In short

They do different things. An introducer puts two parties in contact and steps back. A prospector contacts your targets and qualifies interest but does not negotiate. A commercial agent negotiates — and sometimes concludes — sales on your behalf on a continuing basis. The role is defined by what the person actually does, not by the title in the contract, and in France and the UK the agent role carries specific legal protections, including possible compensation at the end of the relationship.

Describe acts, not titles

Contracts often use labels loosely. To know which role you are buying, list what the provider will do: research, first contact, presenting the offer, discussing prices, agreeing terms, signing. The further down that list the provider goes, the more authority you are delegating and the more the legal framework changes.

The business introducer

An introducer (apporteur d’affaires in French) identifies a counterpart, checks mutual interest and arranges the first contact. After that, the parties talk directly. Remuneration is usually a fee per introduction or a success fee if a contract follows. The introducer does not represent either party and should not negotiate. Write down the trigger for payment and how long an introduction counts, to avoid disputes when a deal closes months later.

The outsourced prospector

A prospector works through your target list, presents your offer, handles first objections and qualifies interest against your criteria. It acts in your name for that limited purpose. Prices, discounts and contract terms are handled by your own team. This is the right model when you want volume and consistency without delegating commercial authority.

The commercial agent

A commercial agent is an independent intermediary with continuing authority to negotiate the sale or purchase of goods, and sometimes to conclude contracts, on behalf of a principal. In the EU and the UK this status comes from the 1986 Directive, implemented in France in the Commercial Code and in Great Britain in the 1993 Regulations. Consequences include duties of good faith on both sides, rules on commission and, at the end of the contract, a potential right to compensation or indemnity.

If you want someone to negotiate for you, choose this model deliberately, write a mandate with territory, products, price limits and remuneration, and take legal advice on the end-of-contract consequences.

Regulated activities

Some intermediation needs a licence whatever it is called: real estate, credit, insurance and investment services among others. A provider without the required authorisation must not carry out those acts, and calling the work "marketing" does not change that. Check before you sign.

Worked example

Example: from introducer to agent (hypothetical)

A French equipment maker starts with an introducer in Belgium who arranges five meetings with distributors. Two become customers and the introducer receives the agreed success fee. A year later the maker wants a continuous presence and asks the same person to discuss prices with new accounts. At that point the relationship changes nature: the parties sign an agent mandate defining territory, discount limits and commission, after legal advice on compensation rules.

Questions that decide the role

  1. Will the provider present prices or discuss terms?
  2. Can it accept an order or sign anything?
  3. Is the relationship one-off or continuing?
  4. What triggers remuneration, and for how long?
  5. Does the product require a licensed intermediary?
Pick the role from the acts you need, then write the contract to match. The wrong label creates obligations you did not plan for, or leaves authority undefined.

Examples in this guide are hypothetical and illustrate the method; they are not client cases.

References

French Commercial Code, art. L134-1 (commercial agent)UK Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993Council Directive 86/653/EEC on self-employed commercial agents