Hiring Sales Personnel

[PorterComp]

Our company is looking to hire a commission only sales independent contractor to help grow our business. However, this is an idea and we are trying to figure out what's the best way to go about this in the IT industry. What is the proper commission and how to pay. A profit share is what I have in mind, but what percentage is fair?

Have you done the same and do you have any ideas?

 

[altrenda]

We had a discussion on this not too long ago.
http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57365

No one really had a working plan. Bottom line I think is that the business is too narrow to get the results you want.

How do you attract a salesperson good enough to bring you business at a price you can afford, but pay enough to make it worthwhile for them?

Like everyone else, salespeople are motivated by money. All they have to sell is their time. How much time do they have to spend on your business to make a decent return?

Commission only is great for you as the seller when there is no business, but bad for the salesperson who spends time with no compensation. It doesn't take long before they spend time on other things that bring them cash.

Search for your area in something like www.era.org or elance and see how many reps, if any, sell your type of business or services.

 

[PorterComp]

Thanks...I didn't see that thread in my searches

 

[neotechnet]

I tried out various things in the past like a professional blog writer, google adwords consultant, etc. And you know something? They all sucked.

I hired a full time tech 2 weeks ago and now I'm making it a point of spending part of my time doing business development. As I've discovered the only person that knows what kind of business you want and how to get it is you and the only person that is going to care enough to get that business is you.

 

[PorterComp]

I would love to hire a full time, or even part time tech, however the revenue isn't there right now to do so. But it's been 6 years since we've opened our door and we need to grow, not remain status quo. So we have to do something different.

We are expanding our offerings, I've contracted with a website designer, we've become a MSP and keeping our minds open to anything else our clients might be interested in. Trying to keep up with the times.

 

[nesrinamb]

1. Take a look at your pricing make sure it's high enough.
2. Get rid of bad clients. You will be surprised how little your money goes down and how much extra time you have.

Now for the main thing. Yes sales people in this industry do work and I have to disagree about the money part. No it's not money that's the motivation. Countless studies have proven that.

As for commission I would say a percent plus minimum wage(or more DOE) is usually what is done in places. If you got no cash you can do first months billing + on going commission. http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52132 look at what Tony said in that thread. As well as stonecat.

Assuming they bring in larger clients then you should be easily able to pay them and yourself and still have money left over.

When looking to hire someone make sure they know what selling is about. If they haven't heard of Zig Ziglar or Tom Hopkins‎ then they have no idea. If they can't tell you the sales process then again they have no idea.

Finding that person: Good sales people are already employed. Go out to places you know your going to be sold like staples or office depot or even bestbuy. Look for the sales people and see how they approach you, was is strange? did they feel pushy? Or are you coming out of their with something really expensive you weren't going to buy yet you love it and you wanna give the sales guy or gal another hundred dollars. If so run back and tell them their hired. But remember to try and not waste their time since they are their to make a living and if you get a bad feeling from them just get out of their.