Haven’t signed on in a while but saw this and thought I could be of help.
Now, keep in mind, my experience is 6+ years ago so things have changed (including commission structures) so this was just MY experience as a saddle rep. It can be a great job, but it can also be a terrible job.
A lot of your success will factor on a few things that aren’t even in your control: your territory, the rep before you, and the company’s understand of those two things.
If you get into a territory that was terrible managed, you’re going to work 10x as hard to get clients back, and those that had custom saddle money likely have already tried and bought another brand. They probably aren’t trading in their $8000+ saddle that they just bought. Not saying it’s impossible, but it’s a huge factor and something that wears reps down quickly. I can’t tell you how often I got “I liked your saddles/I like you, but I hated Tom Sue, so I won’t buy/bought somewhere else”. Your company management will tell you to keep pestering and eventually they will trade their saddles in to you! “If they ride horses - they have money”. -insert eye roll emoji-
Your territory is huge to your success. I was in Texas. The company I worked for saw Texas as a HUGE state with a ton of horses, which isn’t wrong, but when you actually looked at it - the niche that is our industry is small. Most of the barns are in Houston, Austin, or Dallas. 90% of your A/AA shows are in Katy. Top that off with 75% of your barns travel out of state for the summer & winter. THEN They put TWO reps in my state (North & South), which was confusing for customers, annoying for both of us (we remain best friends and worked as a team), and really set us up to struggle for sales from the word go. The company didn’t see it like that. They saw it as an opportunity to make double the sales. And despite this system failing over and over - they keep trying to hire two people and won’t change their minds.
Again, company management is hugely important.
I was salary + commission, but I only got commission if I hit my goal - which changed by the months and on my ramp up period was 8 new and 3 used. A common goal is 12 new, 5 used. You don’t hit your goal - you don’t get your commission, and your commission was a small %. I got a company car, phone, and iPad. I had to pay all my expenses upfront and then submit reimbursements. They paid a $40 per day food per-diem when traveling.
As for a typical day in the life at home. Your goal was to be in 10 barns per day. That meant if you only had 2 appointments, you were to cold call 8 barns. At the barns, there are two types of fittings - new saddles and used saddles. Generally, even when fitting used saddles, you made them ride in new because hopefully you converted them to new if their budget was manageable. If not then you got them sized and the horse sized. You usually only had a few used saddles in your car, mostly trade ins you were picking up. So - if you didn’t have the used saddle they needed, you’d scroll through your inventory with them and try to get them to purchase that used saddle to take on trial or get it shipped to you from other reps.
I can get into detail of a new saddle trial, but the gist is that someone tries demos, you fit them and the horse, and then if they buy you submit the order with them right there. This could take anywhere from an hour to multiple hours.
The third type of stop is repair stops & fit checks. That includes tightening screws, looking at fit, checking damaged saddles, etc.
At shows, you’re the first one there and last to leave unless you have an appointment off site. Those are typically done during the week when shows are quieter before ammys and jrs arrive. You also walk the barns, introduce yourself, watch rings, take pictures and video for social media, etc. You will do a lot of demos and talking in the booth and at shows.
Every time you enter a barn you’re to think “how do I convert this barn to XYZ saddle”. There’s also sponsorships and negotiations there, which were my least favorite part because I’m anti-sponsoring everyone and their mother unless it was mutually beneficial to me. My company and I didn’t always agree with that.
After shows, back at home, you do a lot of follow up and office work. Texting and calling those leads, following up on quotes, tracking down repairs, and more.
The rest of your free time is spent stressing over your next paycheck, drinking, putting out fires, posting on Facebook groups to find new customers and sell saddles, and chasing down ordered saddles that are stuck in customs somewhere. Your customers will call you at 2am. They will also call you on vacation.
It is not a job for the faint of heart nor is it going to make you a ton of money 90% of the time. I will say - I met some amazing people and some of my best friends through there. I also gathered a ton of connections and it set me up for a better job down the road. I don’t regret my time as a rep, but I don’t recommend the job to people either.
I’m happy to answer specific questions about training and such if you want to DM me. They don’t train the new reps like they used to train us, and I did a ton of outside learning and reading about proper saddle fit, other brands, and more. However, I’m happy to fill you in on typical trainings and other expectations as well.
ETA - sorry for typos and the sporadic way this is put together, I’m trying to be quick on my phone. Also sorry it’s a novel!
