Do I Really Need to Give Product Samples to Reps?

Depending on what you are manufacturing you probably need to give a good sampling of products to your sales reps that will be on the road. It may help to look at what tools your competitors are selling with and how they are doing currently with those tools.

If you are showing at market, discuss the amount of room you have to show and what is best to show in that space. Think best sellers. Think anything new. 

Sales reps generally do not want to lug around a bunch of samples. However, they do want the newest, latest, greatest products to show. If that means sales sheets, catalogs, samples, you need to determine this. If you are lucky, you may friend some sales reps who give you good advice in this area. It is always much better to be perceived as being generous with your samples versus being stingy. If you are perceived as being too tight fisted, you actually might cut off communication from sales reps and customers that could potentially be big orders!

It is important to arm sales reps with whatever you can before they go to market. EDUCATE them with emails or letters directly to them. Once they get to market every other company will be trying to get their attention. If you can, consider Early Bird Specials before market for businesses that make appointments or place orders before market begins. If they order prior to market, allow them to continue at the Early Bird Rate when they get to market. Naturally, have a market special also.

If you do not show at market you definitely need to look at show dates anyway! It is even more important to be creative and get your "NO MARKET" specials out well before the show dates. Consider it a market before market. If you do not do this, those dollars will be spent on items shown at market.

In general, do not give one of everything you have to sell. Reps need best sellers. If those come in various patterns/colors, choose one pattern per style. Personally, I would get together a group of people in your home town to help choose the samples. Do not just do this yourself! Have a varied age and ethnicity group to choose. Best of luck to you!

What about "Market"?

There is no one aspect of promoting a product line that is the end-all.  Having your product represented by a showroom with sales representatives who are engaged with your product is definitely a plus but you cannot rest on that. Manufacturers (or wholesalers) need to offer tools, incentives and communication on a regular basis to be truly successful.


At the very minimum, your rep group needs a catalog, price list, and samples of your best sellers. This needs to be sent two weeks to a month prior to each major show to the showroom. Rep Group owners will work hard 6 weeks out before a show to freshen the displays and update the lines. Sending it late means that your new items will not get to be studied and learned as well as ones that come in on time.

Make a checklist and pull it out before each market. It is up to you to make sure these things are current. After all, this is your product line.

1. Good supply of catalogs in showroom?
2. New digital files for computer pricing?
3. Current product samples for floor displays
4. What about a Show Special?

The sales representative team usually arrives a few days prior to the start of a market. Ideally, they will spend this time studying your updates, offers and new products.  If your line is new they will ask questions that they feel will be asked of them. If you have a FAQ sheet to help them learn to sell you line with questions retailers may ask and the special features/qualities of your products, make sure they are armed with this information.

Paying a Market Showroom to display your line definitely can be a boost to your bottom line over time. Look at it as your sales staff who have a presence year-round for you. You pay Showroom Fees and you pay a percentage of sales. If both the showroom and the sales representative are always "armed" with fresh materials, you will get the best coverage possible.