Outside Sales Rep

[Fabricator03]

Good morning everyone
I am tossing around the idea of finding a commission based outside sales rep, however my business has never had any type of sales dept or marketing dept for that matter and i have no idea about how / where to go about finding someone who i can have act as an outside sales rep. My business has a few avenues in terms of work that we perform, and I desperately need to get our name out there and have someone knocking on doors and drumming up new business. At this time I can not afford to have a rep on the payroll, hence the need for a commission based sales individual. Any suggestions where I might find someone like this? Any idea of the terms that should be negotiated for their commission?

Help and feedback is greatly appreciated.

Fabricator

[Harold Mansfield]

I've only done sales a few times over the span of probably 20 years, but in that time I noticed the amount of companies looking to pay nothing, and get a "go getter" sales person to hit the streets and miraculously bring back money. Most had nothing to offer, no sales infrastructure set up, no leads, nothing.

It's not as easy to just get someone to work for no money and commission only as you think it is. And the quality of people that you get for nothing, isn't always the best nor what you want representing your company.

In my experience, commission only sales reps are either kids selling knock off perfume and magazines door to door, people in between jobs, or the elite of sales people selling very high commission products...Cars, Real Estate, Boats, Jewelry, Heavy equipment and so on. Or products that have the ability to create residual ongoing income for each account they land such as liquor distributors. I'm guessing you're expecting to get the best and not the kids.

So how do you get them?

First off all, you need to develop a very good infrastructure for them to operate within. They'll need the best training, the best tools for the job, the sales process has to be streamlined and easy, and the commission structure has to be lucrative or at least have potential to be lucrative.

You aren't going to find the best people for commission only if you give them nothing to work with but a map and a pat on the back. Good commision only salespeople want to work with and for the best. Well established companies that do a certain amount of volume. They aren't interested in promises of growth. You have to remember...they are getting paid nothing. That means they need to hit the ground running. They don't have time to wait for you to grow it, or figure it out.

Of course you may find some sales people that are average and bouncing around from job to job, or working their way up through experience, or have been out of work so long that this is the only job that they could get. But for you to make this type of situation work, your game has to be top notch or you will not attract any decent salespeople.

[Brian Altenhofel]

In addition to everything Harold said, make sure you have the ability to deliver on what they sell. If they're commission-only, it's pretty inconsiderate to ask them to slow down since their income depends solely on how much they sell.

[billbenson]

I disagree on this one. I spent 22 years in salary plus commission jobs. I've been self employed since 2002 which makes me a straight commission guy now.

The bottom line is a good sales person in most professional industries is going to want a path to $100k per year. Straight commission jobs are higher risk so a salesman is going to want to make more. You may also need to provide a draw against future commission at first.

I think the difference between what Harold is describing and what I said above is that Harold is looking at straight commission appointment setters, cold callers etc. There are plenty of highly seasoned professional sales people that are straight commission.

[Mr_J]

That is great that you want to hire an outside sales rep for your business. I would not venture into this unless your business is off and going great and you are seeing some kind of profit. Not all, but most sales reps that do get you real results are not cheap by any means. Try putting in a little leg work as sales rep for your own business. Sometimes nothing will ever get done, if we don't do it ourselves. I know this isn't the answer you are looking for, but it has worked for many people. Word of mouth can help your business grow, and all it takes is some experience.