Need Sales Advice--Desperately

[csharp1g]

I am in need of some help. I am a small business owner and I am looking to form a sales team. I am considering either recuriting sales people or outsourcing sales to another company, but I'm not sure which one to do.

I would prefer to go with a commission-only compensation plan, because my money is limited right now. Does anyone know if it will be possible to hire people for this? Is there a minimum commission that a sales person would work for? What type of fees could I potentially be looking at if I go with an outsourcing company.

There is a huge market for my product, so there is definitely the opportunity for financial gain. Any advice given would be greatly appreciated.

[localman]

csharp1,

There's no one better to sell your product than you. As the business owner, it is ultimately your responsibility to see that sales happen. I'm not sure if you intend on continuing to sell and just add to the team or to have someone take over the responsibility, but from experience I can say that selling is very important and not something you should easily give up.

Is it easy? No! Will it make the difference? Yes! I've seen more than one company go under when the owner tried to transfer sales responsibility.

My recommendation is first off that you read the EMyth (if you havent) and start selling. Once you make some sales and can outline a process on the best way to do that, and be able to easily show how it happens and what the results are, plain and clear, it will make it much easier to recruit more sales people, potentially in a commission only situation.

Any salesperson worth their salt will want to see some numbers of what's possible within your busines. if you have nothing to show them, they're going to want a base.

Good luck with your business! You hold the key to its success.

[recman1]

I have been in the recruitment business for over 15 years and I can tell you that trying to find commission only salespeople now will be like trying to find the holy grail. Even the lowest paid salaries ie car and insurance sales pay £8K upwards with a guarantee. If I were you I would look at employing sales agents who can sell your product and others that they choose - ie franchising. Give them a dedicated patch and pay them a commission on what they produce. However to assist them you will probably have to put some centralised marketing in place. Hope this helps

[PeeriaErery]

Hello :
I'm from Argentina, happy to see such interesting folks here.
Hasta la vista.


Banking

[ChopsClub]

Yeah what he said. The only way you'll find commisson only is if you are selling girl scout cookies.

I would budget in for at least ten grand base per employee.

[Nick de Cent]

Originally Posted by csharp1g

I am in need of some help. I am a small business owner and I am looking to form a sales team. I am considering either recuriting sales people or outsourcing sales to another company, but I'm not sure which one to do.

I would prefer to go with a commission-only compensation plan, because my money is limited right now. Does anyone know if it will be possible to hire people for this? Is there a minimum commission that a sales person would work for? What type of fees could I potentially be looking at if I go with an outsourcing company.

There is a huge market for my product, so there is definitely the opportunity for financial gain. Any advice given would be greatly appreciated.

As in all areas of business, you get what you pay for when recruiting salespeople. The successful ones are like gold dust in an industry which is chronically under-supplied with talent. (Sorry, everybody, but it's true!) There are far more employment opportunities for competent salespeople than there are good performers.

I agree with another of the posts that, as an entrepreneur, you should be prepared to show faith in your product by being prepared to sell it yourself initially. That way you will gain valuable experience and receiving valuable market feedback, which will help you enhance your offering.

Then, if you are successful, you can move onto recruiting a top performer - preferably with both sales and management experience - who can help you through the highly complex task of managing a successful sales team.

Best wishes

Nick de Cent
Editor - www.ModernSelling.com

[Tom_Ryan]

Originally Posted by csharp1g

I am in need of some help. I am a small business owner and I am looking to form a sales team. I am considering either recuriting sales people or outsourcing sales to another company, but I'm not sure which one to do.

I would prefer to go with a commission-only compensation plan, because my money is limited right now. Does anyone know if it will be possible to hire people for this? Is there a minimum commission that a sales person would work for? What type of fees could I potentially be looking at if I go with an outsourcing company.

There is a huge market for my product, so there is definitely the opportunity for financial gain. Any advice given would be greatly appreciated.

Have you thought about having both, outsourced and internal sales people?

For example, you bring your sales team appointments generated from an outsourced company, and sending those appointments to independent sales reps?

Regards,

Tom

[mandiees]

What type of product are you trying to promote? Can you cut back on costs by having people do the marketing sole-ly on the internet, like offering an affiliate program where you do not directly hire employees, but instead pay for successful sells?