Selling Someone Else's Product or Service

 It's not an uncommon way of selling. Dealerships that is. Networking perhaps, brokers to others. Regardless of what you want to call it, the bottom line is, you're selling someone else's product or service. You do the advertising, you get the orders and you sell, collecting a commission on the sale. There's multiple ways of doing it.

Disregarding whether some are good or bad for a moment, the "dealer" is at the whim of the "source." When the "source" goes bad - everything crumbles right below him/her. And that means you! Your reputation, your customer loss, your business integrity and your piece of mind.

The "source" has an obligation to the dealer. To be upfront, honest with the product/service, keep him posted on changes and aware of new policys and procedures. Remember, the "dealer" is spending time, money and effort trying to sell the "source's wares."

The SOURCE also has an obligation to him/herself personally; to not let things get out of control and to seek help when it's desparately needed. The unfortunate part about this idea is that GREED usually has the upper hand. Calling in help and having to pay for it is not what the doctor ordered. Heck, that cuts into profits!

A going trend on the Net is a continuation of what's been done in other areas for years; mailorder, MLM and the others. The "source" produces a product/service and gets "dealers" to sell it. Business as usual. I've even noticed some mailorder dealerships making their way to the Net. Some are a problem, others are not.

Whether you're on the Net or doing direct mail however, the inherent problems facing the successful are still there. And many of them are going to be a disaster to your company, as you "the dealer." You see, and speaking in general terms, it is NOT UNCOMMON for the SOURCE to be great at developing a product or service or even getting in at ground floor through a contact. But, on the other hand.....

It is also NOT UNCOMMON for many sources to totally mismanage the whole thing. And when this happens, it's called "biting off more than he can chew," or simply "my source is in over his head." Disaster soon follows for everyone over the ensuing months. But the disaster coming usually has some noteworthy trends that will accompany it.

My own experience after years of "brokering" and setting up my own dealerships has given rise to one thing. A belief that as I mentioned before, "people are people." If you don't know much about them, you won't sell a thing. If you're semi-good at "reading them" - you have chance of survival in the business world.

Your "source" is human and when there's problems brewing, you're probably going to see some tell tale signs. Barring the experienced con man type, the bull artist, or the guy who can sell snow to Eskimos, there's some general things you might want to watch out for. Also, we're discounting "he's having a bad day" type stuff for your source too.

Based upon your already existing experiences with a company, it's employees and it's products, look for little things of human nature that may be a clue that your suspicions were right. I'm going to tell you this: GO WITH YOUR GUT FEELING! LOOK FOR YES, NONE OTHER THAN .........CHANGE!

Altered stories of personnel: Your product is delayed or not sent and your calls to the "source" reflect inconsistent stories as to why. Remember, most people CANNOT lie consistently. The same person can't tell the same lie extensively for the most part. Mix in a few employees and they are bound to "botch it up."

Changes in personality: The man or woman you have been dealing with for so long appears to be "short" with you now. Lack of general conversing that existed. Lack of interest in what you're saying. Change in attitudes about some areas. Bashing of customers and business in general. Your "source" may start blaming the customer for all of his woes recently.

Never done before.

No call backs/avoidance: Avoiding the dealer is the easiest thing to do and is done first. Some sort of panic is present at the company and they have no answers. The last thing they need is trying to answer your question. What started out to be timely call backs to you or emails now has turned to total neglect or "stalling" type callbacks that just prolong the situation. You have to remember, they are "getting a story together," and they will not call back until they are satisfied with it. I might add here that this is the perfect time to get in the door and ask questions - this is the time when inconsistencies start brewing.

Product/Service "excuses:" All of a sudden the product that has always been available is not this mont h. Someone back at the "plant" screwed up. It's always someone else's doing that things aren't going smoothly. Watch this closely, since an occasional foul up is always possible. Products/Services that start to have a pattern of not being available spell trouble. See if your source is now at the "excuse" level.

Major fire, burglary stories: Very, very common and a good out. So, make inquiries into "oh, how terrible, was it a big loss?" If you find out it was, then any businessman with half of brain reported it to fire or police. So? Call and check if they did. Follow closely over the next couple of weeks as to whether they "bounce back" or "clues" start showing.

There are exceptions to all the rules. But humans are consistent in many areas when they are subjected to stressful situations. Whether you're on the Net, MLM or mailorder, as a "dealer" you need to resolve quickly and effectively the answer to the question of "Captain, why is this ship listing to one side?" Especially when it's never done it before! Remember, your customers are going to want answers from you, the dealer, and you better be ready to give it to them. If they think you're lying to them .....your days of selling anything anymore are very limited....

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WANT MORE? Ryanna's Hope has authored 7 booklets and over 30 articles about the home business arena. You can get more at their website at http://conk.com/world/rypublish.