What a great independent sales rep looks like!

I hit the jackpot on one of my first attempts to hire a sales rep. Because I'm a new product with no track record, he offered to show it to a few of his stores. Today he spent a half hour on the phone with me, relating the objections and questions from the retailers he showed it to. This information is gold to me! If I don't know the reasons behind the "no" (or even maybe) I'm in the dark. But now I can make changes based on the information he passed on me.

Before I started looking for sales reps*, I thought all I'd want is someone who'd say "Yes. I'll represent your product!" My fantasy is that they'd go away and the orders would start pouring in without any further contact. It sounds kind of like my 8-year-old vision of dating based Barbie and Ken dolls. Now, I see that a rep who is willing to engage in the conversation about the obstacles to selling my product is the jackpot!

* An independent sales rep is the person who shows products to stores and gets orders, usually for a commission on the total cost of the order.