Sales Rep. compensation & tracking with wholesaler

[IAW]

In our state we must use a wholesaler.
I am trying to figure out a way to track and compensate by sales person with out it getting too complicated.

I wish it could be a "eat what u kill" situation but how do I know if she/he "killed" it or my wholesaler did?

As far as compensation goes, I am working with smaller margins because of the middle man so that throws a wrinkle in it also.

Any advice?

[BeerBred]

Salary. You need to make a long term committment and so does your salesman. Your sales reps should be working with the distributor, not against. If you have someone out there on regular ride withs, the relationship building should pay off with more accounts gained by the distriutor while your guy is not necessarily along on the ride when a tap comes open.

Your guy is out there to promote and get the distribs "hearts and minds", as well as educate sales staff's and merchandise. How is he going to promote when you only pay him in bounties?

Also, there are better ways to spread your love with a well thought out target list rather than pissing into the wind. Find 10 or 25 high profile low maintenance draft accounts that will make you visible. These might be neighborhood pubs that have been there a long time, or some trendy "places to be." Let the story flow downhill from there. "yea Joe you're gonna love the customers reaction to our product, Mr. Wonderfull's sold 3 kegs just last week."

If you sell bottles, find high volume accounts. Deal with them to gain visible space and promotions. Get sampling. Don't screw around with stores where the beer is going to go out of code. It will drive you crazy. And if a bar can't move a keg at least every other week, it isn't worth having. Not now anyway.

Fish where the fish are. Then again, I don't know squat about this business, you probaly shouldn't listen to me. Who is your distributor?