Your company is the Outofsight Speaker Company, a manufacturer of a high quality line of audio speaker systems. Your company has been in existence for four years; sales have gradually been increasing -- 8% annually. Your audio speakers range in price from $400 to $3,200 per pair.

Fast forward... as a recent graduate of DeVry University, your VP of Channel Relations recognizes the excellent learning that you have gained. She has asked you to qualify a potential new distributor for your line of audio speakers.

That potential new distributor is Washburn Electronics, located in Paducah, Kentucky. Outofsight Speaker Company had received a letter of inquiry from Washburn, in which they expressed interest in becoming a qualified Outofsight wholesale distributor in their state. At this time, you do not have a wholesale distributor physically located in this Kentucky geography and your three primary competitors do. Washburn also represents two of those three competitors and does not represent the other one.

Outofsight's interests have been served in Kentucky by two authorized Outofsight distributors in the bordering states of Indiana and Tennessee, both of which have done a decent job representing Outofsight products in Kentucky.

You don't know too much about Washburn Electronics other than what you found on their web site, information of which is fairly limited. Yet, because you have no wholesale dealer distributors in Kentucky, the visibility of your product line is lower than you would like. Washburn Electronics is a wholesale distributor and sells a variety of electronic goods to retail stores, most of which are independent stores. Those stores compete with Tweeter and other stores that sell high quality speakers and audio systems.

Assume you have a meeting arranged with Washburn Electronics senior management at their Paducah office. Your purpose is to explore opportunities to possibly partner with Washburn to represent your product line. You are there solely because they inquired via letter of their possibility of becoming an authorized distributor. At this meeting, you will meet the Washburn senior management team. You may ask these senior managers any questions you wish.

As you reflect on what you would ask them, consider your strategy for the Sales Meeting.

Once you have your strategy set, what questions would YOU want to ask?

(NOTE: it is not the answers I seek. Rather, it is to determine the questions you would ask, the answers to which would facilitate your making a wise recommendation to your VP).

Tell me, though, WHY you want to know the information you are asking. What are the things you would want to know about Washburn Electronics that would help you make the "correct" decision whether or not to bring them aboard as a potential distributor of Outofsight speakers?

Demonstrate to me your ability to think strategically... and to look at the "big picture." Remember that you are looking at this distributor's ability to MARKET your goods and represent Outofsight to your target market.