I'm Having Problems Hiring Telemarketers / Sales Reps

by 91 replies
138
Hey Everyone,
I've recently been trying to hire telemarketers recently through oDesk, eLance, Craigslist, and Clearfit. I am not willing to pay for Job Advertising as of yet, as I don't have the money for it.
I am paying commission only, offering 30% commission on the $797 sales. One person I paid to test achieved these results :

75 Calls
50 Answers
10 Interested
2 Sales

These were from qualified leads. Anyhow I have been trying to hire people for two weeks now, with no results. I have no more money for investing, and I don't have ANY time for doing the marketing myself as I am full booked 24/7 with school. I generally get half an hour at a time, but can probably get a little more. The idea is that I can hopefully get a couple people marketing these mobile websites for me, so that I can stay focused mainly on school, and have some actual money. If you would like the link to my odes posting just ask.

So what I'm asking
- How do you guys recruit these people
- I know it's possible to hire commission only sales people, I've read lots in the past few days. Why what could I be doing wrong?
- Is 30% Commission on that fair?

Any information would be extremely appreciated. I am running on very little sleep so if there are any grammatical errors please excuse them.
#offline marketing #hiring #problems #reps #sales #telemarketers
  • Who ever you hired for your test I'd give them a raise and ask them to keep calling!
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  • I have 2 telemarketers that work for me full-time and I pay them hourly + bonus. The ROI is great. When I first started in offline consulting I hired commission based reps and had mixed results, I still have sales agents/partners that refer business to me.

    But my 2 full-time dedicated B2B telemarketers are paid hourly + bonus. Higher cost up front but you can definitely attract quality candidates.

    Best of luck,
    Ahmad
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    • I am having same problem...waste too much much and time on out sourcing telemarketing..

      what is good hourly rate for telemarketing? would you mind to share how much you paying for hourly?
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    • Glad to see this post. Ahmad, you sound like a solid businessman that appreciates the value of focusing on ROI. The Great Debate here on offline forum is over Cold Calling. And it gets pretty personal, but to me it's just a business decision based on a person's unique circumstances.

      A) Some people are just plain out of the ballpark, thinking they can outsource everything. You simply cannot avoid contact with prospects and customers, and why would you expect to. You are just hanging around here as a hobby if that is your attitude.

      B) Those small time operators new to marketing with a huge fear of the telephone... leading to complete paralysis. Just for the heck of it, let's say its Okay if you don't want to do cold call prospecting, and there are other ways to get qualified leads... Okay, but the phone is still your friend. Even if you, the owner/salesperson, use it to make an appointment for a face to face meeting. The phone is a business tool. The phone is your friend. And someday you might actually overcome the cold calling pucker factor, once you start making any kind of business calls regularly.

      C) Then there are those who are tele-sales phone pros who love doing it daily. These folks can take a decent list, smile and dial all day, do the qualifying, and close the deal over the phone. They make big money too. For small time operators in offline marketing, you are blessed if you come to the table with phone sales experience. But for everyone else, hiring great phone sales folks ain't that easy. Primarily because the business models most have here(websites for $500, SMS services) would not pay enough for a real phone guy to work for you. They certainly won't work by the hour, and why should they.

      D) Direct Mail and other lead generation techniques. These work for some business models like gangbusters and for others not so much. In my experience, direct mail done properly is a very good fit for small time operators who cannot do cold calling whatever their reason is.

      Some see post cards and direct mail as a crutch to avoid cold calling. Well if it is, then so be it. It works. For clients I coach directly, we setup an extremely targeted local list sending highly personalized mail pieces that even get direct replies back... yeah, some leads jump right up into the boat following the chum and call you back. BUT, I make it mandatory that the client/small time operator do a series of followup phone calls to the entire list.

      Makes is way easier to pick up the phone and say,

      "Hi this is Mary Wills with XYZ here in Denver. And I have a small problem, perhaps you can help me with this."

      Gatekeeper: "Well Mary, I can try what's the problem?"

      "Thanks, my assistant sent Mr. Smith a package on Tuesday and I wanted to do a followup... my problem is I don't know the best time for Mr. Smith to speak with me. Could you help me with that please?"

      In the end, multiple followup phone calls to that extremely targeted list produces very high conversion rates. Nothing wrong with swimming in a small pond... as long as that pond has been stocked with plenty of fish.

      Businessperson focusing on ROI

      And then we have Ahmad, he understands the lead generation process. He's devoted the time and invested in solid, full time employees( or 1099) to do the appointment setting for him. And maybe they close some deals too. The ROI is the reason he does it. Some business models require making 100's of cold calls for qualifying and if the owner has high value time, doesn't it make sense to have someone do it successfully for $20 an hour. Ahmad's time is certainly worth more than that and using lead generation he's got a steady stream of leads all the time.

      I've setup smaller telemarketing campaigns for clients using some USA based freelancers who work for me. All have been successful because telemarketing for lead generation fit the clients business model, the profit margins, and the particular service/product offered. All key points for success.

      The final key is in the script and the training given to your already-skilled appointment setters. This is the single most important step for success. The telemarketer's job is to get the message beyond the gatekeeper, qualify a decision-maker, and if interest is there, close for an appointment only. The words they say make all the difference in success. Give them a carefully crafted script they can just read.

      The fuel for this debate over cold calling is because the threads/debate seems never to be centered on a single business model or product/service. A key point. It gets personal quickly because those following a successful model contribute their knowledge and opinion on cold calling with their model. As well, there is a huge difference between small time operators who are new to marketing and entrepreneurship... and we sales/marketing guys with years of experience and skillsets.

      However, what Ahmad is doing as a small businessman is following the same lead generation methods used by millions of large companies every day. Using ln-house programs and outsourced, lead generation and appointment setting using the phone is a huge industry... the reason is because it works.

      And yet, using telemarketers will only work for small time operators if they satisfy all the key criteria. Start out with blue sky thinking where your goal is to avoid contact with the prospects and leads, and failure is guaranteed.

      Regards,
      Jan
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  • Blinking, Just PM'd you - hope that will help!
  • So they come to your office to call or call from their home? how do you find lead to call? yp.com?
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    • It's 100% work from home position. They have a complete home office with high speed Internet, phone,etc.

      They call on leads from Manta, YP, and some other methods I use

      I have weekly sales meetings with them, we use a CMS and track everything.

      - Ahmad
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  • any tips on how and where to hire them?
  • theres tons of ways to find telemarketers online job sites, social media, etc. Just test different things out.
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  • I've used many CRMs this is one of my favorites which I currently use: Highrise: Small Business CRM, Web-Based Contact Manager

    - Ahmad
  • Have people pay you to hand you new customers. How?

    Partner w/ other vendors targeting the same customers. How bout doing a deal w/ a bank who wants new customers for commercial banking accounts. The bank can offer new customers or existing customers signing up for some new bank service or loan, a free webpage, places listing or whatever. Some basic package. You give the bank a wholesale deal on the package they offer to customers and prospects. Then the customers will come to you for additional services.

    Tap non competing vendors sales forces to help you get new clients or at least warm introductions/lead gen. You can give them a cut of your setup fee. Everyone is looking for additional part time income, especially sales people who are already selling a group of customers something. The easiest thing to do is sell their current customers something additional.
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  • Mr jgregory, everyone wandering the warrior forum needs to read your post! Thank you for sharing.
  • The best solution to get rid from the problems of hiring telemarketers is to use the service of B2B telemarketing. Apart from promoting your products and services, they also take a good care of the customers needs.
  • We've tried hiring commission only sales people but have yet to find one! The stats you quote are not uncommon for telemarketing. We've done a number of campaigns ourselves and using a couple of different telemarketers and the results have all been around a 6% conversion rate. The hardest thing we've found is actually getting through to the decision maker in larger companies as this can take 10 calls alone just to speak to the right person so it's very time consuming.
  • Recruiting is also a function of salesmanship in online media.

    You have to come up with strong enough reasons a top performer would sit up
    and take notice of what you are offering.

    You have to be that salesman to recruit top talent.

    Best,
    Ewen
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    • Like any outsourcing jobs to hire it takes time, patience, testing to find the right candidate. It's like finding diamonds in the rough
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  • I pay sales reps VERY HIGH commissions AND they can get a low residual as well for the life of the client. That's for when they do all the sales process from prospecting to close. I pay 50-60% of that on leads I provide them.

    My issue is with telemarketers closing for phone appointments with myself and the reps. They need to be paid by the hour PLUS bonus for quality and performance. But HOW do we track their actual working hours? They will work from their home, so I don't know how to track what they actually do, besides having at least 3 at the same time, and make them aware of what the others are doing to #1 stimulate them #2 keep them honest.
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    • Hey Jay,

      Have you had trust issues with home based telemarketers?

      You've got to treat them like any other employee. They go through a hiring process (interview,etc), you train them, set goals, have weekly sales meetings,etc.

      I'm upfront and honest with them 100% of the time, I pay them on-time and give them nice bonuses, of course I've had to coach them at times, I NEVER hawk over them...I give them some room but I definitely set expectations.

      Bottom line...as far as tracking home based telemarketers...make sure you have weekly sales meetings with them, pay ontime + pay nice bonuses, and you set expectations.

      Thanks,
      Ahmad
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    • You track them by using a dialer system that way you can listen anytime ...some dialers have recording feautures not sure and you can check login minutes or the time being on the system
  • Jan,

    Thanks for the kind words!

    - Ahmad
  • As a professional Telemarketer, why should my ability be linked to your performance?

    Meaning, say I got you twenty qualified appointments and you could only close one, why should I only get paid on that one when I actually got you twenty appointments of the same quality and yet you were only able to close one of them?

    Also as Rus pointed out, are lot of people can see the benefits of using a professional Telemarketer such as myself, but they are not willing to pay that Telemarketer what they are worth...go figure.

    I am all for working on a fair commission structure though.
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    • As an employer I agree with this wholeheartedly. The you make, the more I make. It's a no brainer.

      I pay my telemarketers a base commission per appointment set, a bonus commission on an appointment sold, and a residual commission for the life of the account. This way youre incentivized on quality, quantity, AND longevity.

      @OP - you'll get a better quality of applicant throwing $50 at PPC with Indeed than you will fishing through 500 Craigslist resumes.
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    • What, to you, is a fair commission structure?
    • Are you the judge of which leads are "quality" and which ones aren't???

      This could easily go both ways... you claiming the guy can't close, and he's claiming you came up with crappy leads.


      Don't know 'bout other countries....but in the US, this is illegal in many states and is even illegal in some states unless you notify them verbally at the start of the call, and in some states the person has to verbally say that they agree to be recorded.
      • [1] reply
    • Why? Because I want quality leads, that's why. Many years ago I was selling CPR/First Aid courses for a company. Their telemarketers basically just inquired if the people called would be interested if a course was set up in their area. Those that said yes, I'd wind up on their doorsteps 7-14 days later. I disliked the sneaky way to get in but the course had good feedback and the cause was good.

      My point here, is that when the telemarketer had done a good (and real) job, the sales were easy. If they just put names in there (and some certainly did fluff up their lists) I had a horrible night.

      If my telemarketers do a good inquiry and a little bit of presell, me and my sales reps will close a lot more sales per lead. I don't want fake leads sprinkled in there so they can pretend they have worked x amount of hours - and I pay a bonus per lead too.

      And it's crystal clear to my reps that only the ones that are good closers and work hard at prospecting anyway will get the leads (I will keep some for myself as well). If I know a sales rep is struggling I'll adjust the telemarketer pay if that rep somehow gets the leads, which will be infrequent as again, I will send the leads to quality reps only. It's another way to reward top producers.

      I pay VERY Well and on time. With the bonuses, good telemarketers can get $50+ per hour. As the bonuses per leads and sales are all calculated, I know I can pay very well and yet still come up at least even at the POS. And then make money on the recurrent income.

      I just wonder what's YOUR idea of a "fair commission structure". Why wouldn't the quality of your leads matter to our company?
  • Try challenging them, or shall we say an incentive program, if they can make/convert prospects to sales for at least 15-20 then a huge bonus awaits for them. Or you might try the quota system, say they need to make at least 20 sales per week or else ( this one is inhuman though ).
  • Telemarketers have to be people who are really dedicated working for you or your company - motivate them that they can step forward in the company - give them a good salary - goals to achive and you should be fine.
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  • I typically go thru craigslist, and offer a $100 payout for each sale, it serves as more encouragement than the prospective employee's only seeing percentages.
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  • Hi there.

    You are not doing anything wrong.

    Good telemarketers and sales people today are hard to find. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

    People are lazy (technology does not help) have no self motivation and basically WANT money but they do not want to WORK for it!
    They cannot take NO for an answer and give up in one hour. They want EASY and
    they want something for nothing.

    Keep placing ads and searching is all I can say.

    Sooner or later you will run across a SERIOUS person. Its frustrating as heck I know.

    All the best!
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    • That's what socialism teaches people... we need to get back to "you get paid for what you produce" instead of ye olde welfare mentality
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  • Starting this week I am taking on sales people. I am semi-automating the sales process. I am using an email an autoresponder to aid me in the hiring process. I will be posting job ads all over the internet namely free job sites like craigslist and others. If the potential salesman is interested they will email my email address. In which case they will get an automatic response back from my email which is about 5 pages long. It describes there responsibilities and forms of payment structures. I am forcing anyone who wants to work as a salesman for me to get itleast 1 sale per week for 4 consecutive weeks before I even talk to them. Then I will invest a little technology and training into them. Hopefully this will alleviate the issues of hiring inadequate staff. I'll let you know how it goes.
  • I agree that if you do find someone who is good and brings you appointments or leads or whatever, you reward them for the task they were hired to do.

    If you do find a good one, hold onto them tight, treat them well because they're few and far between.

  • Very nice inputs JGregory... Almost like a complete WSO...
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  • Awesome thread! I'm in the same position as OP
  • Good tips. I'd also let them know what the others are doing, reward the top one(s), to get the competitive juice going. All in a more laid back fashion than with sales reps but still, telemarketers also thrive in a such an environment.
  • Our company has the same problem with you. We have hired telemarketers for almost six months, but nobody comes. I think telemarketing is a big challenge, so many people don't want to do it.
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    • No body comes as in to a call center you own?

      If you paid them and they signed a agreement etc why wouldn't they come?
  • Hi marksolis08 can we talk by mail ? my name is Angel I am interested in your knowledges ..... wolfdem2011 -- gmail ..please write me
  • Blinking, 2 sales out of 75 calls is excellent. Is that a telemarketer you paid for? Was there also a commission?

    Most commission-only telemarketers won't perform as well as paid ones, and therefore it's much harder and more time-consuming to find a reliable one. The ones that are any good are spoiled for choice if you think about it.

    The best option would be to use the profit from your 2 sales to hire the same telemarketer again, plus maybe another. Investing money makes money back quicker. Much quicker. If you have good telemarketers on the phone to leads as much as possible, you will get more sales, and then more money to invest back into your sales staff.

    If you're only offering mobile websites to prospects, don't hesitate to also offer standard web design, SEO, content services... and so on. It of course makes sense to put one service forward in particular, though.
  • Hi there

    Try to place WSO ad on this forum that might help you to find some one good.
    Thanks
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  • Here are a few tips that I have found successful in securing and keeping sales people.

    #1. Don't call them sales people. There are many people that are capable of selling your product or service, but that little bad word keeps people from contacting you. Use the word Business Coach or Business Analyst. You can even be creative and come up with a unique title.

    #2. Start them off with a lower priced product or service and give them the lion's share of the commission. For example, on a $175 product, give them $100 per sale. They can easily sell at that price and make a decent commission. The math is easy as well. 10 sales per week equals $1,000 per week.

    #3. Offer bonuses that are easily attainable. Sales people want to accomplish goals! Don't set bonuses so high that it's impossible to reach unless you have a big fat "S" on your chest. Note: A bonus does not have to be money. It could be a cheap trophy, etc.

    #4. Give people titles as they make certain sales goals. Example: When a Business Coach reaches 10 thousand in company volume, (Notice I did not use the word sales) he becomes an Executive Business Coach. (EBC for short.) In general, people love titles.

    #5. Develop a serious training program which includes webinars on how to promote, sales letters, emails. scripts, role playing, etc.

    You just can't expect people to go out there and just do it unless you give them the proper training and tools.

    I hope this helps!

    Good Success!

    Vondre'
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  • Vondre,
    All of those are great ideas. You have to find a way to put some decent $ in the pockets of sales people in the first few weeks or they are on to something else.
  • Hiring commission sales people is the highest turnover business your will ever run. It will take up so much of your time running ads, screening applicants, and conducting interviews you will want to pull you hair out.

    Plus training all the people is a mess if they don't know what they are doing or have experience with the product. I understand I have ran a business of commission sales and have gone threw all the BS of it.

    You need sales though to make money, the amount of time you will spend putting together a team could be spent selling your product yourself!

    I would recommend and this is the cheapest way I can think of to get people to work. Outsource your sales team for a few dollars an hour and make it pt or ft. You keep the profit. If you have NO money for the business then its gonna be a real struggle, you can do it but I wouldn't rely on others to build your business. You have to be able to do what you expect your workers to do.

    Are you a 4.0 student trying to get into a top tier Graduate program if not don't spend so much time at school if your passion is your business. If you are planning on getting a job after school then I would just trash this business now.

    You have to go all in two feet in if you stand a chance of succeeding I hope this was helpful I understand and have been in this position, I still am really....
  • Building a successful sales team involves continuous efforts to train new sales people. Like anything else, including affiliate marketing, you'll eventually find a core sales group. Huge companies like hostgdator are always searching for new affiliates. Your company should do the same, especially if you want it to grow past a one person operation.

    If you want to stay small, don't put a sales force in place. I however enjoy growth!

    Good Success!

    Vondre'
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  • This thread is the blind leading the blind. I am cringing at all the horrible advice on how to monitor, train and keep a telemarketer.

    Here's some real advice, from a telemarketer with 8 years of experience.

    1)You do not have to train me...unless you have done my job for as long as I have. That is never the case, because you always call me because you don't want to, can't find someone that knows what they are doing, or have failed yourself at doing my job.

    2)I do not need to be monitored on Skype, your "awesome" dialer, your CRM, or by you watching me on a google doc (which is a whole other issue). Here's why...if you need to micromanage so much that you are going to sit there and watch me work, why don't I just teach you to do it for yourself? You don't know what you're looking for, you aren't helping me or yourself, and it's just annoying. You can TELL that I'm working when you get your leads, appointments and when I reach or surpass my quota that we agreed upon. THAT'S how you know I worked. If you aren't seeing what you want, and I'm not telling you how to fix the issue, then don't continue to pay me.

    3)You cannot hire any experienced telemarketer/cold caller with commission on sales or pay-per-appointment. I am not a salesman, I am a cold caller, normally that makes an appointment for you, or that finds you leads that are interested. I cannot make a living on YOUR abilities. You pay me to make the appointments and find you leads, I am experienced enough to have listened to what your qualifications are and I will make sure your leads are in line with that. If YOU can't sell them, that's not my problem. I've done my job by getting you in front of them. If you could do it, you would not have needed my services.

    4)Pay your callers an hourly rate, pay them what they are worth. Independent callers will charge 12-18$ per hour based on their experience, and YOUR needs - are they putting appointments in your calendar? Are they following up for you after the appointment? Are they sending emails for you? Are they putting information in a CRM? All these things will cost you different amounts. In addition, if you pay per sale, and you say you need 4 appointments per week at $100 dollars...your cold caller will determine YOUR profit. If they only want to make 3-600 dollars that week, then you'll get the appointments they want to send you. When you pay hourly, you get ALL the leads for that week PLUS as many appointments as I can make. I'm not forced to hang on to a good lead because I'm only getting paid if I turn it into an appointment.

    So, stop looking for cheap people to call for you, unless that is what you want. If you want a call center to whip out 20 hours in a day and not spend time on your needs, and learn what works for your potential clients, then go for it. If you want personal treatment, experience and to find a long term arrangement, let go of what you think you know, and allow someone like me to do my job...you'll thank me.
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    • Let's see,

      I used to manage a room with 36 telemarketers and I can tell you that despite your post, even when in the presence of the employer telemarketers, lie, deviate from the script and in general will say whatever they feel they need too, to get credit for their work.

      So those of here who've cautioned that it's wise to be able to monitor those they've HIRED to work for them it's sound business advice.

      If you can't submit to some level of accountability then what does that really communicate to me the one writing the check.

      Sorry but I wouldn't hire you or your agency no matter how good you say you are.



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  • You're entitled to your opinion. I don't have a problem getting or keeping business

    I never said I don't do reports, or give detailed work. You're assuming. I said I don't need to be monitored like I'm a kid in school. There's a difference in accountability and performance.
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    • Sorry but I've already heard differently from people who've been happy customers of mine that have already used your services. The reports aren't glowing.

      In future, when I'm asked about your "services" from my customers I'll be happy to not comment and just point them to your long rant. They can decide after that to hire you or not.

      Have a great day!

  • It's time to move on boys, we know you don't like me...I'm ok with that.
  • I agree with MWind. If you can't trust who is working for you and have to keep an eye on them 25/8, then you need to learn to do it yourself.

    I plan on outsourcing some calling. I wont be monitoring anything. I'll simply use them again if they're successful. The proof is in the pudding.
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  • For me, it is still better to hire an hourly than on commission basis. For an hourly campaign, you do not only get the lead but the follow ups and other contacts.
  • Here is the issue as I see it.... Hiring people to work from home is hard.

    Hiring them to work in an office by the hour is hard too in a sense, but it works well because there is accountability, supervision and you can train them hands on, they have peer pressure , daily motivation, and company energy to work with, and a clock to punch every day.

    I dont use foreign outsourcers for sales because , well, for alot of reasons, the main one is because, if you give most of them them $500-$1000 bucks to test something for you, they are going to give your pitch to 10 telemarketers and burn your whole test budget in an hour, and nobody really got trained on it enough to get past the development curve to really be able to gauge the success potential...

    But there are more reasons...

    Hiring a person like Mwind is different, because she isnt going to hand your program to ten different telemarketers and burn up your budget in a hour before anyone even got trained.

    I have had a couple of successful homeworkers throughout time, hiring the way most people do... but they are rare, like needles in a haystack.

    I know another guy who has a successful remote call center, but he goes through people like water and cant depend on them to report from day to day. It only works for him because he has 20 different people working with him at all times , so at least 4 or 5 actually show up to work every day. Plus the leads he is writing are so easy that it;s NOTHING for them to get a lead, so its easy money, unlike most sales or lead generation.

    However I DID have a MONSTROUS work from home network back in 2003 for a company I built, and after I moved on from that I used my system to help another company get off the ground as well, and it worked like a charm.

    In my own company (This is going to sound unbelievable) I hired over 2000 nationwide agents, using various advertising methods that would work differently today, but still work.

    And we grossed almost a million dollars inside of six months.

    The system worked on 3 principles

    1: Make people "Pay" to be hired (We charged them $300 to become an agent and take part in our sales opportunity).
    2: Make them beg for the job and prove to YOU why they should be hired, by using scarcity tactics and take aways, as opposed to acting desperate to hire people.
    3: Provide an AMAZING earning opportunity.

    This worked, and MLM companies all know it works. When people have to invest in an opportunity they take it more seriously... and strangely enough, when they have to jump through a few hoops, they value the chance more... Nobody appreciates free stuff.

    Nobody wants to be a part of a club that would have them as a member.

    I grossed $600,000 within a few months from simply recruiting ALONE , let alone made sales from the handful of agents per 100 that actually went out and made sales.

    We made the $300 a "deposit", which came back to them after they got their first 3 sales... or maybe it was 5 sales , I dont remember.

    We gave back some deposits thankfully, but we didnt lose a cent recruiting people and made hundreds of thousands of dollars just off of our hiring process alone.

    If you act like people are privileged to even get a CHANCE to work for your work from home opportunity, they will want it ten times more.

    Take this or leave it, but its a true story.

    -JD

    Edit: It also works off of another principle: "Only a few people out of 100 homeworkers are going to work, so you have to give the opportunity to ALOT of people".

    Which is another thing MLM companies know, and another good reason to charge, because most people you interview and train will waste your time, when it comes to work from home opportunities, and time is money. You may as well MAKE some for your recruiting time.

    This isnt the only way to make it work, but it did work, and I ended up inadvertantly making more off of selling the opportunity than I did selling the web pages.

    Alot of homeworkers want opportunity, but few will run with it.
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  • A few years back, I've build a 7 figure business (selling high premium cat food subscriptions, but that's another story ) that relied heavily on telemarketing.

    Let me tell you one thing:

    If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

    We've had telemarketing coaches in that would charge 5 figures just to show up, to train our staff.

    Was it worth it? absolutely. Those guys would close calls with conversions that I just couldn't believe. They helped our guys improve massively.

    Long story short:

    In this business, my experience is this.

    - Pay commission only - and you'll have all the desparate "biz opp" seekers that THINK they can sell on the phone.

    - pay low fees + comm - and you might get a bit of a better quality, but still - you're far away from doing good.

    - pay high fees + comission - you'll get a lot of attention, but you'll have to have a strict quality management in place to make sure it's worth the fees....

    There ARE superstars that will work for commission only, but they only do it if the market is right and your leads are right.

    And here we are at the MOST IMPORANT THING that people don't seem to get:

    If you pay somebody no commission, or 10 bucks per hour, and he BURNS THROUGH YOUR LIST WITH THE SPEED OF LIGHT - then he doesn't cost you 10 bucks per hour, but rather x times the amount you pay for every single lead.

    Those leads are dead. You have to generate new ones, so the REAL PRICE price you pay can go into the HUNDREDS per hour...

    ... plus, your sales will still be miserable.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • There is more than one way to skin a cat, and everyone will think theirs is the best. We can only learn from others, or learn what we DON'T want to do. Even if you don't get anything, someone else may have been looking for their advice!
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Personally, when I hire I'm looking for people that want to make a long term income. These are individuals that are NOT focused on the hourly wage. These are people that have a "can do" attitude, are goal oriented, competitive and not willing to just "settle" for an hourly income. I pay great bonuses based on performance. Show me the money and I'll show you the money again and again - guaranteed.

    The people I hire that stick around will enjoy repeat customers that will sometimes remain loyal to you for many years. Once you build a relationship many people actually look forward to your calls. Some will even call in and place orders!

    I have some customers now that I've done business with while I worked at six different companies (2 of my own).

    I've been in sales for 25 years of my life and 16 of those were in telemarketing. In the industry I'm in now I started out with a minimum wage guarantee for the first 30 days and minimum wage or commission, whichever was greater, after that. I now own my own company.

    Finding good sales reps is like panning for gold. My old boss used to give people 3-5 days max. One day of listening in and studying the scripts, one day of actual "hand holding" to help them if they had questions or needed help closing a sale and then 1-3 days on their own, depending on the person.

    Some people are too timid and quit after training. Some will talk up a storm, but never get to the point. Some will talk up a storm and never ask for the sale! Some will talk up a storm, ask for the sale, keep talking before they give the person a chance to answer, and actually talk the customer out of buying, when they may have gotten a sale if they'd just shut up!

    I've seen it all. Bottom line - if a person can't follow a simple script exactly as it's written "word for word" and ask for the order after the presentation is over when it's written right on the script for them, they're history!

    I will train the right people. People love working for me. But they also understand that the big money takes time to earn. The pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow, not the beginning.

    My two bits.
    • [ 3 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Unless you are running a boiler room, in order to succeed, you won't ever get quality leads, appointments, or sales if you don't hire people that can actually form thoughts and hold a conversation. Will you get anything? Of course! However if you hired people that have a brain and can think for themselves you would get much more. We never recommend or follow a script word for word, and those we train are not trained to read, they are given a basic script and trained to talk and engage the prospect, then close when given buying signals. What happens when they are caught off guard and can't hold a normal conversation? They sound like what they are - untrained, unqualified zombies that have no idea what they are doing.

      If you don't give quality training to the right candidates, you won't get a quality return.

      JMO
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • some of you love to make things much more complicated then it needs to be....obviously that's human nature.

    i hired a guy and simply gave him the script an said i expect you to get me about 4 leads+ day....no hand holding or peaking in etc get to know the offer and work it as you see best.

    2 weeks in he hands me 4 leads and bunch of excuses. He's gone

    Next one..pretty much the same but worse. Gone

    Next one..bingo. 12-20 leads a week. All is great.

    People seem to love the "busy-ness" of business and not the making money.

    Enjoy life.......
    • [1] reply
    • Whaaat, yu didn't even mention what sales were generated..I can see why you weren't successful with those telemarketers..

      ***No training

      ***No supervision

      ***No encouragement to succeed

      I dought very much that if that's the way you had treated your marketers you would have been in business long..
      Then again, not much was said in your post anyway so much i sleft up in the air.

      Mikaedi
  • 100% agreed..if some half spoken English dielect read from card is calling me.....they are gone.


  • I would recommend Time To Hire (timetohire.com) for hiring telemarketing or telesales people. For under $400 you can between 30-100 or more responses from telemarketer sales reps - they call you instead of the other way around.

    As far as CRM, my favorite is Zoho CRM as well. Infinitely customizable with great workflows and automation.
  • I worked as an appointment setter when I was MUCH younger. I was paid per contact made plus $10 for each appointment that held. I also had to provide notes for each call (so they knew I wasn't just giving them numbers). Depending on how hard I worked would decide my hourly wage.
  • I was once a sales rep and i knew how hard it was. This is just a feedback with what I had experienced. Few of us will go for commissions only. We will go for sure hourly rates because mostly needs sure income for family's needs. You just need to monitor their results daily. This will have better results that commission based. Because they will give more time to show you that they deserved to be hired again for the next project.
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    I'm Having Problems Hiring Telemarketers / Sales Reps

    Hey Everyone, I've recently been trying to hire telemarketers recently through oDesk, eLance, Craigslist, and Clearfit. I am not willing to pay for Job Advertising as of yet, as I don't have the money for it. I am paying commission only, offering 30% commission on the $797 sales. One person I paid to test achieved these results :