Texas is
different. It's big. Electrical manufacturers that try to use only
geographical boundaries to assign representative territories in Texas are making
a mistake. I have always believed in market based territories and
that philosophy is especially true in Texas. Too many manufacturers try to
either assign one agency all of Texas, or split the state into North and
South Texas. The truth is that Texas has three, distinct, market based
territories. (See Map Below)
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North Texas
including Dallas, Ft. Worth, Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene, and all of the Co-Ops,
and Municipals that are North, and West of a line going roughly from Livingston
to San Angelo and South from San Angelo to Del Rio. The North Texas
territory should not include El Paso. El Paso should be assigned to either
the New Mexico, or most likely the Arizona representative. (It's a long
way from Dallas to El Paso.) The Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area
contains 25% of the population of Texas.
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South Texas
including Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christie, and Brownsville. Not to
include the Houston Metroplex. The Austin metro area contains 7% and
San Antonio contains 8% of the population of Texas.
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Houston
Metroplex.
CenterPoint Energy and related distribution accounts. The Houston
Metro area contains 24% of the population of Texas.
CenterPoint
Energy is simply too large to be adequately handled from a distance.
CenterPoint buys huge quantities of material and they demand attention.
Local based representation is the best choice. In order to
take advantage of the available business that CenterPoint offers, manufacturers
must have Local sales support to quickly answer questions, move
approval projects forward, and solve problems that may arise. Using rep
companies based in Dallas or San Antonio don't allow for the attention needed.
Some agencies based elsewhere may place satellite offices in Houston in an
effort to give better service, but that usually leads to communication problems
between the "home" office and the satellite. Other agencies base in
Houston, but try to cover the South Texas or the North Texas territory along
with CenterPoint. That leaves CenterPoint with no coverage when they are
"on the road." Local, concentrated, specialized coverage
will give your company the best chance to succeed. That's what I offer.
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