own their accounts, it isn't that way in the advertising industry.

In fact many companies has account execs sign a non-compete clause before hiring them. In some cases, the non-compete may apply to an entire industry or state.

I'm not certain about the stock brokers as my only connection is when I sell to one.

Even when you get into specifics within the promotional advertising industry, it is extremely rare for the dealer to have 100% ownership rights.

So, K & B is guaranteeing the dealers that they can take their client list with them, or sell them to a competitor. K & B will even sign-off on the contract to guarantee the buyer's ownership.

In addition, K & B will not accept phone orders from those customers or refer them to another K & B dealer. They literally close the accounts when a dealer notifies them of their departure.

If one of my clients calls K & B with a phone order, they will take the order if they can complete it, and then they pay me the same commission as if I had written the order myself.

This is a company thats strives for consistency.

In addition to owning the customer accounts, every dealer has the right to build their own sales organization. Every recruit is a full fledged dealer, with the same contract and commissions. The recruiting/sponsoring dealer earns over-ride commissions on the associates sales volume. The new dealer earns the same full commissions, so the over-ride is from K & B's profits, not the dealers commissions. The recruit has benefit of an experienced dealer who has current experience selling in this industry.

The sponsoring dealer own the associate's over-rides and has the right to sell or transfer those as well. That can amount to a sizeable nestegg, if the dealer ever chooses to retire or leave the industry.

In an industry that is represented by 17,000+ distributors, I found a true diamond.

Dennis Bevers
BASSCO, Inc.