commission only sales people/lead generators

[paulhalsey]

Afternoon all,

I was just after any real life experiences people have had with non-contract sales people.

I have been considering using a third party (individual or company) for some brand awareness/lead generation activity but never had exposure to it and was hoping some of you may have, good or bad.

A bit of background...we provide all things related to Konica Minolta document production - from print systems for commercial print houses through to the traditional office photocopier. I would love to, but don't have the time, to bash out dozens of calls every day to find businesses willing to talk.

I know there are a trillion sources for old fashioned list purchases but the real response rate to a mailshot is too miniscule to be worth it. I'm after someone who, with a bit of training on what we do and how we like to approach prospective clients, can find just one or two good leads a week. I'm not after a service where "so long as they get a name then they think it's a lead!" I can do 'name harvesting' stuff on Google!

Any ideas/comments/flames for this one? Any recommendations to someone you know or have used for this sort of thing?

thanks
Paul:)

[Kwackers]

You need to think about what not suits you personally, for minimal risk, but what will suit the worker if the RIGHT one does come along.

You may find it more productive to find a good worker at a minimal base wage every week.

There are a few lead generation companies about, i'll try and dig one out.

[JElder]

The trouble with lead generation is defining exactly what is a lead. We have done some in the past where our initial contact has been positive, they have passed all the screening questions, looking to move ahead....

We pass the lead over to the clients' field sales, and they report back that they had never head of them, did not want anything, and were not a lead.

Unless you have the call recording, you will never know if the fault was the original lead generation, a poor field sales approach, or a customer that just changed their mind (or had their budget cut) and didn't want to lose face by saying so.

Because of this, most commission only sales people will work on projects where they can get very specific payment on sales, but this DIS-incentivises more general marketing activities - if it won't generate a sale in the very near future, why should they bother?

[office man]

The only way you are going to see any results at all is to pay a fair rate for someone who knows what they are doing -commission only is a bit of a cop out in my opinion.

It's like me saying 'someone get me a hundred grands worth of business and i'll pay them 10 or 20 whatever.....' my point is there is nobody on the planet who has a business that wouldn't be prepared to pay for lead generation 'after you have done it and only on the successful leads' - it's a no brainer, if you want results you will need to pay the right person and the right person will not work for free.

Incidentally i would absolutely love to be wrong on this one, whoever wants to work for me on lead generation for free, i'll give you a 50% commission and 5 years work!!!!

[mikelaluz]

Hi Paul have dropped you a PM
Regards
Mike

[Speedymail]

The only way you are going to see any results at all is to pay a fair rate for someone who knows what they are doing -commission only is a bit of a cop out in my opinion.

It's like me saying 'someone get me a hundred grands worth of business and i'll pay them 10 or 20 whatever.....' my point is there is nobody on the planet who has a business that wouldn't be prepared to pay for lead generation 'after you have done it and only on the successful leads' - it's a no brainer, if you want results you will need to pay the right person and the right person will not work for free.

Incidentally i would absolutely love to be wrong on this one, whoever wants to work for me on lead generation for free, i'll give you a 50% commission and 5 years work!!!!


Spot on. You see this time and time in the UK. Most small fiirms want good salespeople at the lowest possible price (next to nothing). Wonder why most of the good ones went to financial services industry. Commission only will attract early middle age salesmen who have job hopped and students.

Cold calling is as dead as a dodo thesedays anyway especially now.

[telemax]

Afternoon all,

I was just after any real life experiences people have had with non-contract sales people.

I have been considering using a third party (individual or company) for some brand awareness/lead generation activity but never had exposure to it and was hoping some of you may have, good or bad.

A bit of background...we provide all things related to Konica Minolta document production - from print systems for commercial print houses through to the traditional office photocopier. I would love to, but don't have the time, to bash out dozens of calls every day to find businesses willing to talk.

I know there are a trillion sources for old fashioned list purchases but the real response rate to a mailshot is too miniscule to be worth it. I'm after someone who, with a bit of training on what we do and how we like to approach prospective clients, can find just one or two good leads a week. I'm not after a service where "so long as they get a name then they think it's a lead!" I can do 'name harvesting' stuff on Google!

Any ideas/comments/flames for this one? Any recommendations to someone you know or have used for this sort of thing?

thanks
Paul:)

Hi Paul

The problem with commision only is that you are asking the salesperson to take 100% of the risk and you to take none. That said we do often operate on a risk sharing basis ie basic plus commision. Maybe that is your way forward.

All the best

Jonathan

[paulhalsey]

...in both PMs and public messages.

It seems to be unanimous that going commission only is a bit of a non-starter and finding someone decent and offering a basic plus commission is the better option.

Right...that done. Now, to find someone decent!

[EfficientEnergySolutions]

Hold up there... I wouldn't rule commission only out just yet.

It's obvious that there's more chance of amy winehouse going down the straight and narrow than finding an experienced/top salesperson who will work commission only, however, there certainly are people who are willing to work commission only.

These types of people will generally be, like Lord Harris said, students/recently graduated or job hoppers. But... what's wrong with this? Why not try them out and see if you can get any sort of return on it?

After all... you have hardely any risk involved on your end.

I would at least test the waters with commission only and see if it pans out... if not, then change tact.