company rep. jobs?

skippy

Senior Member
ill make this quick because i only have a few minutes before i have to bomb off to work. i always hear of these guys who are reps for zildjian or dw or whatever and after doing the least amount of research on it i thought id come to a place i can trust. how do you get these jobs working for drum companys? any info on it would be great.

P.S. i couldnt decide if this should go in the general discussion thread or the off topic thread so forgive me.

thanks guys.
 
i can tell you about one example. not about me, but my drum teacher is a sabian endorser. he gets all his cymbals for free and gets special consideration when he gives them product feedback. he teaches out of our local drum store and the sabian rep learned about him through his dealings at the store and from recommendations by the store's owners. the sabian rep approached him and made him an offer and that was that.
 
Skippy, you can try going to the companies you are interested in working for and ask for a job. If that doesn't work ask if there's any intern work, (doubtful but give it a try anyway)just to get your foot in the door.
 
These days, many sales reps are independents, and will rep for multiple companies (although typically one drum company, one cymbal company, etc.) It's probably a good idea to talk to the people at your local music store and ask about the relationship with their reps, to get a feel for what the job entails. You can also ask them where you might begin to explore it further. I suspect that some reps evolve from retail music jobs, where they have first-hand experience with the process.

Knowing the product/s is crucial, but a knowledge of sales is key to success. The rep does more than write down orders. There's a lot of selling involved, and it's particularly tough in this slow economy.

Bermuda
 
Different companies have different ways of doing it, but Bermuda hit on the head for the most part.

Some of the larger companies have dedicated sales reps.

Most reps are independent salesmen who take on various clients.

Some companies use a mix of both.

Most are looking for people with a good track record of sales experience, out going personality, etc. Also, expect a lot of travel. 2 or 3 weeks of every month. Most sales reps have territories that cover multiple states, and in a few cases, maybe even entire sections of the country.

It's an interesting business. I met sales reps when I was a kid who are still rep-ing the same the products over 20 years later.
 
Many music schools now also have a music business program. They team up with companies in the business to do internships and job training. I know the school I went to has one and the graduates get jobs in the industry. You really need to be connected to get a job just like anything else. Two guys I graduated with are in the industry. Both are artist relations guys.
 
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