Getting Help from a Manufacturer’s Rep
Why do you need a manufacturers rep to help you get your foot in the door? Your immediate instinct might be to contact the HSN by yourself, but you have to understand the sheer volume of both established companies and startups waiting for the chance to make their pitch. In addition, you are likely already busy with a number of other tasks, making it far too inconvenient for you to manage negotiations with the network. A manufacturers rep is someone who has already established a relationship with HSN, and they will work to get you in the door while allowing you to continue with business as usual. Even if you are intent on not outsourcing parts of your business, this is one area for which you will want to seek outside help.
Finding a good manufacturers rep to handle your business is not always easy, nor should it be. The reason companies like HSN and QVC are at the top of their market is that they only market the best products. It is up to you to prove that your product is the best of its type, and to do so, you need to find a manufacturers rep who already has the ties with the networks. Let’s face it, anyone can claim to be a manufacturers rep. You might pay them, and you might trust them with your confidential information, but at the end of the day, what can they give you in the way of results? THAT is the question you need to ask, and THAT is what matters.
Before you hire any manufacturers rep, make sure you shop around and ask others who might have used them. What is the broker’s reputation? How efficient were they? How quickly can you expect results? When you are trying to find a rep, you might find yourself in a hurry, and you might be tempted to hire the first person you come across. You can be rest assured that this is NOT the correct way to handle your business.