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I am a manufacturer's representative for several different companies. To be more official, I would go with 'independent sales representative' as my title.

I have several different lines with different responsibilities for each one. My main line is JanSport. I take those lines out into my four state areas: Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. I make sure that all area college campuses get serviced, and act as JanSport's company representative. I am the middle person between the companies I work for and the college campuses in my area.

There are certain time frames that I have to work with. In January, February and March I go out to sell back-to-school merchandise, as well as fall merchandise. In those three months, I need to have all of my fall items ready to sell. There are two months in the fall when I need to get in and sell the upcoming spring merchandise, so I have to be prepared to go out and sell. It is also a constant that if something sells well, those companies will need reorders, so I keep in touch with all of my buyers to make sure their needs are met.

The most difficult thing is talking through a customer's problem. Our garment is sent out to our customer so that they approve before the rest of clothing is made. If they approve, it is a done deal. If they don't want to take the clothing, I obviously don't want it back, and we have a problem on our hands.

We want to sell as much as possible. For example at the University of Iowa, I go in there and sell as much as I can, but it is never enough. I always need to push for more. In certain cases customers will buy more from me on their own, but in certain cases, I need to convince them to buy more.

My most recent client happens to be a reorder. I was dealing with a woman from a college in Waverly, Iowa. She called regarding a design that sold really well, and said she wanted to get another set in before the second semester started. She asked whether I could get it done. Since I know the time frame of how long it takes to get something done, I knew this one would be easier because the artwork had already been created. I wrote up her order and sent it in, and she got her order when she needed it. Reorders are slam-bam types of things.

It is interesting, because I really like to dress how the buyer would dress. I like to be on an even keel with them. I think it would be an uncomfortable situation if I were dressed nicer than the customer. In most cases, I wear a pair of khakis and a button down shirt. I read an article in the Wall Street Journal the other day about work attire. It said that you shouldn't dress for the job you have; instead, you should dress for the job you want. Looking back at it, I thought it is a good way to look at how I dress.

Every line that I sell has its own boss. For example, the JanSport line has a regional boss out of California.

That happens about six or seven times a year. I will get a few samples in, and then I decide whether or not it is viable.

I'll get samples in, and then I will take them to a buyer and see if they like them. I've got certain buyers whose opinions I trust, and they will tell me whether they believe an item will sell in its current state.

We shoot emails back and forth quite a bit. They pretty much leave me alone if I'm out there doing my job.

Between 17 to 20 years.

I first started at a shoe store in Merle Hay Mall. I worked for the owner, and we built seven stores around central Iowa. My job was to buy from the shoe wholesalers that would come in to sell their products. Every so often, one would come in and offer me a job to go on the road and start selling. After about ten years, I decided to do take one of the jobs. I started off selling shoes, and just grew from there into the apparel and college business.

The key is being sincere and being yourself when you are talking to people. I like to put my own weird twist on the interaction so I can be different than everybody else. I only see these people one or two times a year, and I talk to them on the phone a couple of times, but the interaction is limited after that. Sometimes people remember me better if I do something different. Each of the people I work with has their own personality, so I try to develop individual relationships. One lady that I am working with right now is more straight-forward than I am, so I go in and try to kid with her, and she doesn't really know how to react. I enjoy keeping people on edge; it makes the job a lot of fun.

I do talk to some occasionally, but not very much. I've got my own schedule, and people that carry the same lines as me never come into my sales territory. If I were to talk to somebody that does the same thing I do, it would be a competitor, and I don't do that very often.

When I am in my office, I am working on entering orders or taking emails. I spend most of my time getting making sales appointments and preparing for them. I just got a list of closeouts that I will publish to all of my buyers so they can see all of the good deals I am offering. The main focus when I am in my office is being organized and getting my samples ready. When I am out on the road, the work is a lot easier if I am well prepared. I go to one appointment and show them everything I have to offer, including our new items. After I finish with one appointment, I pack up my samples, and I move on to the next one. For example, let's say I start my day at Wayne State in Wayne, Nebraska and then my next appointment is in Sioux City, Iowa. I have no idea how long Wayne State is going to take, so I need to be flexible on my times. Most of the buyers know that I might be a little late or a little early depending on how my previous sales appointment went.

When I sell my fall apparel, I probably make 25 stops per month.

There's a lot of preparation for my key accounts, which are my bigger schools, like the University of Iowa, Kansas University, University of Missouri and the University of Nebraska. I get CAD books twice a year that have hundreds and hundreds of designs in them, and I have to pick out 12 to 14 different items from those books to design for each specific place customer. I have a little packet made out that I take to the actual school, so the buyer can actually see what the products are going to look like instead of having to envision them. It takes a lot of time, because I have to make decisions on a variety of things including color, font sizes, and stitching patterns. If I have all of my preparation work done, and I go to the store and aim for a positive interaction with the buyer, I could walk out there having a very successful trip.

The sale becomes a lot easier when I have a repeat buyer. I still do the same amount of work, especially at my bigger schools.

A lot of my job revolves around planning. I need to get ready to go out and meet with potential buyers. For the last couple of weeks, I have been at home getting my fall line ready to go out and sell. I have to be prepared, and then I make appointments with people across my area. The toughest thing is getting coordinating schedules and finding time to meet. When I do have an appointment, I get in there and see the buyer, and hopefully sell them several different products.

This business is based solely on commission. It was pretty scary when I first got into it, and this is a reason there are very few young people in the business, because there is a big dry spell at the beginning. For example, if I write an order today, I won't get paid on it for a couple of months. In some companies, it takes at least a month to make the apparel, and then they have a sixty-day payment term. That translates to ninety days before the company gets paid on the order, and then they don't pay me until they receive their money. It's a long dry spell at first, but once you get in it, it's kind of steady.

The only reward is money, because I get paid solely on commission. I'm motivated to get more orders so I can make more money. If I write an order for $20,000 with a company and I get 10% that's $2,000. The more I can convince customers to buy, the better off I am.

I spend 45-50 hours a week working. That's plenty of time when I am organized and doing everything I am supposed to be doing.

Absolutely. It determines how much you work when you are on the road. When I'm on the road, I always feel like I am working. I work all day, and then go back to the hotel to write the orders and get organized for the next day. They are very long days on the road and when I am booking fall I work all the time.

I put 30-35,000 miles per year on my car. It has slid up to 40,000 miles in a couple of years. I find that range to be pretty close to the average.

I would guess that I am on the road three days a week for five months, which adds up to around sixty nights per year that I am away.

When my daughter was in high school I was able to get her sports apparel for her. That was a nice benefit. Other than that, there really aren't any social factors.

My vacation time usually works around the busiest times of the year in my work schedule. Over the holidays, most of the schools I sell to are on holiday break, so it is senseless to call them. If I wanted to take time off, that would be the best time to do it. Summer is also another really good time to take a vacation. Buyers are not really in the mood for purchasing when school is not in session.

We used to have a lake house in Missouri that allowed me to have a free place to stay while I was on the road. My wife, who is a school nurse, was able to come down as well, so that would allow us to have some family time. The nice thing is that I don't have to work directly out of one place. I can get my emails by phone no matter where I am.

I think about it daily. I don't think I will be able to do it very soon. This is one of the jobs where you can go as long as you want. I may choose to slow down a little bit, but I will be going for another couple of years. I can see myself not doing JanSport soon. I have to carry a lot of goods, and that may get strenuous in a few years. I've always thought it would be fun to sell something you could carry in a little bag. I could drive a Corvette around and sell things, and I know I would have a great time.

I get to spend a lot of time at home. That probably bugs my wife the most, but she gets over it.

I know I have to go out and talk to people whether it's raining or snowing.

It is like any other business; the hierarchy works on your commission rate. If someone sees that you are out there making a lot of money, they might think they are paying me too much. They might think it would be better for me to make 9% commission instead of 10%.

I see it shrinking, because there are a lot of corporate employees out there. It is really hard to get into a commission-based job if you are a corporate guy. Independent reps don't have company cars, company expense accounts or anything like that. An independent sales rep does not have a cap on their income, whereas some corporate reps might.

It has affected it quite a bit. It makes communication much easier. I get email on my phone, and I can answer them while I am at ball games. It has made my life quite a bit easier.

The styling, the look and the decoration of the apparel. They keep coming up with new styles to sell, and that keeps my job moving. I get a big book of new art two times a year, and that gives the buyer more things to look at then they actually want.

I get my favorites, and I know which ones I feel will sell. Right now, simple is what sells. Simple and clean is what is hot right now, so that is what I am pushing.

It used to be that busy apparel would sell. There would be print on the front, back and side of everything. If you stick with the art that you feel good about, you can use whatever you want.

There are a lot of relationships that I need to develop and maintain to be successful. If I had to do it over again, I would give a lot more seasonal gifts to my buyers. This would really entrench the buyers into what I have to offer.

I would on a college campus walking to bookstore with students around, and I would be selling my apparel. It makes me feel good when I see people wearing clothes that I put together. It feels good to see someone carrying a JanSport backpack. This job really keeps me feeling young, so I would make sure to portray that.

The key is the personality of the person. He or she would need to be an outgoing, fun-loving type of a person. Education-wise, there is not a lot needed. The education gets you in the door, but you really don't need it to be successful. You just need to know how the computer works.

The successful person would be money-hungry. The person that wants to get ahead would be more successful. The person that works the hardest and shows more merchandise will be successful.