Prompted by the retirement of two of the company’s long serving agents, during his talk at The Ladder Club at the end of last year, Ged Mace, md of The Art File suggested that such is the paucity of sales agents and that so few are coming onto the scene, that they are something of an endangered species.
As part of a series of comments, PG Buzz tracked down another of these wonderful beasts – Robin Sellers, who covers East Anglia – to find out about life in their habitat over the last year.
Territory: Robin has been an agent for 11 years, but worked in the industry for many years prior. He covers East Anglia and the companies he represents include Artebene, Cinnamon Aitch, Janie Wilson, Rosie Made a Thing and Wendy Jones-Blackett.
The trade terrain: “Last year ended up better than it felt (it felt terrible). A main change for me in the last year is that customers seemed to buy more but less often which is very odd when times are tight as I would have expected the opposite.
The biggest pressure for retailers is to maintain footfall.
When entering a town the car park signs often show 3,000 empty spaces!
I think 2019 will be more of the same, subject to Brexit finally screwing everything up completely.
There would be more opportunities for increased trade if parking was easier and cheaper! I will just keep knocking on doors and smiling.”
If you were an animal, what would you be?: “If I was an animal I think I would have to be a dog as I am reliable, friendly and come running when you call.”
Are agents endangered?: “I am sure we are not endangered just yet but it is definitely harder to make a living than it ever has been before as an agent, as our overheads keep increasing like everyone else.”
