Ronald Bannon, a certified management consultant, shares strategies for selecting effective sales representatives in foreign markets, emphasizing the importance of understanding local distribution systems. He advises on approaches for recruitment, validation of potential representatives, and the establishment of clear expectations and agreements. Additionally, he highlights the need for legal protection of brand and intellectual property during international business ventures.

1. This text is the sole property of Ronald Bannon – All rights reserved © 2015
Ronald Bannon is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) since 1997 and
involved in international sales & marketing of innovative products and
solutions since 1984. He carries out a long experience on how doing business
abroad and promoting innovative products and services in markets where
often Canadians have never showed up. In 2014, he was appointed Fellow for
its contribution to promote the CMC designation and his excellent reputation.
Globalizing your business
Chapter 5 - How to select a good sales rep abroad?
By Ronald Bannon MBA, C. Adm., FCMC
Quebec, Canada, September 28th 2015
In this series of chronicles on international market development, we have previously presented distribution
as the third major barrier in the ability to establish a successful marketing strategy in a foreign market. Our
experience shows us that it is better to understand the distribution system and channels before offering your
product/solution in a given market after committing yourself in the same country with an approach that does
not promote optimal coverage.
In order to familiarize with the local methods of delivery of goods and services, we should first attend trade
fairs as visitors on markets in which you would select to offer your products/solutions.
In this article, we will propose different approaches to recruit foreign sales representatives, once you have
identified in which foreign markets you wish to develop your business. Our experience shows us, in such
circumstances, that it is best to start by targeting customers with whom you wish to establish business
relationships rather than trying to immediately find sales representative to open doors. This last way of doing
business has given us headaches most of the time.
Many potential business customers are already served by existing agencies or individuals who have credibility
within these organizations. If you must offer technical support, these enterprises often have an accreditation
process for suppliers with whom methods of operation have already been developed on the basis of contract
envisaging of interventions on calls or according to agreements for preventive maintenance with established
visits planned in advance. Thus while asking these establishments with which they do business, you will
obtain names which you will be able to contact your own way at the time of a forthcoming travel.
However, if this solution is not possible for various reasons, we recommend to you to ask for assistance at
the embassies and consulates of Canada or at the delegations of Quebec, where they are accessible,
according to the geographical locality of your future customers. To validate information thus obtained, we
also recommend you to look for the targeted sales agency or representative with whom you wish to
compromise on social networks like linkedIn or Viadeo to get to know the extent of their network and the
level of their activities.

2. This text is the sole property of Ronald Bannon – All rights reserved © 2015
Before recruiting the wanted representatives, here a list of good business practices we recommend you to
set up with the aim of developing harmonious relations directed towards your needs. These are simple
practices that require an investment of time and money from both sides:
1. Draw up a clear description of your expectations both quantitative and qualitative;
2. Determine the various ways of remuneration possible according to the objectives to be reached;
3. Validate the fields of competence and declared knowledge;
4. Ask for references of represented business and how many have they served;
5. If possible, Make contact with these businesses to verify if they are satisfied with the done favours
and for how long have they known your future representative(s);
6. Require a draft of a marketing plan over a period of 12 to 24 months with a list of actions which
could be put in place during this period;
7. Validate the candidatures that you will have retained by the commercial attaches of the
embassies/consulates of Canada or the delegations of Quebec present on the targeted territories, to
reduce your risk and to avoid being ripped off. It is sometimes difficult in some countries to obtain
reliable information from foreign institutions.
Once you have selected representatives, we believe that it would be best if they come to meet you in Quebec
or Canada in order to understand your activities, your products and services, your policy of warranty and
support towards your customers, your organisational culture and finally your expectations according to the
level of investment which will be considered. Our experience shows us that it is very difficult to require
results from representatives who do not know your organization and your values. Moreover, the evolution of
your business relationship will depend much on your level of implication in the capacity of rendering the
competitive advantages of your products and services and the level of support which you will provide based
on your availability.
Finally, we recommend to you to write an agreement in which your expectations will be clearly established
according to the services which will be returned by the individuals or the organizations of which you will
retain the services. A breaking-in period and a date of termination before contract expiration is to be
envisaged if you believe that your goals will not be achieved as well as a date of renewal if you are satisfied
with done favours. We point out that the value of these agreements rests on good faith insofar as you are
able to enforce them. To ensure you of the conformity and the legality of those, we strongly recommend to
you to consult a legal advisor (lawyer, notary, etc.). Please also make sure to protect your brand names and
other intellectual properties to prevent they don’t fall between the hands of other representatives or
dishonest persons.
Next chronicle: In which conditions you should move your business abroad?
Ronald Bannon, MBA, C.Adm., FCMC,
International Senior Trade Advisor - Développement PME International (DPMEI)