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Outsourced Telemarketers on Commission

by Jon Paella
10 replies
I'm wondering if anyone has used outsourced telemarketers and paid them on commission basis? Say, going to odesk or wherever else and got them to work only on commission basis, not hourly basis.

If so, could you share more about the arrangements. How services do you get them to promote, how much do you normally give them for commission, if they are from say India or Philippines and you're targetting American/Australian/UK/Canadian businesses, how's the success rate like? Do you get them to call through SKYPE? Where do you find them from?

Any other tips and experiences to share is appreciated. Thanks.
#commission #outsourced #telemarketers
  • Profile picture of the author Angel Anderson
    this is somethign I'm lookign to do soon, the information posted here will be a great resource
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  • Profile picture of the author dropbear
    getting an established telemarketing room to work on commission only is very difficult. Most require a per seat per hour minimum. The good ones can provide the data and training of their staff. Also, the phone costs are covered with the hourly. Most use voip lines. You supply the script. Hourly costs come out around $8-10/hour per telemarketer. Try and find a company that has worked in your space before and has experience selling your product/service. It makes the whole process a lot simpler..Callbox is a big one based out of the Philippines that i have used in the past.
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    • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
      For ANYONE to do sales on a commission basis especially cold calling it has to make sense for them and boil down to an hourly compensation that is greater than normal or at least the same.

      What I mean by that is if it takes 2 hours to generate a lead that is interested and your close rate is a measly 10% 1) because it's a cold call and 2) because your from Asia that means it takes 20 hours to create a sale.

      Most centers in Asia want to make 12-14 per hour....that means for it to be worth it for them they have to make between $240-$280 per sale AND they aren't going to wait until you get paid, you need to have the cash to pay them.

      What it boils down to is, depending on your product you may need between 1-5k just to pay the rep while your getting paid.

      For example. If you are doing SEO, and it takes them 20 hours to get a sale, costs you $250 well you need to have that $250 it's not as if they are going to let you get paid first or pay them over a few months. They aren't going to fund your business.

      Best thing to do is learn how to sell and then outsource it when you have an appreciation for it down the road.
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  • Profile picture of the author localvseo
    I have tried many compensation plans over the years for inside sales positions for both in-house and outsourced positions I had a need for You will probably spend a lot of time finding an outsourced partner on commission only basis that is going to get the results you want. The opportunity cost could be high with regards to the amount of time it takes to find that person and not getting business in the meantime.

    If you decide to go that router, at the very least I would suggest starting with appointment setting and paying per appointment rather by sale. You will probably have an easier time getting quality people on board. What this does is it takes their dependency on your ability to close out of the equation, and now they have control by just ensuring the person shows up for an appointment.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dr Mukherjee
      I think you can clearly write in your job post title that you are going to pay on commission basis. I have done this and received many replies. You can try Freelancer.com too. They have both options and if anyone agree with this, you can have him/her working for you out of that site and pay when you get lead.
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  • Profile picture of the author johnpiot
    Hey, here's the best thing to do if you would like to do it on commission basis. Go to oDesk and post that job, once you start receiving applications ask for their email address or skype address then discuss to them.
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    • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
      Originally Posted by johnpiot View Post

      Hey, here's the best thing to do if you would like to do it on commission basis. Go to oDesk and post that job, once you start receiving applications ask for their email address or skype address then discuss to them.
      WOOHOO! First post!

      That's all fine and great but the problem is no one will work on a commission basis if it takes 20 hours of total cold calling or work to generate a sale and you can only give them 50 bucks. Actually you can probably not give someone enough money and still make it work for you because people will be absolutely demoralized if they have to spend 20 hours for each sale.

      So actually the best thing for the OP to do is to hire a company with experience on a per appointment basis and sell to the prospects yourself at first. Then you can hire commission reps and supply them with leads to make the job easier.

      Why shouldn't he hire an oDesk freelancer on a per appointment basis? Because he will spend tons of time and go through tons of different contractors before he can find one that can actually do it.
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      • Profile picture of the author webgordon
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        • Profile picture of the author MaxwellB
          Originally Posted by webgordon View Post

          You just repeat what johnpiot said, LOL . It was really a great idea indeed, and as what johnpiot said, discuss it first with your prospect freelancer on oDesk since it is on commission basis.
          What are you talking about??

          I quoted him, and responded to him. I didn't say what he said, I said how what he said is not going to work.
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  • Profile picture of the author WebDiva7
    Jon,

    Good luck! If you figure out something please let me know. I have posted on CL, oDesk, and Guru. Everyone wants an hourly position PLUS a commission and I'm offering $300 per sale plus monthly residuals.

    The reason it irritates me is because I know for a fact, there are legitimate B&M companies out there that ONLY pay on commission. So I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing that isn't drawing in people.

    I looked around and found a reasonable dental and vision plan. So maybe you could state in your posting that after 3 months probation they are eligible for limited benefits. This is something I am considering a little later down the road, if my current plan doesn't work out.

    What I ended up doing was hiring value priced contractors on oDesk. I used a portion of my tax return to fund this venture. And have a 4 month make it or break it plan.

    I know everyone says you can do it yourself. And this is quite true. However, I have 4 different projects to test and I couldn't possibly do all of it myself. I know ONE of them will make money, I'm just not sure as to which one. (And I'm sort of on a deadline) One thing I did do was work each project to get a feel for the process. So yes, I cold called (bailbondsmen no less, talk about a cranky crowd). The point is you have to know what sort of work you're assigning in order to understand what it's worth for someone to work that task.

    Also keep in mind, that you don't have to hire them for 40 hours/week. Figure out what you are comfortable in paying on a weekly basis and then cull your choices from there.

    HTH
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Call it "appointment setter" and you can post on Craigslist. They probably won't ghost it with this title. But don't put anything in it that even has a whiff of MLM, or it'll be gone.

    Go on elance or odesk and find people with legit customer reviews. Don't accept stay-at-home moms, out-of-work psychiatrists, or anyone else without solid phone sales experience. They simply will not last. Not more than 2 hours.
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