NVA Field Agents

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Lindsayt
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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by Lindsayt »

This is one of those situations where it's largely a case of letting the product speak for itself.

If the customer likes what it does for the price then that's the motivation for them to buy.

It wouldn't matter much, if at all what sort of previous history the agent had with NVA. The main thing would be that the agent came over as professional, friendly, positive, trustworthy and that he turned up for appointments on time.
An understanding of how people tick and how they are influenced into buying things wouldn't go amiss. The sorts of things covered in books like The Persuaders by James Garvey.

Posting out equipment for each appointment would pretty soon run into big postage costs, not to mention a huge drain on savvypaul's and the agent's time.

The 45% discount on the price of the demo stock for the agent is at a loss leader price for NVA. And at a price, where should the agent ever decide not to continue they'd have a good chance of ebaying their demo stock for a small profit or minimal loss.

There will inevitably be some unknowns in this process. Of the 5 to 6 visits per month, how many will turn into sales? 10%? 20%? 5%?
What would be the average value per sale? My ballpark estimate in round figures is £1000. (??)

Then from there we can estimate about 6 hours per visit, including travel time. Minus the £``100 per month advertising costs.
We're not looking at something that will make someone rich within a year.
It may even pay less per hour than flipping burgers at McD's. Making it more of a hobby that brings in some money.
It is one of those things where the longer the agent sticks at it, the higher their income per hour would be.

The process of visiting people's homes and meeting them, connecting equipment up and listening to music is an enjoyable one.

I wrote this post at the same time as antoni66. Interesting that we we're pretty much in agreement over the figures...

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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by savvypaul »

I think Lindsay's post is spot on...apart from the average transaction value and therefore the potential earnings.

Agents will be selling the Artisan range. The cheapest preamp is £800, the cheapest power amp is £1000. Adding even the basic interconnects and speaker cables, the cheapest 'system' is over £2000. The monoblocks are popular; the cheapest set is £1800.

You also need to look at the potential for follow on sales. Say you've sold a system of P50sa, S150, SSC, LS3. You have that customer. They are convinced about the sound quality and vfm of NVA. Selling amp and cable upgrades, getting them to try a BMU, phono stage, headphone amp...you are pushing at an open door. They may not even require another home dem. A phone call asking for your advice, they order via the website and you pocket the commission.

It's not going to be a main income. You're not going to get rich. However, it has the potential to be worthwhile. If I were doing it myself, I would bet a pound to a penny that I could earn at least £7.5k commission in the first year, and be confident of doubling my first year earnings in the second year.

A few years back, I hosted a phono stage bake off. My P2, a P1 lent by Richard, a modified Cambridge Audio, a higher range Graham Slee, a Musical Fidelity. Within a couple of months, Richard had sold 2 P2s, an A60 and a set of Cubes to the fellas who had come to the bake off. Once we get NVA into people's ears, they buy it for themselves. As Lindsay says...the kit does the talking
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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by savvypaul »

antonio66 wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 1:58 am ^^^^^^

Messed up, this is the post that related to the above quote :doh:

I thought exactly the same, would much prefer to receive a little less commission and not pay #100 per month. This idea might work in well populated areas, but coming from Lincolnshire I would not want to put #2000 and then another #100 per month. Seriously, look at the figures, you go out and sell #1000 worth of equipment, spend 5-6 hours of your time and you end up with #100 at the end of the month to which you pay tax and it also has to cover your expenses. Sorry, but that's my thinking.
I disagree with your earnings projections (see my reply to Lindsay, above), but I agree that different territories will present different challenges. Lincolnshire is less populated but it also has a higher than average proportion of newly retired people - that's a prime market for specialist hifi. The area is also sparse when it comes to hifi dealers...so a home demo may well fill a gap

In the late 1800s, two different shoe company sales reps landed in India. One rep immediately contacted his office and said get me on the first boat home, this is a waste of time, Indians don't wear shoes. The second rep immediately contacted his office and said send me every pair of shoes in the warehouse; Indians don't wear shoes!
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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by NSNO2021 »

I think the basic idea is a good one and I think the only way to know how well it will work is to actually give it 6 to 12 months and then review the situation. FWIW having been hands on in product development, marketing and sales in the technology sector I still believe the whole issue of brand development, marketing, communications & lead generation etc is a HQ function and that's where my resistance to the monthly lead generation fee comes from. Ultimately there's a finite amount of money in the equation and how it gets sliced & diced is what we are debating as there appears to be agreement that the basic idea is worthwhile.
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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by savvypaul »

NSNO2021 wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:32 am I think the basic idea is a good one and I think the only way to know how well it will work is to actually give it 6 to 12 months and then review the situation. FWIW having been hands on in product development, marketing and sales in the technology sector I still believe the whole issue of brand development, marketing, communications & lead generation etc is a HQ function and that's where my resistance to the monthly lead generation fee comes from. Ultimately there's a finite amount of money in the equation and how it gets sliced & diced is what we are debating as there appears to be agreement that the basic idea is worthwhile.
Without an ongoing commitment, the scheme would simply be a way for people to buy kit at 45% discount. Do you have an answer to that?
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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by NSNO2021 »

savvypaul wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:37 am
NSNO2021 wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:32 am I think the basic idea is a good one and I think the only way to know how well it will work is to actually give it 6 to 12 months and then review the situation. FWIW having been hands on in product development, marketing and sales in the technology sector I still believe the whole issue of brand development, marketing, communications & lead generation etc is a HQ function and that's where my resistance to the monthly lead generation fee comes from. Ultimately there's a finite amount of money in the equation and how it gets sliced & diced is what we are debating as there appears to be agreement that the basic idea is worthwhile.
Without an ongoing commitment, the scheme would simply be a way for people to buy kit at 45% discount. Do you have an answer to that?
Paul you and I know there is risk in most businesses decisions and it is exclusively your decision who to appointment as a field agent.

If you do appoint someone looking to get NVA equipment on the cheap and they don't fulfill their agent commitments then you terminate the agreement and appoint another agent for that area having refined your selection process through reviewing your original decision.

The failure of your first appointment is not going to cause you a financial loss, it's just a lost opportunity.

Ad Hominem removed - official strike issued

I hope the field agent project does work irrespective of it's format, NVA deserves a much bigger customer base and anything that helps that has my full support.
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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by TheMadMick »

[/quote]

Without an ongoing commitment, the scheme would simply be a way for people to buy kit at 45% discount. Do you have an answer to that?
[/quote]

Require a deposit refundable under your terms.

By the by, you may need to be careful about HMRC. If the "agents" are solely in you service then HMRC may well treat them as employees no matter what title you give them. Remember Uber. That means pension, paid holidays etc.
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savvypaul (Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:30 am)
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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by karatestu »

My post is related to only geographical placement of the agents (makes me think of The Matrix for some reason :grin: ).

Five or six agents need to be spread out amongst the area you are intending to cover. Does that include Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland ? Scotland would need one agent imo. London is another obvious location for an agent. One in Wales ? That's three already. Are you intending to cover the North of England from Durham Paul ? And does your estimation of five or six agents include you or not ?

If you are covering the North of England Paul then that leaves the South West, Midlands, Yorkshire / Lancashire conurbation, Eastern counties. I suppose an agent situated in Birmingham could cover Wales as well as the Midlands. A London based agent could cover a fair amount of area too but the South West ?

It has to be fair to each agent ie the area they cover and population or potential market. The further you have to travel to do a demonstration then the greater the amount of time spent and the greater the costs for an agent. Have you means to analyse where your sales are coming from ?

It must be a balancing act between keeping agents content, customers happy and making it worthwhile for NVA. If all are happy then result.

I am sure you have thought through all this already Paul.
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savvypaul (Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:32 am)
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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by Fretless »

NVA NL ????

I have been giving this some serious thought as a possible extra source of income. My own business is a small-scale meeting/training-centre which means that I have a suitable space for demonstrating audio gear and holding a bake-off. My own advertising is via website, Google and Facebook - an NVA agency would run on the same platforms. Location is good as I am situated right in the middle of a very small country about one hour's drive from most major cities. Also it is quite simply an extension of my own hobby which means that any extra knowledge and expertise builds on things I am already familiar with.

RD did try something similar and I did get a couple of potential NVA customers in for a demo of my humble installation. Although I am not sure how successful that was. The Netherlands does have a fairly healthy audiophile community and NVA has had a presence here in the past.

Main obstacle is the initial investment in a demo installation and it would mean me dealing directly via Tomasz in Poland (bloody Brexit).

Still pondering. :think:
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savvypaul (Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:43 am)

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Re: NVA Field Agents

Unread post by savvypaul »

NSNO2021 wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 8:09 am
savvypaul wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:37 am
NSNO2021 wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:32 am I think the basic idea is a good one and I think the only way to know how well it will work is to actually give it 6 to 12 months and then review the situation. FWIW having been hands on in product development, marketing and sales in the technology sector I still believe the whole issue of brand development, marketing, communications & lead generation etc is a HQ function and that's where my resistance to the monthly lead generation fee comes from. Ultimately there's a finite amount of money in the equation and how it gets sliced & diced is what we are debating as there appears to be agreement that the basic idea is worthwhile.
Without an ongoing commitment, the scheme would simply be a way for people to buy kit at 45% discount. Do you have an answer to that?
Paul you and I know there is risk in most businesses decisions and it is exclusively your decision who to appointment as a field agent.

If you do appoint someone looking to get NVA equipment on the cheap and they don't fulfill their agent commitments then you terminate the agreement and appoint another agent for that area having refined your selection process through reviewing your original decision.

The failure of your first appointment is not going to cause you a financial loss, it's just a lost opportunity.

If you are wedded to principal of an agent making a monthly contribution to the lead generation then nothing I say or anyone else says will change your mind as we saw with the model worker naming discussion.

I hope the field agent project does work irrespective of it's format, NVA deserves a much bigger customer base and anything that helps that has my full support.
In business. for me, trust is earned through shared purpose, joint commitment, mutual risk and mutual reward. Supplying kit at a loss to someone who baulks at the idea of ongoing investment simply doesn't tick nearly enough of those 'trust criteria', for me.

I'm not wedded to the idea of a monthly fee, but I am wedded to the idea that both sides must demonstrate genuine commitment. I don't want people who think 'that might be fun and I can give up any time', I want people who are personally invested in making it work. I'm happy to discuss alternative structuring, but both parties should want to be satisfied that they are each bringing that determination to the table. In other words, we both have to put our money where our mouths are. If someone says to me, I will buy £8k of kit at full price and sign up as an agent but without a monthly fee, there's a conversation to be had - the monthly fee was conceived as a way of demonstrating worthwhile investment without having to put the whole amount up-front.

Your fourth paragraph is ad-hominem, and this will not be the first time that I have removed ad-hominem from your posts. Official Strike issued.
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