At HY-C, we’ve been fortunate to cultivate a robust, diverse network of sales partners over the years. Our selection of chimney caps, hearth products, rotary cleaning tools, and outdoor power equipment upgrades touch quite a few different industries, so we’ve had the privilege of working with all kinds of businesses.
From small-town farm and home retailers to multinational chains, HY-C works with many types of companies. Because of that, we’ve learned how to accommodate a diverse range of business needs, no matter your company’s size or the industry you work in.
If you want to join that network and sell HY-C products, it can be tough to know where to start. What information do you need to provide? How do you provide it? What does the beginning of a sales relationship with HY-C look like?
In this guide, we’re going to explain exactly how to become a HY-C sales partner. We’ll cover all the information we need from you to get started, how to apply for credit, and what to do if your business is sales tax exempt.
By the time you’re finished here, you’ll have everything you need to kickstart the process of becoming a HY-C sales partner.
The HY-C Sales Partner Application
The piece that drives the entire process of becoming a sales partner is the HY-C sales partner application. In this form, you’ll provide important information that will make it easier for us to do business together.
To make the process easy and efficient, we categorize our partners into one of four groups:
- Not requesting a line of credit and not exempt from sales taxes
- Requesting a line of credit and not exempt from sales taxes
- Requesting a line of credit and exempt from sales taxes
- Not requesting a line of credit and exempt from sales taxes
The amount of information you provide in the sales partner application depends on which category you fall into. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the application section by section.
Section 1: General Information
Basics
To start, we’ll ask for some basic information about your company, including:
- A company phone number
- A company email address
- A company fax number
- Your website
- Any company social media accounts
We’ll also ask for some location information, such as:
- The company address
- City
- State
- Postal code
The application will also ask for the shipping address of your company. This address is important, as it determines where we’ll send your purchasing orders.
Business Information
In the general information section, we’ll also ask for the date your business started and the number of employees your business has.
We’ll ask you to provide your business’s SIC code — a four-digit U.S. government code used to classify businesses by which type of industry they’re in.
The form also asks for a DUNS number — a number issued by a company called Dun & Bradstreet that’s used to establish the creditworthiness of a company.
There are also spots for you to indicate:
- Which type of business you are (i.e., individual, partnership, LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, etc.)
- Whether or not you are part of a buying group (and if so, which group)
- Whether or not your company is sales tax exempt
Company Contact Information
This section asks for names, email addresses, and phone numbers (with extensions, if applicable) for key company contacts, including:
- Accounts payable
- Sales
- Purchasing
- Marketing
- Order confirmations
- Invoices
- Shipping notices
Finally, the general information section ends by asking if your business is a warehouse account, whether or not your business is a drop ship account, and if you would like to allow backorders.
Section 2: Line of Credit Request
If your company is not requesting a line of credit from HY-C, you can check the “No” box and skip this section of the application entirely.
If you are requesting a line of credit, though, you’ll need to indicate your requested credit limit on the application. We’ll also require a bank reference and a reference from up to three other suppliers with whom you currently do business.
The references you supply should meet the following criteria:
- You must have been doing business with your reference within the past 3 years
- Your lines of credit established with your references should be similar to the dollar amount of credit you request from HY-C
Be sure that you do not submit references who you don’t want HY-C to contact. Also, accurate information will expedite the application process, so double-check your references’ contact information before submitting your application.
Section 3: Principals/Officers Responsible for Commercial Transactions
This section is relatively simple: we’ll ask for some basic information about the owners or shareholders of your company. They’ll be asked to provide:
- Their name and title
- Their address, city, state, and postal code
- Their percentage of ownership in the company
- A signature and date
The application provides space for information from three company principals. If your company has more than three principals, be sure to duplicate this page of the application to supply additional information.
Section 4: Sales Tax
Finally, we’ll ask for your sales tax exemption information. If your company is not sales tax exempt, simply check the “not sales tax exempt” box and skip this part of the form.
If your company is sales tax exempt, you’ll need to provide your sales tax exemption form (also known as a resale certification). You can send this information by mail or electronically.
HY-C uses CertExpress from Avalara to collect digital exemption certificates from applicants. The sales partner application provides a link to the CertExpress tool where you can securely submit exemption certificates to HY-C.
The final page of the application contains a section for you to authorize the release of your bank information for the purpose of a credit check. You’ll need to provide:
- The name of your credit institution
- Your company’s bank account number
- A signature
- Your printed name
- The date
How do New Sales Partners Start Purchasing HY-C Products?
After your application is submitted, we’ll verify your sales tax exempt status and run a credit check, both of which don’t take more than a few business days (or less). After everything is confirmed, you’ll be officially onboarded as a HY-C sales partner!
But now that you’ve been onboarded, how do you start ordering products?
As a new sales partner, you can send orders to your account representative through email, or you can fax orders to us. But the vast majority of our sales partners utilize some kind of EDI (electronic data interchange) software to place their purchase orders.
And whichever EDI system your company utilizes, our sales force and IT team are more than happy to work with you to integrate our systems to facilitate a seamless, efficient ordering pipeline. Get in touch with a HY-C account manager to get started today!
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