Acquiring commission only field sales representatives

[Chris Douglas]

Hi,

We are a new start up and I'm at a loss on this one, we are looking to aquire a number of UK wide commission only field sales reps.

Our product is proven and we are willing to offer a high commission rate and cover expenses and we have a high closure rate as all appointments meet strict criteria, we can't yet afford to put reps on a salary just yet so we're looking to offer the role freelance with higher commission but I'm struggling to find such a candidate, I've posted on freelancer and peopleperhour but had little success.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

Chris

 

[Mr D]

Have you looked for existing reps who already cover the particular areas?
Advertise in the trade mags, often see reps jobs advertised and a rep covering one area may have capacity to take on similar or dissimilar sales in the same towns on the same days.

 

[Chris Douglas]

Yes I'm trying to 'poach' a rep that works for a similar company but as you say its all about capacity and they are furfilling it for him, I can sit the appointments as can my partner but we're so busy its holding the business back... I never thought it would so difficult to get hold of field reps... theres probably a good business niche to offer reps on demand as a service haha

 

[Mr D]

Yes I'm trying to 'poach' a rep that works for a similar company but as you say its all about capacity and they are furfilling it for him, I can sit the appointments as can my partner but we're so busy its holding the business back... I never thought it would so difficult to get hold of field reps... theres probably a good business niche to offer reps on demand as a service haha

Indeed.
If you are at spring fair there are usually a few reps jobs advertised on a notice board or two.
My best rep I buy from has last I looked 5 companies she works for, similar enough that she mostly can cross sell to any one business between 2 and all 5.
One of the other reps we have contact with does 2 companies in different fields and just does same towns in a day.

 

[barryo]

Try here: https://www.commissioncrowd.com/

I think one of the founders has written an article on how to find commission-only sales people that might be useful.

Good hunting.

 

[barryo]

Here's a post from a founder of commission crowd...

Hi Chris,

I'm actually one of the co-founders of CommissionCrowd so it's great to see that you've found our company. I would say this, independent sales reps are very picky when it comes to choosing which companies to work with. They incur their own expenses while developing new territories and have a number of criteria that they expect from the companies they might potentially partner with.

I've written an article on the topic which you may find helpful for moving forward: 10 Things To Understand When Working With Independent Sales Reps

In the next few days we'll also be publishing a checklist on our company website to help you determine whether or not your company might be what we call, 'Agent Ready'. I don't have the URL to that quite yet but it should be up before the weekend.

 

[Digimem]

How does commission work if you are selling an on going service or product? Does the agent take a fee for opening the account or something like percentage of weekly/monthly sales?

 

[barryo]

How long's a piece of string?

Every situation is different which is why great care has to be taken in devising each individual contract. You have to match the aspirations of the sales person with the willingness and ability of the company to pay for the service.

 

[billmccallum1957]

Hi,

We are a new start up and I'm at a loss on this one, we are looking to aquire a number of UK wide commission only field sales reps.

Our product is proven and we are willing to offer a high commission rate and cover expenses and we have a high closure rate as all appointments meet strict criteria, we can't yet afford to put reps on a salary just yet so we're looking to offer the role freelance with higher commission but I'm struggling to find such a candidate, I've posted on freelancer and peopleperhour but had little success.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

Chris

Selling what?