You are launching a new lighting brand and you need to build your sales network. What agency is the right fit?
There are a number of factors to weigh when evaluating agency partners.
First let’s talk about how lighting agencies are structured when it comes to choosing the manufacturers they represent.
With the consolidation in the lighting industry over the last number of years each market normally has one agency representing each of the four major conglomerates.
Those agencies then add independent lighting manufacturers’ products to offer them additional options to offer their clients or to fill a void in what they offer.
The major conglomerate agencies can offer lighting projects A-Z.
There are also lighting agencies that may specialize in a particular customer base or market. For example some specialty agencies may represent only decorative lighting or industrial type lighting. They may only market and sell to lighting showrooms or electrical distributors.
With lighting agencies representing anywhere from 50-150 different lighting manufacturers how do you find the right one to represent your products?
The trick is to find a balance between getting mindshare amongst the sales team of the agency and finding an agency partner big enough to generate the volume you need.
For example you could simply choose to partner with the largest lighting agency in a market but if your products are just one of many similar products they represent they may not promote your products.
If on the other hand you partner with a smaller sales agency they may promote your products but may not be big enough to actually close the project when it goes to bid.*
*We will discuss “packaging “ in a future post
The skill is finding a lighting agency that is large enough to be involved in a majority of projects, calls on the right customer base for your products and is excited enough about what you offer to actively go out and promote your products.
There is also a second balancing act that needs to happen. In most cases the lighting agent you pick will have other manufacturers that they represent that make similar products to yours. If they represent similar products there is a good chance that they are calling on and have relationships with your target customers.
The balancing act is that the lighting agent you choose has enough similar products so that it is clear that they are calling on your target customer base but not so many similar products that your product gets lost within their product offering.
I hope this helps and Happy Selling.
Tim
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