Agent
From Supply Chain Management Encyclopedia
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Russian: [http://ru.scm.gsom.spbu.ru/Агент Агент]''' | '''Russian: [http://ru.scm.gsom.spbu.ru/Агент Агент]''' | ||
- | Agent is a person or business authorized to act on another's behalf. To understand better the dissimilarities between Agent and Principal (while these dissimilarities are considered as negligible in USA) one could use the following check-list <ref> Auerbach, R. Am I an agent or a distributor? - www.marketnewzealand.com/auerbach -accessed 01/27/2007 </ref>. | + | Agent is a person or business authorized to act on another's behalf. To understand better the dissimilarities between Agent and Principal (while these dissimilarities are considered as negligible in USA) one could use the following check-list <ref> Auerbach, R. Am I an agent or a distributor? - www.marketnewzealand.com/auerbach -accessed 01/27/2007 </ref> (Table 1). An agent is usually a small firm or an individual located in the importing country who acts as a manufacturer's (seller's) representative for the exporter. Therefore an agent does not take title to the goods it sells but earns a commission on the sales it makes. In its relationship with an agent, the exporter is known as the Principal. An agent often has several principals and generally sells a group of complementary products rather than products that compete directly with one another. The agent will handle all of the sales functions for the exporter, from the initial prospecting for customers to the close. The agent is usually given varying support by the exporter: Some exporters provide only the bare minimum of a sales brochure and a price list, while the more experienced exporters provide training on the product's characteristics, analysis on the competitors' products, information on the sales and service philosophy of the company, sales support in the form of samples, catalogs (translated or adapted), trade advertising, and financial support to attend trade shows, technical visits by corporate engineers, participation in sales incentive programs, and so on <ref> David, P., Stewart, R. International Logistics: The Management of International Trade Operations - Thomson: Mason, Ohio. 2007. – Sec.4-3a. </ref>. |
==Table 1. Who am I? - Check-List== | ==Table 1. Who am I? - Check-List== |
Revision as of 00:38, 10 July 2012
Russian: Агент
Agent is a person or business authorized to act on another's behalf. To understand better the dissimilarities between Agent and Principal (while these dissimilarities are considered as negligible in USA) one could use the following check-list [1] (Table 1). An agent is usually a small firm or an individual located in the importing country who acts as a manufacturer's (seller's) representative for the exporter. Therefore an agent does not take title to the goods it sells but earns a commission on the sales it makes. In its relationship with an agent, the exporter is known as the Principal. An agent often has several principals and generally sells a group of complementary products rather than products that compete directly with one another. The agent will handle all of the sales functions for the exporter, from the initial prospecting for customers to the close. The agent is usually given varying support by the exporter: Some exporters provide only the bare minimum of a sales brochure and a price list, while the more experienced exporters provide training on the product's characteristics, analysis on the competitors' products, information on the sales and service philosophy of the company, sales support in the form of samples, catalogs (translated or adapted), trade advertising, and financial support to attend trade shows, technical visits by corporate engineers, participation in sales incentive programs, and so on [2].
Table 1. Who am I? - Check-List
Comparative Factors | I am Supplyer’s Distributor if….. | I am Principal’s Agent if….. |
Risk |
|
|
Customers Belongingness |
|
|
Compensation |
|
|
Sales Amount Information |
|
|
Pricing Policy |
|
|
Sales Policy |
|
|
Authority |
|
|
Customer's Perception |
|
|
Contacts wits Customers |
|
|
Non-Payment |
|
|
Ad and Promo Costs |
|
|
Ad and Promo Costs |
|
|