It depends on the circumstances and what you are trying to achieve. Considerations include:
- What agents or distributors there are with access to your target customers.
- What your existing operations are and how the new intermediary can fit with them. For example, if you want to keep an existing sales operation, you will need an intermediary who is happy to work alongside that.
- What rights and responsibilities you want to be included in your agreement with the intermediary.
- How closely you want to be involved in the sales process. It can be easier to have more control over how an agent handles sales.
- What type of relationship you want to have with the end user. Using a distributor may distance you from the ultimate customer.>/li>
Agents are often preferable for making high value, complex sales. You will also need to use an agent if you want to sell a service which you must deliver. Distributors, such as wholesalers, are often used for making lower value sales of relatively straightforward products.
