Hiring commission only sales people

It takes a while to find someone with this level of confidence.

What you're looking for is someone who is not going to depend on you for leads.

I've had the best results with independent salespeople already selling to the market I want to reach. i start with a referral arrangement.

Another approach is to offer a high commission on a lead-in service so they have immediate income. I also pay a small percentage on recurring customers with a bonus for reaching a certain level of new clients per month.

An Observation: The biggest hurdle for most consultants is not enrolling the client but prospecting. The most important thing you can do is put a "pre-sales" process in place so you move the business owner from a postcard, letter or ad to a video to picking up the telephone to call you. The accelerator for me was that I specialized in working in a specific profession to start. Soon, I was regularly recommended by key influencers.

Hope this helps.

I agree that you need to have someone already selling to business owners or, at least, someone who is not afraid to talk.

My most recent hire has come from the local university. He's a 20 something guy who already has a business that he is working and wanted to add to his income via selling.

I placed an ad in the career board at the university and regularly get calls. Everyone that calls knows it is commission only, so the calls are already pre-qualified.

Monster.com Career Builder.com

The Local Newspapers.....

The Weekly Free Press in your area...

The list goes on....

Also... you can use craigslist and backpage but the people you will find will be less than savory. Just my experience.

The best thing to do... is Hired Hard... Manage Easy....


So my thing is to make sure you have all the training materials and literature needed ready before posting any ads....

Also... what was mentioned before about prospecting is KEY....

You may want to hire prospectors first. Get you some telemarketers to call B2B and set you appointments. Run a few of the appointments and make sure they are solid appointments... Then hire closers to run the appointments....

Finding quality people to do everything is somewhat trying at times. Unless you have a system in place.

I give a LARGE portion of the initial sales and recurring off the backend to make sure that they will stay.... This can be a curse. Sometimes they will make enough money to sustain thier bills and beer money, then stop selling. Coast for the rest of the week.

That is where being a motivational manager comes in REAL handy.

If you are going to hire people because you want a hands free business... You better just do the sales yourself for a while. Document "standard operating procedures" for EVERYTHING. That way you can hand a "system" for everything over to someone and say... "Go".

Even then, you will have some major headaches and pitfalls.... just not as many.

Hiring, firing, and managing is a full time job in itself

Commission sales is tough to do, and discourages most from applying. The ideal candidate for a commission sales position would be comfortable with selling from their own leads. Also they would have a positive sales track record, with indication of future improvement.

Sales professionals are always great to aquire, but be sure to compensate them honestly. Most professionals are looking for high or low commission sales, that convert well.

Hi,

I've actually got 2 people working for me on commission.

I found these two (and many more) on Craigslist and oDesk.com

Good Luck!

~Russ

Russ,
How are your commission only salespeople working out for you?

I've tried to get commission only sales people before and had NO luck... even tho other people were reporting success with it. I thought I was doing something wrong... LOL. I'll probably try it again some day.

All the people I interviewed in November turned out to be unreliable or had other offerings, and basically, I lost time and got no one hired. And you know what? It still makes total sense to me to find at least one rep.

I found out how much I'd make per call, postcard, etc, based in estimations but very thorough with it (I have previous experience in sales). Factoring time and money, the ROI on ONE 15-20 hour a week rep is very much worth it. It's worth "losing" aka "investing" 10-15 hours trying to find one (including interview and everything).

I made a video explaining the job, what is expected, how much I'd pay etc. No BS, direct yet professional tone. The goal is to weed out bad candidates before they waste my time (in these tough economic times, many people are willing to "try" prospecting at your expense - not so with a commission income and a clear description of what's expected).

Note: pay them WELL and fast. Give them a surprise bonus for the first sale, bonuses for volume, etc. On a commission based job, if the commission is not very high, forget it. You'll lose them in a hurry, that's if they ever try out in the first place. They should make AT LEAST $25-30 an hour if they perform decently, a lot more would be better.

Even if it amounts to 30-40% commission for you, remember it's your foot in the door for that client, you might upsell them other services, get referrals (and you should!), etc. Much like in IM where they pay affiliates 50-75% on the front end and keep all the back end money, consider doing the same to attract and KEEP commission based reps.

I am on both sides of the fence with the last two posts....

I have hired waiters that became top performing sales people.

At the same time.... I have hired professional sales reps that outperform the waiters...

It really all comes down to one thing.... Management.

If you manage well... they will perform well.

Training is a key part of management. I am currently setting up a series of training videos that I will make available to all of my reps. Phone or Outside sales. That way they can reference, and know what is expected. No stone unturned.

Weekly sales meeting is not enough if you are doing a virtual team.

Yellow book sales reps are all virtual as of the end of this year. But they still have an office for accountability. That way... when people aren't performing, they are tied to a desk for prospecting until they meet there goals. Almost like a form of punishment.

Yellow book also gives thier reps $500 per month for office space allowance to make up for the expense of having a home office.

I like this model.

A lot...


But if I don't manage well... it doesn't matter who I hire or where they office.

Plain and simple.

I have been trying to hire 2 sales people. i have been advertising on gumtree (here in the UK) but it seems like an uphill task.

Most of the time when i try to interview them it ends up like they are interviewing me..any tips?

Take control of the conversation. It is about positioning.

You are the one in charge. If they control and pace the conversation.... they are in charge.

Stop it.

They will always try and control your conversations from that point forward. It is actually a good thing that they know how to do that. Because that is what it takes in sales. You want to pace the conversation and be able to steer it towards the close. So them doing that is not necessarily a bad thing.

What is not so good.

Is if you can't keep up or maintain the pace yourself. If you are going to manage these people you will be the one in charge. Simply establishing dominance when someone tries to go this route will fix that.

Even if you have to just come out and say....

"Hey, Let me ask the questions here. I will leave some time when we are done if you have any questions."

Another way... is to simply answer their questions then roll into a question of your own. And just keep firing the questions off. Don't let them take control. You are the boss. You are the one that is going to be signing the checks. It is YOUR decision that counts. Not theres. There are plenty of other sales people out there. If they don't like the way that you do business. There's the door.

Straight and simple.

The key in sales... "is to care, just not that much"

What I mean by that is love the one your with. But if they want to play by their rules.

They are done.

This is your game. They play how you want to play or go home.

In my experience, you need to offer some base, even if it's just minimum wage. There's only a very select few that can live off of whatever ELSE they got going on while they build up their pipe line.

And typically, what happens, is you become a "hiring manager" rather then running your business. Commission based people have NOTHING keeping them their but the hope of BIG COMMISSIONS so you get a lot of turnover. Which in-turn, makes you a hiring manager, continually trying to keep bodies in those seats, instead of doing what you should be doing as the owner of the company. Also, with all that turn-over, you also turn into a "training manager" too...teaching each new commission based rep "the ropes" and how it all works.

Having said that, there is, of course, the exception - I've had commission based guys and in-fact, I have one right now. But he also has a side-business driving limos, so he's not full-time.

If you're serious, pay someone a little base and train them to be an awesome sales rep for your company, then THAT PERSON can train new people and you can continue to do what's important... GROW YOUR BUSINESS.

Agreed.... I share a lot of the same experiences and sentiment.

At least for the moment I share the same sentiment.

But... When you are first starting out and you don't have an office or place people can report to. Hiring commission only has it's advantages.

You just have to be full aware of the disadvantages listed in Adams Post.

I use to have commission only sales people, but I had them sitting in a big glamorous office where they could be supervised on the phones, and also they were calling on leads that I generated and presold on the internet.

So, if its a "piece of cake" and you can provide the right atmosphere, system... it works, in my experience, or if you can give them pre set appointments.

But for "cold calling" I would rather pay someone by the hour so I dont have to spend the next month "selling the job to them everyday..." to keep them motivated.

Commission sales reps work... ask Amway, people will even "pay you" to become a rep!

I have some amazing experience in creating systems where people actually pay "you" to become a rep ... but thats another story floating around here somewhere.

Said all that to say...

I just find it to be generally less trouble and hand holding when the telemarketer has to prove themselves to you and not the other way around.

So, I choose hourly.

If what you are selling is of high value then you can call a head hunter. If not you can use craigslist.

One trick I've learned in hiring commission only people is to use a 'vanishing base'. They get say an hourly rate for a certain amount of time as they learn the business and it starts to vanish. Basically they get hourly for 3 months until they prove they can do the job then it switches to commission.

You can grab some gems doing this who aren't sure if they want to risk it on commission only when they may be great at it.

I recall someone offering a system to hire and training outside sale reps does anyone recall that website name was someone Maria Gudelis recommended

Just found this thread. I am an outside sales rep looking at getting into internet/offline/mobile marketing. If anyone is looking for a rep in Minneapolis please contact me. You must include an email because I cannot PM you back, I do not have 50 posts. See my signature. Thanks.

Hey Amfire,

In my ten plus years in business, I have NEVER come across a "commission only" salesperson who can actually sell consistently. There's a reason these guys are willing to work for commission only (because no serious company would hire them on a retainer/salary).

My two cents: If you're trying to get business through cold calling, either yourself or by hiring salespeople, you're going about selling ALL WRONG. In my humble opinion, if you're looking for new business, you should NEVER do these things:

-DON’T cold call businesses
-DON’T email businesses out of the blue (this is actually SPAM)
-DON’T send your potential clients “post cards”
-DON’T buy a targeted list
-DON’T hire telemarketers
-DON’T hire a salesperson to sell for you

Why?

It's not because these techniques don't work. They do.

It's just that there are far more effective methods out there that require less effort and convert much better.

-Logan

This dudes trying to sell something.... I can just feel it.

What an interesting post, some people have it correct, some are guessing. With commission only you will get 99% rubbish replies that will just frustrate you, these players are novices that can not do better, and the thing most people miss is the real pro commission only sales person, picks you / not you picking them.

so offer good commissions, good conditions, good products and services, good support structure and from the right people will start to find you.

If you think your the boss man with this level of person you would be wrong, they are their own business, they have a living based on their own back before they met you and do what they do well and thats sell. Most business owners just need to support them and let them go do their thing with out the need to feel like they are the boss, if given respect flows both ways.

a commission only sales person on high levels will think and act more like this, where the employer may say "sounds great, you have everything we are looking for when can you start?" the sales guy says to himself, "yes i am sure I do but my question I am asking is do you have what I want?"

and many top level / pro sales guys will probably cross you off the list and move on leaving you with the rubbish, so line your ducks in a row to catch the top level people.

And to top the question of where people say you get a lot of low level people apply, it also stands that many commission only jobs advertised are by companies b\/ bosses who have NFI - they do not want to pay some money out to retain a good sales person on the books, the products and services they offer are almost ever crap and not thought out, they often have no support material, have little to no knowledge of marketing or how to generate sales and every other known failure before they start. It is these same people who then cry the comm only sales guys do not work.

The high rolling sales guys are out there are are extremely good at what they do, bait your hook properly and you will attract them, and when you land the real deal look after them like gold and they will return ten fold for you.

I have posted on craigslist to hire some commission only reps, but nada.
Craigslist seems to be flooded with sales jobs, many of them are bogus MLM stuff, so I guess people don't take it seriously since there aren't too many real sales jobs.

I will try local directories and local newspaper classifieds.

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely try USA Today as well as the local papers.
I don't have much of a clue what to offer the telemarketers, though, 10%? and Another 10% for the closers?

I have to constantly advertise for new people, but I get most of mine from CL. Most don't work out but I do not talk to any of them UNTIL they start making me (and themselves) money. Before that it is all email and either they take action and get results FAST or they are fired.

Hello Amfire,
I think I can help you in this problem. Have you heard iMerchant? Or you can PM me here for some discussions. Thanks!


Regards,
gibung0gdawkah

I have been going through this riff raff as well. From a guy who was selling 60k deals 4 times a week for a major for profit online college. I have found it DIFFICULT at minimum to find a rep with the same motivations.

Odesk...joke. Overseas people looking to 'milk' us so called 'rich' americans for hourly. I always get them on skype first and interview them and test their english and sales ability. If and I stress IF, I fine a potential, I make them sell me on their abilities and try them out free for a couple hours. So far, they all have produced nothing. No loss for me, saved $$.

I just have realized I need to quit avoiding it and hit the damn phones bottom line.

I called 50 businesses today and sent out 12 estimates to interested parties. Yes, a few I would have liked to go down to their business and toss them into a UFC boston crab, but thats part of the game. Just keep smiling and dialing! IT WORKS!!

POINT: Nobody can do what you can do yourself the way you want.

Cheers!

WHAT! No one wants to bite on my post bait?

Its all true and I have valid reasons too.

We have a commission only salesman working with us, who myself and my business partner have known for years. He's a natural born salesman and we wanted him onside. To that end we offered a 50% split with a 10% renewal and a % of the sale price of the business. All he does is sell and we take care of the rest.

We figured that the end game % would provide loyalty and commitment when the next shiny thing came along.

I'm looking forward to handing him a six figure cheque in 5 years time.

Tony

Does anyone have a template of the type of contract they use when hiring salespeople to out and get clients? I'd like to maybe bring on board a couple of them and just offer a flat commission per client and also a percentage of the monthly retainer?

You should offer them a small amount per lead and then a high amount on per sale. I'm starting a business and will need commission only reps but my business will require applications to be submitted, so I'm able to offer them commission on each quality lead that is submitted. I've tried the business last year with commission only and it didn't work out at all. You can also offer them a weekly small base pay after a probationary period of 30 to 60 days, I've notice some companies on craigslist doing this.

Wow, great thread! I was looking around for the best way to hire sales people and came across ClearFit.com, which says they help match the personality traits to jobs. It makes sense, probably worth the investment to get it right. Piggy backing looks like the best way to go though. Thanks guys for your experience and insight.

One of my services is solving this very problem.

High profile businesses hire and pay me top dollar to recruit good sales people for them.

Yes, commission based sales reps will work, and are the best if you learn how to find them.

Let me give a nugget to help. When placing your ad you need to use words that will weed out some just by reading it. “This is not a position for everyone” “Most Good sales people will not make it past the phone interview”

It is an art and a complete process in truly closing the gap of turnover of constant hiring, training, and then losing money because you once again hired the wrong person.

Start out by carefully wording your ad, which is your first step.

Hope this helps you in some way.

Only just came accross this thread! I really learned a lot from all your insights... Just wanted to show my appreciation guys. We all need to know about each other's experiences, as the best way to get wisdom is to learn from somebody's else mistake.

My take on the thread: It's possible to have a good salesperson for your biz; just make sure you have a good product to sell, a fair commisssion to offer, and above all, get a people person!

Russ,

May I add that a high percentage of male applicants are "salesmen" because
they are too lazy to really work.
A high percentage of female applicants are appreciative of the opportunity and
are more conscientious in the follow-up part of sales.

Hugh

I agree that you need to have someone already selling to business owners or, at least, someone who is not afraid to talk.

My most recent hire has come from the local university. He's a 20 something guy who already has a business that he is working and wanted to add to his income via selling.

I placed an ad in the career board at the university and regularly get calls. Everyone that calls knows it is commission only, so the calls are already pre-qualified

Jays80,

What are you trying to sell??
Please pm me the details of the product, we specialize in recruiting commission based affiliates. We already have over 1000 active affiliates selling for us. If it is sell able, we will sell it.

Thanks!
VV

There are plenty of sales people that can be paid on commission basis. You can check online jobs site to see.

I'm seeing a lot of people asking where they can find commission sales reps.

There is a company that specifically helps people specifically target commission only salespeople, Time To Hire. www.timetohire.com Their service is cheaper and goes beyond a simple job posting and has pretty immediate results.

Ask your business network on Linked In.

Start attending local business networking meetings. Successful salespeople know that strategic relationships (networking) are important and can usually be found at these meetings. You might find one that's interested in finding a new opportunity.

Consider attending a local Toastmasters meeting each week. You can brush up on your confidence and public speaking abilities while potentially finding some quality sales reps who understand the need to constantly better themselves.

If you're looking for "manufacturers sales reps" or "independent sales reps" you can simply Google those terms and find online companies that maintain large databases of reps and then try to match them with your company. An "independent" or "manufacturers" rep is generally someone who is usually self employed that is already walking into the kinds of businesses that you're trying to target. You can ask them if they'll "rep" your product along with their existing "lines".

Hope this helps!

I had ever used commission only sales peoples. I get them by promised a big commission per sale, it was $300/ sale. But no sale they made. I don't know what's wrong with my management.

We used to have quite a few "Commission only" sales reps working for one of my businesses, and it worked very very well indeed... Although we would supply them the leads and then they would arrange meetings with the potential leads, we had a rep in each major city and we scaled up pretty big in the end.

Each rep would have sample packets and full contents of what they was selling, provided by our company with marketing stuff thrown in, there are people out there who will do "commission only" especially in this day and age, with the current job shortages.

I agree with this completely. On a positive note, if you're really good at what you do and have a really good/intense training program, almost anyone can be made into a producing commission sales rep.

The main requirement is that the person have a lot of drive and determination. A lot of "losers" actually fall into this category because they're down on their luck for one reason or another. They're desperate, motivated and are often easily trainable.

Over the years I've found that it's impossible to spot which candidate will be successful. It's best to hire a bunch of them, provide expert group-training, and see which ones rise to the top.

There's a new website just launching in the UK Connecting great companies with commission-only sales professionals: CommissionCrowd - connecting commission only sales people with companies. Cheers, Nicola

Excellent information! Thanks everyone.

Of course they exist!
Most car dealerships and alarm salesmen are commission only .
You can usually get set up with a draw when you first start so you get a paycheck.

A draw is when the business gives you a loan for a certain amount of money that you have to pay back when you get a sale..

I met someone at NY and she helped me great deal to achieve some business. But it's really hard to keep them happy with payment terms. I'll recommend you to post in Craigslist and seek someone to help you with.