With 2017 quickly coming to a close, companies are looking at their infrastructure and deciding how they want to enter 2018 in order to meet or exceed their sales goals.

It’s common in the building products industry, both commercial and residential, for companies to have a go-to-market strategy with either independent agents, direct salespeople, or a combination of both. With the companies we deal with, we’re realizing that even the smaller ones need to make the transition from independent agents to direct salespeople in a lot of markets across the country.

“Independent agents don’t fully represent your product.”

There will obviously be smaller markets where it makes more sense to have independent agents because there is a fixed cost with direct salespeople that you don’t have with independent agents—you only pay them if they sell your product. However, the downside is they don’t fully represent your product specifically in the marketplace. Your time is split between the other products they sell.

A lot of companies are looking at the major markets, but they’re also bringing their focus down into the B-level markets where they’re transitioning from independent agents to direct salespeople in order to have a bigger and stronger breakthrough in that marketplace. They believe the growth in sales in those markets will heavily outweigh the small fixed costs involved.

If you have any more questions about this topic or you’d like to discuss it further, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to speak with you.