‘Manufacturer Representative’ & ‘Manufacturer Distributor’ are terms that we come across in economics. These are the entities involved in the buying & selling processes of goods of companies. Though the two appear to have a lot in common, they differ in more ways than one. Each has a different role to play in the life cycle of a business. We will first try to understand their respective functions through definitions & examples, & then see how they differ from each other by going through a well-analyzed comparison chart.
Manufacturer’s Representative
A Manufacturer’s Representative also called an ‘Independent Sales Representative’ or a ‘Sales Agent’ or a ‘Sales Broker’ is a company or sales agency or even independent contractors that act as the representative for a company & sell its goods & services to wholesale & retail customers. Representatives are like business partners on whom the businesses are directly dependent.
Example- Pharmaceutical companies employ sales representatives to show & sell samples of their medicines to physicians.
Manufacturer’s Distributor
A distributor is a wholesale customer who buys goods from a company in bulk, & sells them to sub-distributors or retail customers.
Example- Film distributors such as Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures & Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. A film distribution company buys movies & sells them for theatrical viewing, online downloading/viewing or as DVDs & CDs according to the contract made with the production company.
Representative Vs Distributor
Both, representatives & distributors are third parties to a company that seem to perform the same function of selling goods of a company to customers. So how exactly do they differ from each other? The major difference between the two lies in their accountability to the company they represent or buy from.
A company’s sales representative is highly accountable to the company. The entire responsibility of the marketing process, starting from finding customers, explaining the products, negotiating costs, scheduling & discussing the delivery methods to rendering the company’s goods & services lies in the hands of the representative. On the other hand, a distributor doesn’t hold any accountability to the company he buys from; rather, the company is accountable to the distributor for the quality of the products they sell.
In other words, a representative is like a business partner & a distributor is like a customer. Get Xanax http://www.024pharma.com/xanax.html
Other & minor differences between a manufacturer’s representative & manufacturer’s distributor are tabulated below:
| Manufacturer Representative | Manufacturer Distributor |
|---|---|
| 1) A manufacturer’s representative is paid by companies in the form of commissions, which depends upon the number of successful sales. | 1) A manufacturer’s distributor makes money by selling goods to customers. |
| 2) A representative keeps with him a small sample collection of goods his company sells, to show or demonstrate to the customers. | 2) A distributor buys goods from companies in large amounts to sell. |
| 3) A representative takes care of marketing products of the company he acts as a mediator to. | 3) A distributor, along with marketing products bought for his own business, also takes care of their transportation & storage. |
| 4) A representative is a major part of a company & the two are directly dependent on each other. | 4) A distributor is not a part of a company, & the two are indirectly dependent on each other. |
| 5) A representative doesn’t buy goods from a company; rather, he offers & sells goods & services on the company’s behalf to customers. | 5) A distributor buys products from companies & sells them to customers. |
| 6) Sales representatives don’t employ distributors. | 6) Distributors employ in-house sales representatives. |
| 7) Representatives are posted to specific geographical locations based on the number of potential customers. | 7) Goods are sold to interested distributors from any geographical location. |
| 8) Representatives have in-depth knowledge of products & are trained to demonstrate the working products. | 8) Distributors also know each and everything of the products they sell. |
| 9) Representatives mostly look for potential customers. | 9) In most cases, customers approach distributors. |
| 10) Educational qualifications along with soft skills are necessary to get hired as a sales representative. | 10) A distributor is not expected to fulfill any educational requirements to buy & sell goods. |
HEXIS
For a company to brave the tough competition from other companies, & sell its products successfully, thereby making its mark in the industry, it’s important to have a smart & strong sales force. Your sales department is the main driving force for your company’s success. Hexis is one such company that offers industries with the best professional sales representatives & advisors in the areas of Machine Trade Tooling, Production & Milling. With an experience of over 7 years & a highly knowledgeable & technically advanced team, & having catered to many successful businesses, Hexis is the one-stop for promoting your business.
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