Now isn’t this commendable! I stumbled on your site by accident. What a nice idea.

I am a manufacturer’s rep. and it is as lonely a job as you can imagine. I get paid on commission only. If I make a sale, I get paid, if I don’t, I don’t. I sell apparell to smaller shops in malls and strip malls.

It is a very tough market – lots of competitors with lots of choices. Because of the economy, margins have eroded.

This was a tough year for me (2011) and I was barely surviving. I had been trying to break into this store for the last three years but was not having any luck. They have 8 stores and the holiday season was approaching. I knew if I can get in, it would make my year.

On one of my visits, I got an inkling that they may be open to me if I can somehow help them with financing.

I called my manufacturer and spoke to the regional manager. He promised to talk to the Finance guys. After going back and forth, they offered to finance 25%.

In the meantime, I had been talking to a local bank and when they heard that my manufacturer would finance 25%, they agreed to finance 40% of the sale.

With the two offers in hand, I went back to the owner and laid my offers on the table. With 65% financing, he relented and I got my single largest order of the year for 2011 of a little over a million dollars.

It made my year and I have a happy new customer.

Caroline Chung

Why don’t you share your success with others. We can only applaud.