Moving on a new market is daunting. Where to start? And how to turn a virgin territory into flourishing commercial section? As always, nature has inspiring solutions, such as bryophytes.

Bryophyta

Bryophyta (articles from PlantSnap, another one about bryophytes on Biology Discussion, and a third one from Gardenology) is the division of plants that groups mosses and liverworts. These plants survive almost everywhere. They spread spores that develop with little water and grow to become invading. They resist almost everything, and can dry out for long periods of time before coming back to life. Once they grow over an area, they pave the way for other plants to step over, pushing bryophytes further away…

Sales representatives

In distribution, sales representatives are the equivalent. Bryophyta follows water trails, sales representatives follow roads… They spread wide in barren markets, moving block by block to develop brands and products. Much like bryophytes, they survive harsh conditions. Restless hours between cars, trains, moving walkways and planes. Lonely nights in motels facing mails piling up and pictures of their estranged family. Unbalanced meals, juggling between client’s dashing banquet and tiny club sandwich along motorway, collecting receipts to seek reimbursements…

Sure, they generally get high commissions, but limited salary, and they must survive on savings for months during sales drought.

And eventually, much like bryophytes, when sales representatives finally developed a flourishing new market, the mother company can and generally does eat them alive, creating a new commercial hub with dedicated sales managers fresh out of business school, marketing team and reliable executives, pushing the sales representatives further away down the road… together with his questionable business practices that the obviously socially responsible company cannot possibly agree with…

And that’s an efficient commercial model, used by many renowned brands.

Most sales representatives though, much like bryophyta, struggle endlessly…