Sales Automation
- Belmont is fully integrated with SalesForce.
- We integrate our ERP system into SalesForce giving our team access to sales information on their mobile devices.
- Contact Management / Global Contact Updates.
- Opportunity / Pipeline Development / Target Development
- Industry Focus by User
- Detailed Reporting
Cost of Sales Efforts
Sales costs are directly tied to sales volume. Since a rep is only paid commission on products sold, there are no fixed costs of salary, fringe benefits, travel, or other sales expenses. If sales volume decreases, commissions also go down. Although the cost of a sales call varies widely from industry to industry, information from the Manufacturers' Representative Educational Research Foundation (MRERF) indicates that the estimated cost of an individual sales call for a sales employee might range from $250-$500 per call. This cost includes salary/commission, fringe benefits, other sales costs, and overhead. For a rep sales team, these costs are paid by the rep organization.
Long-Term Personal Relationships / Continuity
These are a key to the success of any business. Individual reps normally work in a smaller geographical territory than a sales employee. Since a manufacturers' rep owns his business and lives in his territory, his personal relationships are built over decades. Sales employees turn over much more often due to promotions, resignations or terminations, and for many other reasons.
Proximity
Since a rep lives in the compact territory he covers, a contact for service to customers is close by. When an architect or engineer or a buying customer re¬ quests an office or job-site visit by a representative of the manufacturer, a rep can often make the visit within a few hours. Since a sales employee normally covers large geographic territories, his office may be a number of states away from the customer, so a personal visit to handle a service problem or discuss an important order normally takes longer.
Preparation and Industry-Specific Expertise
A rep is a trained sales professional. Even if a rep is relatively new, he likely has some past sales experience. He may already have been trained as an employee of a manufacturer. A manufacturer has modest or no expenses for sales expertise, beyondspecific product demonstration.
Overlapping Sales Opportunities
The multiple lines handled by a manufacturers' rep allow a rep to operate his business with the lowest possible selling costs per line represented. A visit to a customer to sell or service a product of one particular manufacturer can lead to a sale or a sales lead for one or a number of other manufacturers the rep is representing. This synergism between lines leads to increased sales opportunities for all manufacturers represented.
Market Intelligence
Because a rep operates in his geographical territory for decades, he has a broad range of contacts both directly associated with the manufacturers he represents as well as with other businesses and friends. A rep is well-positioned to provide his manufacturers feedback about new product opportunities, marketing programs, competitive information, etc.
Continuity of Relationship and Coverage
Most reps operate with some type of succession plan with other employees. This assures a manufacturer of continuity of business relationships and territory coverage over decades.
