This is the week of witches and goblins, also the last week before we move our clocks back. The other thing I’ve noticed about the last few weeks and expect this week to be the same is that people are back and working at full throttle. Principals are active, reps are more responsive than they’ve […]

It’s October, the weather all over the country is changing. NFL is in midstream and the World Series is just starting. It really feels a lot like normal again. I can tell you this, the Independent Rep world is taking these next few months very seriously as are many Principals, attempting to really get ahead […]

It’s the middle of September. Summer is over, sports are back, we are as close to normal as we’ve been in a while. Reps are back making live sales calls in many cases. Manufacturers are ramping up production, and we are even seeing some “open to buy” dollars showing up at retail for the holiday […]

Sports are coming back, restaurants are beginning to re-open and most businesses are back in operation. In many cases masks are required yet we are out of our homes. In the Independent Rep Industry there is no doubt things are beginning to pick up. Reps looking for new lines, Principals looking to expand their rep […]

The July 4th holiday traditionally represents a bit of a slow down in the Independent Rep Industry–aka “Dog Days of Summer”. Manufacturing pulls back a bit, retailers are busy closing out Spring/Summer inventory before Fall shipments come in, families are taking vacations. That is in a traditional year. 2020 has been far from traditional. Our […]

June is upon us. So much has happened, been written about and over analyzed in the first five months of 2020. I believe it is definitely time to focus on making the rest of 2020 a success, or at least make it more positive than negative. Buyers/Decision makers in all industries are active and looking […]

The independent rep world is slowly getting back to normal. There are some significant changes, in that many reps still cannot make live sales calls. They need to rely on phone, email and text to communicate with the decision makers. Yet contact rates are increasing, reps are searching for new lines and principals are searching […]

It seems like we have been under this spell for much longer that it has actually been. The Independent Rep world has definitely changed. Can’t make live calls, so its almost like we have gone back in time where the phone is the best tool … and the email. So reps with connections can make […]

The US is now over 3 weeks into the Coronavirus outbreak. Plenty of information on how this is affecting our individual and personal lives, yet how is it affecting the Independent Rep Industry? Since we talk with hundreds of reps and principals every week, we are seeing some definite trends taking place. There are many […]

The question of selling into Big Box accounts for the first time is one of the most frequent questions which comes up. It’s a pretty simple answer yet has several components to it. Many, many reps and rep agencies have great connections with category buyers at Big Box accounts. To find reps who can get […]