A Profile of UK Manufacturers and West German Agents and Distributors

Reports on research conducted during 1988 into the channel relationships of UK manufacturers and German agents and distributors. Develops a profile of UK exporting manufacturers and German agents and distributors. Examines the geographic area of representation by agents in Germany together with the methods used by UK manufacturers to recruit their agents and distributors and methods of motivating agents and distributors both from the manufacturers′ and the agents′ points of view. Discusses satisfaction with the channel relationship. Finds some agreement between both the manufacturers′ and agents′ and distributors′views for improving the sale of British products in Germany. A notable difference was in the ranking of better quality; German agents and distributors thought that quality was more important than did UK manufacturers.