Help! Where Can I Find Commission-Only Sale People For My SEO/SMM/Lead Gen Company???

by The-English-Webmistress

Posted: 12 years ago 28 replies

OFFLINE MARKETING

Heeeeelp! I've been trying to find a commission-only salesperson for months, who will really be active and get the job done.

Can anyone tell me where I can find one online?

I've already been burned a couple of times by people who live off the basic salary I pay without bringing in the goods, or say they're happy with commission-only and then slink away into obscurity (along with all of my training materials and time!) as soon as some other job opportunity opens up...

My story is that I find that most of my clients want face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball conversations before they're willing to sign up to my services, even after they've seen my portfolio, and watched the personalised video I put together for them. This has been OK whilst I've been quietly working with locally-based companies here in Latin America for the last few years. This is an area of the world where pretty much all deals are still sealed with a recommendation from a friend of a cousin, a nod of approval from grandma, quick handshake, and a beer.

However, now I want to access a wider clientele in other countries. But when I speak to people on the phone I get a lot of, "It's a lot of money. Can you come over to the office and talk about it in person first?" Which is a bit difficult for me as I'm in Central America and popping into that chiropodist's office in New York is likely to entail 24 hour's travel and a $1,000 plane ticket!

So... on to Plan B.

I need a sales person - someone who really knows how to close $1,500 - $7,500 deals, not just do basic telemarketing - who's based in the USA, Canada or the UK who works on a commission-only basis, and who's prepared to visit offices as well as work over the phone.

Now, for those who are about to write and moan at me that I'll "never find someone that good who'll only take commission, blah-blah, wasting your time, blah", I've already decided to to share 30% of initial sales and am happy to cover costs of the phone calls. Also I'd love to hear how YOU'VE found someone to do this kind of high-end sales work for you.

I've searched and scoured the web and can't find a single resource dedicated specifically to offering a place for commission-only sales people to 'hang out' (hmmm, maybe I should create one, right?).

So, can anyone help me out with any ideas, please?

#commissiononly #company #find #gen #people #sale #seo or smm or lead

Keen creations

12 years ago

well i think you need to come down to reality. You won't find anyone who is willing to drive to places to close deals and make hundreads of calls on only commission. Its alot to ask for honestly.

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The-English-Webmistress

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Keen creations

well i think you need to come down to reality. You won't find anyone who is willing to drive to places to close deals and make hundreads of calls on only commission. Its alot to ask for honestly.

I would have thought so too, until I came across others who have team members who do so. I think the key is the amount of money that they earn from the contracts that they bring in, make it worthwhile (and their costs are covered, of course, so they're not out of pocket). I think the key is to find sales people who are so confident in their own abilities, and in the quality of the product/services they're offering, along with any back-up materials they use, that they KNOW that they WILL be able to get results...

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Keen creations

12 years ago

Originally Posted by The-English-Webmistress

Okay I can agree with that. But all that im saying is it will be very very hard to come across someone like that..you wont find someone like that on freelancer sites. Maybe you should make an ad in the local newspaper or something. Why dont you ask the others that have those kind of employees?

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The-English-Webmistress 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Keen creations

Why dont you ask the others that have those kind of employees?

Learn from other's experiences? Well, that's kind of what I'm trying to do via this thread!
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The-English-Webmistress 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Keen creations

Why dont you ask the others that have those kind of employees?

Learn from other's experiences? Well, that's kind of what I'm trying to do via this thread!
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DesmondTan

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Keen creations

well i think you need to come down to reality. You won't find anyone who is willing to drive to places to close deals and make hundreads of calls on only commission. Its alot to ask for honestly.

i agree with the logic of the quote above but i think these(commission only jobs) are already being done in the insurance industry and the real estate industry. People there make a living by commission only.

To the OP, i think you need to try these few things:

1) Place an ad in the classifieds, recruit and train them mass quantity and send them out to do their work.
2)Hire fast and fire fast. Look for the top producers- fire the rest.
3) you could also try $250 pm and then commission. the $250 dollars provides some income for them to call and travel
4)improve the commission you are giving, if it is attractive enough, you will get people to work for you.

My 2c.

Thanks

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Rearden 12 years ago

Who is you target market and why don't you think it can't be done over the phone?
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- The-English-Webmistress 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Rearden
  
  Who is you target market and why don't you think it can't be done over the phone?
  
  Thanks for responding. Niches: Real Estate agencies, luxury hotels/spas, building contractor. I've chosen these because they match my existing portfolio. I'm attempting to branch into chiropodists and other medical niche areas as well at the moment.
  
  Phoning people isn't the issue. My ever-so-English accent starts off a whole series of questions regarding where I'm from, where I'm based, and it seems to make people nervous. Somebody local probably won't even get into that whole discussion...
  
  Thanks
  
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  The-English-Webmistress is really Andrea, who went backpacking the world, accidentally landed in Panama, Central America, and never left. (Beaches! Mountains! Hot latin music! PiÃ±a Coladas!) She doesn't miss the London commute AT ALL...
  
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SydMichael

12 years ago

I have "hired" commission only sales people before. The PLUS is any sales they provide is 100% profit and zero out of pocket. I found College or Entry level type people work best because they have more to prove and enjoy the experience. However you get what you pay for. Plus I have found if they really get it and you train them too well. You just created yourself a home grown a competitor.

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The-English-Webmistress 12 years ago

Originally Posted by SydMichael

...Plus I have found if they really get it and you train them too well. You just created yourself a home grown a competitor.

Yes, I'm really hot on training, though I've never found that anyone has decided to go into the same line of work as me in the past. I think often those who love to do sales aren't really into the complexity of the kind of technical/geeky stuff that I do...
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kylemarvin

12 years ago

Originally Posted by SydMichael

That's why you always make your sales reps sign a 2 year non-compete agreement.

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The-English-Webmistress 12 years ago

Originally Posted by kylemarvin

That's why you always make your sales reps sign a 2 year non-compete agreement.

Thanks Kyle. I actually have loads of contracts for my company, but they're all geared towards the clients themselves, or the hours and commission-structure of the sales reps.

Great idea to add a non-compete agreement!
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Hugh

12 years ago

Here's the problem. If they really know how to sell to businesses,
they don't need you. Read any Don Olm or Martin Buckley post on
this forum. If they are really good, they will create their own product,
sell it and keep 100% of the gross.

You will fare much better by attracting sincere people new to sales
and TRAIN them your way.

Hugh

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The-English-Webmistress

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Hugh

Thanks Hugh. I think you're probably right about finding and training new people who have the 'gift' of selling. I'm looking into the best way to ensure that I don't end up training a whole string of people who come and disappear as quickly as they appear.

If anyone knows a good way to get around that particular issue, I'd be grateful to hear your ideas!

Thanks

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kimboslice 12 years ago

Over the years I've hired many qualified salespeople from hxxp://rephunter.net I'm in the USA but it may be worth a look to see if you can find people in your area.
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kylemarvin

12 years ago

Yes it's possible to hire commission only sales reps. Anyone who says that is unreasonable has probably never had a good sales person. Commission only is the way to go. Come up with a bonus scale, for example, if they reach $10,000 in sales in a month, give them an additional $1000 bonus on top of the commission (numbers purely for demo purposes).

If you get too much pullback from reps that want to work but are afraid about the 'commission only' part, one thing I've done in the past is offer them minimum wage OR commission, whichever is greater. That way the risk to you is minimal and it's on them to perform and get paid what they deserve.

Another thing I've seen some agencies do but I haven't yet, is offer internships. You can get all creative with that, and get fresh meat out of college to do all kinds of work for you.

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The-English-Webmistress

12 years ago

Originally Posted by kylemarvin

Another thing I've seen some agencies do but I haven't yet, is offer internships. You can get all creative with that, and get fresh meat out of college to do all kinds of work for you.

Hadn't thought of that. Brilliant idea. Thank you!

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The-English-Webmistress 12 years ago

THANK YOU everyone who's shared their opinions here. Have been ill over the last few days so wasn't able to respond to your posts. Now that I'm back, here goes...
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The-English-Webmistress 12 years ago

Finally... One really great resource that was suggested to me was The Telemarketing Forum. Absolutely EXCELLENT forum! There's a board for posting and applying for sales roles too, but it doesn't seem to be very active so I don't think it'll be of much use to me.

Still, if nothing else, the forum's a great place to get ideas for source for sales scripts, and mentoring.
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johninmn 12 years ago

Andrea;

Sent you a PM.

Thanks.

John
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- Jon Martin 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by johninmn
  
  Andrea;
  
  Sent you a PM.
  
  Thanks.
  
  John
  
  Not to steal her thread away from her or anything -- but im in need of the same thing! Could you possibly PM me as well!
  
  Hope you find exactly what you're looking for soon, OP!
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  "Be the hero of your own movie."
  
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ambrown31 12 years ago

Seems like a cool job if you can find somebody that can seal the deal 90% of the time. Good Luck!
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shane_k 12 years ago

It might be hard but not impossible.

What you want to do is to make sure is that you are absolutely clear with people that the job is commission only. This will weed out other people who are just starting in sales and poeple who have been in sales but are not the top of the field. And people who don't have the confidence in their abilities to do this.

Unlike others I would not recommend that you target students or college people. The reason being is most of them aren't not really skilled in sales right out of college to be able to support themselves on an commission only job. And because of this you will end up having a really high turnover rate and constantly looking for new workers.

What you want to look for are people who have been in sales for quite awhile. They have been in 2-3 different companies selling different products in each company and know their numbers. They know or have a really, really good idea that for X amount of calls they will set X amount of appointments. and for X amount of appointments Y amount of people will show for those appointments. And they know their closing ratio.

They are the goal setters, and the action takers.

As a sales person I can tell you it takes confidence to work a commission only job. There is no safety net. What you sell is what you make. If you put in no effort you get nothing.

This is why I recommend that you be absolutely clear that is it commission only. Because then you will have only those people who feel or know that they can do the job contacting you. And you will scare away all others who are not sure if they can do it.

Shane_K
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sloanjim 12 years ago

if they are that good they are running their own business not selling for you!
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- shane_k 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by sloanjim
  
  if they are that good they are running their own business not selling for you!
  
  Not necessarily true.
  
  I am one of the rare ones I will give you that. I work a commission only job right now, and at the same time yes I am also building up my internet business.
  
  But all my coworkers they are all of the employee mindset.
  
  They think that trying to create a business is too risky.
  
  With a business they would have to do other things like fulfillment, customer service, hiring and firing employees, training employees, building systems, etc.
  
  And these things are...
  1) Things that they don't know how to do
  2) They dont' want to take the time to learn how to do them
  3) Things that will take them away from what they love which is sales.
  
  Sales can be a blast. You can get a rush when you make a successful sale. I can be very addicting. And those are some of the emotional aspects that drive alot of commission only sales people. The excitement and challenge.
  
  It would actually be pretty rare for you to train someone and then have them go and try and compete with you. Maybe 1 in about 1,000.
  
  but if you are truly worried about that just do what someone posted above and get them to sign a non-compete agreement.
  
  But it will be very rare for that to happen.
  
  Shane_K
  
  Thanks
  
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123internetmarketing 11 years ago

This thread is a few years old. I'm really glad Warrior Forum left it up. What great advice! I'm looking but built a residual commission for commission-only sales people so they get monthly income for the life of the contracts they bring in.
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- Dustin Lyle 11 years ago
  
  I personally at the moment work as a 3rd party sales consultant for a couple different companies... That said, I think there are a couple of things you can do to increase the odds of finding a knowledgeable sales rep.
  
  1. Being as you are not in the USA, you need to atleast be able to demonstrate that your finances are in order... How do I look if I go into a podiatrist office and sell them a $5,000 package, they send YOU the money (wire transfer or some 3rd party service which is shady)... I'm left to wonder before I even agree to sell for you.. "are they scamming me." "Am I being set-up to help someone scam clients".. You should be able to demonstrate your legal ability to do business in the USA.. Federal EIN, proper business structure, llc, corp etc TAXES, insurance etc.. That doctor is going to deduct his expense with you when he files his taxes.. All of these will make you legitimate. Not having just one of them makes you illegitimate.
  
  2. To help with the credibility, just know that in America, like I stated above... They are call podiatrists. Using the term chiropodist, well, just say podiatrist instead.
  
  Thanks
  
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Help! Where Can I Find Commission-Only Sale People For My SEO/SMM/Lead Gen Company???

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