for their stores to be successful.

But the question always is:  Should I hire my in-house salespeople or a team of independent sales reps? Or a mix of both strategies?

There are pros and cons to each sales strategy.  Here are some ideas to consider below.

Best Reasons To Work With Sales Representatives:

1. Lower Costs – With Independent Sales Reps, you are paying for performance - only when they make a sale do you have to pay them a commission. Forget about expenses on the road, in the office, and/or any showroom expenses – that’s your rep’s responsibility!
2. You Get A Lot Of Bang For Your Buck - Independent sales representatives tend to be experienced and successful. They also tend to get better sales results than an in-house sales force might. Why? Because they usually have long and successful career backgrounds that include sales experience with large, national firms. So even if you are a small startup firm, you can hire the best and most experienced sales pros!
3. You Can Learn A Lot From Them – Good experienced sales reps can keep your company abreast of what’s happening with your competitors and your industry. Then, based on customer feedback, they can suggest better packaging, labeling, design, more effective sales materials, and even pricing for your product line.
4. Less Time Management For You - Independent sales representatives are usually more experienced than in-house sales teams and need less management and direction. If you hire them, you will be less likely to need a sales manager, and they will probably take much less of your time than in-house representatives.
5. Longevity - Well-established representatives will be around forever. They aren’t likely to disappear after a few hard months on the road like so many entry-level salespeople do. Of course, you'll need to keep them motivated to sell your line…but that’s another story!
6. Provide a Broader Sales Context for your Products - Sales representatives sell several related but non-competing product lines, and the agent can expose you to a variety of prospects and customers. So they often find applications for your products, which the single-line salesperson would miss.
7. Confidence – A good sales rep team will sell your products to the right stores for each market. That’s because they are already familiar with the territory.
8. The ‘Halo’ Effect – Retailers love working with their favorite sales reps. Their reps save them a lot of time and can be instrumental in making them a lot of money! If you choose one of these favored rep groups to work with, their rep will predispose her customers to like your products from the start.

Best Reasons To Have Your Own Dedicated Sales Team

1. More Control – You’ll have total control over your salespeople’s time and how they spend their days at work. You can also train them more precisely how you’d like them to sell your products and move potential clients down the sales funnel.
2. Devoted To Your Products – Your sales team will only pitch your products. This means all of their efforts go towards reaching new customers, growing their share of wallet with existing customers, and closing more sales for your company.
3. Working With Key Accounts – These are large regional or national retailers. Your dedicated sales guy or gal will be able to focus as much time as needed to crack these challenging, but highly lucrative accounts. This will give them the flexibility and resources to “land” these key accounts.
4. Long-term brand strategy – Your salespeople will be aligned with your long-term strategic plan. You can incentivize your salespeople to drive sales in the short term and build the foundation for long-term success.

Whichever Way You Go, MarketTime Has The Industry-Leading B2B Software Solution For Your Sales Team!

MarketTime is an all-in-one integrated, trusted, and secure platform that works equally well for in-house sales teams and rep sales agencies.  Here are some benefits of using this SaaS solution for your sales team:

• Host your branded B2B eCommerce website, showcasing all your lines, and enabling single-cart checkout (even when selling multiple lines) for your approved retail buyers.
• Easily write multi-line orders using the MarketTime mobile app, available on iPad/iPhone and Android devices.
• Manufacturers and brands can manage all their product data and images in one convenient place. Approved sales agencies then use that data to work with and sell to their customers anywhere – whether on the road, in their showroom, or at their office.
• Detailed order status tracking helps keep buyers, salespeople, agencies, and brands all on the same page.
• Robust commission tracking and reconciliation tools will keep your sales staff up-to-date and happy!

MarketTime is the technology platform for B2B sales organizations - providing commerce solutions that unite retailers, brands, and sales teams. MarketTime's solutions are the only fully integrated cloud-based applications available to stakeholders anywhere and anytime that fulfill three key needs: making product discovery and ordering easier for buyers; making organizing and sharing information intuitive and secure for sellers; and saving time and money for all ecosystem participants. The company facilitates over $5 billion in orders annually for more than 300,000 retailers, with 350 sales agencies, 7,000 sales representatives, and 6,500 brands utilizing the platform. So if you want your in-house sales team or sales rep group to have the best tools available, check out what MarketTime can do for you now!