Very big city can be difficult areas for sales agents. You might hope and expect the opposite given the high concentration of potential customers. The worst by far is London, followed by Birmingham and Manchester. These areas are often poorly suited to sales agent activity in the following ways:
- Difficult to park near a customer. Sales agents may have to carry several different principals’ samples and sales materials, in which case they will not want to walk far.
- Car parking charges – added expense
- Parking fines and clamping – if parked illegally
- Customers tend to be very busy – making it hard for sales agents to just turn up and be seen, or even if appointments are made, waiting customers will normally take priority over any salesman. They also cause constant interruptions.
- Not very many independent customers – many big city businesses (such as shops) tend to be multiples
- Congestion charging etc. in London (and maybe more city centres in future)
- Slow speed of moving around due to traffic – means much of the day is spent travelling
Consequently there are fewer sales agents operating in big cities than you might hope for.