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Normally, foreign companies who want to market and distribute their products in other countries prefer to work with exclusive distributors or agents instead of putting up their own subsidiary or spreading the distribution through many competing agents. Therefore, you have the edge on getting that exclusive agency contract if you have already formed a relationship with them. 

Of course, having experience in sales is not enough to land you that exclusivity contract. You must be able to prove to the principal company that you will be able to move their product(s) with the volume that they may require. Other things they may ask are product distribution strategy and facilities, inventory to support your local sales, your marketing plan and possibly, the estimated volume that you can guarantee to sell in your area. Do you have space for a warehouse or storage area for your inventory? In fact, given the type of product, they may require you to make an immediate purchase of their whole line of products as one condition for the exclusive agency agreement.

The principal may sign an agreement for a time-span that you will both agree upon, but usually this is set on a yearly basis. How you keep that year after year solely depends on your own performance. You must realize that the principals are ONLY interested on how their product moves in your market and if you are not able to deliver, they may serve you a termination and give the agency to another agent. That is their only concern - nothing else.

Although, that is the main issue on keeping the exclusivity, I advice you to talk to your lawyer and ask him to draft the contract for you. There are many things that a lawyer can help rather than we depend on our own intuition. Remember, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Lay out in your draft the terms and conditions you want. You can ask to set conditions like, MARKETING AND ADVERTISING SUPPORT to be provided by the principals. (Some foreign companies agree to provide reasonable marketing expenses to their agents, when they see very good potential)

When drafting your contract, try to be as practical as you can in setting terms and conditions. Only try to use standard contract forms for the use of legal terms and language, but go slowly and present your conditions as you envision your plans on how to handle the market. This way would show your principal your true perception of the market and would give them the feeling that you are the person for that area,

About the PowerHomeBiz.com Guide: 

Nach Maravilla is the Publisher of Power Homebiz Guides. He has over thirty years experience in sales and marketing of various products, which covered as he jokingly describes, "from toothpicks to airplanes"  He also had extensive experience in International trading and he always excelled in special promotional ideas for  retail outlets. 

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, not of PowerHomeBiz.com. Users should not treat the Guide's response as legal, accounting, or professional advice as all answers are intended to be general in nature. Such advice can only be properly given by qualified professionals who are fully aware of a user's specific geographical areas or circumstances, such as an attorney or accountant.