anyone used agentbase- self employed sales reps??

[HMS]

Hello,

We are about to outsource sales to self employed sales agents, using Agentbase as a way of getting sales reps.

Has anyone used their services? If so, to what degree? Have you used their consultancy services or just the advertising? How was the response and I guess the main question was it profitable for your business model?

Thanking you in advance.

 

[Mark Bateman]

Hello,

We are about to outsource sales to self employed sales agents, using Agentbase as a way of getting sales reps.

Has anyone used their services? If so, to what degree? Have you used their consultancy services or just the advertising? How was the response and I guess the main question was it profitable for your business model?

Thanking you in advance.

I havent used them but what are you gettingyour s/e people to sell ?

 

[HMS]

merchant account services- i.e. to reduce the cost of card processing. what do you think?

 

[HC-Martin]

How much do they charge...? Would it not be work employing someone or a local freelancer?

 

[HMS]

they charge £500 for a 4 month advertsing campaign. They claim they to have a database 8000 self employes sales agents and charge simply for the advertising. The idea is that one would advertise with them in an attempt for them to contact you. They also have a "consultancy service" which they claim will prepare companies to deal with self employed agents. This costs another £500. I'm really unsure if this is worthwile. I mean it sounds like a great idea but what other options are available? Anyone??? (sorry for the long waffle)

 

[seabro]

let us know how it goes.. it is an interesting concept but i got stung once by something like this in the past.

 

[julesbrad]

We are about to use AgentBase and the advert was published on the AgentBase website possibly just over 2 weeks ago and we have already have 4 sales agents ready to go with Argos already showing interest in a product for their Autumn/Wnter catalogue.

The latest Agent Base magazine is about to be published now so hopefully there will be more to come. If you want to find out what happens in the next few weeks PM me after a while I will let you know how it's gone.

 

[ImproveSearchListings]

Hi Hemal,

I don't want to knock the diea too much as I have no experience of using this type of service. However, it seems an awfully low amount of money for what you are getting. Even £1000 for the advertising alone over 4 months would seem very cheap. I have a few questions:

1) Have they provided any information on where or how they are going to advertise?
2) How much are you paying on top in commissions?
3) Do the salespeople work just for you at any one time or are they looking at several options? In which case they are likely to focus on the product/brand/service that makes the most money for them, rather than be loyal to your product/brand/service.
4) Have you looked at investing the money elsewhere to increase your sales or has this been your recent focus?

Would be interesting to see what your thoughts are on this.

James

 

[Almeida1984]

I was going to suggest an ad in the Daily Mail recruitment section but if this company is only charging £500 it's certainly cheaper.
The only downfall is that it's a database of only 8000.

Let us all know how it goes.

 

[Mark Nagurski]

Definitely use Agentbase - I have used them both as a freelance agent (years ago) and in finding agents. They are THE best place I've found for finding quality agents but the ad will more than likely do the job - the consultancty might be useful for more complicated and specialist sales.

The database for the print publication (if it hasn't changed) is by paid subscription so its quality over quantity. As a result, the agents you will find will likely have multiple client businesses. The benefit is that they have experience and existing contacts - the negative, you won't have their undivided attention.

My advice would be to target the ad to agents who already sell into your market to take advantage of those contacts.

 

[Mark Pattman]

I have just signed up to use Agentbase for 3 months. It sounds like an ideal solution to one that most small business owners face. I'll let you know how i get on

 

[Skidoodle]

Hi Mark!
How did you get on? i'm looking into this,but unsure whether its right for my company?

 

[salesman_northeast]

iv used them to find work for my self and some of the companies look good some are just wanting the world and offering nothing. Same about them is, the actual adds are like jpegs, and hard to read half the time. Well im in the north east and inbetween assignements at the mo if you want to pm me and let me know what you are wanting sold

 

[Lewis Powell]

Hi everyone ,
I've just registered and seeking advice please.
I'm currently an area sales manger for MetLife insurance and actively looking for self employed sales consultants in Wales .
I'm apprehensive about using agentbase because I've read mix reviews.
I'm hoping for a bit of feedback
Many thanks
Lewis

 

[Paul Brooke]

I would not decry Agentbase as such. You get what you pay for. What I would suggest is that you have both your e-mail address and your contact number in the ad so that YOU can take all enquiries for the vacancy yourself. If you allow Agentbase to do this they have no real clue to the nitty gritty of the position and if they are vetting they could block someone that could be of great benefit to you.
Also if you would like to pm me with the details of the opportunity you have I would like to pass the details to a relative that runs a business consultancy and has actually been looking for a company that he could team up with to add merchant services to his current portfolio. Give me your USP's and a contact e-mail and I will get him to contact you. . Good luck with it

 

[Jayser100]

I used Agentbase and I have to say my experience was pretty good. I had loads of applicants from around the country. The quality of applicants varied but of course, that isn't the fault of Agentbase - there were a number of very experienced professionals who applied. I would recommend them. Unfortunately for my business the whole agent thing didn't work out in the end, but that was more because of a combination of other factors and nothing to do with the people I picked up as a result of Agentbase. I would say the half-page ad was very good value for money. The one thing I would say is, try to make your ad look attractive. I worked in publishing for some years and so it's something I know a bit about - most of the ads in Agentbase are terrible. Many are just basic text in a box. Design the ad to the quality you would use for a consumer magazine and give the agents a real flavour of your professionalism, and your product / service. I know many of the agents who contacted me said they did so because the ad looked professional.

 

[british steve]

This thread is 7 years old!!!

 

[Paul Brooke]

We were responding to the post left here on Sunday 15th June 2014.... 4 days ago

 

[balistone]

The mistake I made was falling for the Agent Base sales pitch and not doing my own research. If you’re new to recruiting independent sales agents or have a new product or service call some of the companies who have advertised with Agent Base in the past with a similar proposition and get their feedback. I didn’t do this initially, wish I had. I placed a ¼ page ad and in three months have received no replies! To be fair to Agent Base they did sent out around 5000 ‘target’ emails to their database as a free service and this did yield around 4 or 5 positive responses from agents. Of this I’d say one is good. The others are either too broad in their portfolio, new to the game or not genuinely serious. It could be my product (kitchen and bathroom tiles, so not very niche), it could be the target audience/database isn’t as wide/receptive as thought, but overall very disappointing. I’ve had a lot more success via LinkedIn, far higher calibre and niche specific. Agent Base isn’t expensive, but it can cost you a lot in wasted time. I also signed up for their managed service. Added little overall and if anything took away control from recruitment process. It didn’t work for me; but it must for some. Do your research first and make a few calls and get feedback is my suggestion and don’t rely on Agent Base as your only independent sales agent recruitment approach.

 

[prutbrk]

I considered using this company once but after visiting their office (top floor of a house) and listening to the guy who was telling me it would be him that vetted my clients I decided to pass on the idea. Use them by all means to get the vacancy out there but do your own interviewing. You will ask the questions that you want answered and the candidate will get the opportunity to impress you. If you let them vet then you will definately allow potentially ideal candidates slip through your fingers

 

[balistone]

Couldn't agree more. The service was very poor. Certainly not worth bothering with.

 

[Pat Walsh]

Was a bit confused by the whole thing - are they providing sales agents or actual sales - so went to their website and it doesn't work. If you choose an option from the 'How can we help you?' dropdowns, none of the ones I tried worked in Safari or Chrome browsers.

Not a very good sign.

 

[Jayser100]

I did my own interviewing, I would never allocate that to someone else. It must be five years or more since I used them, and as stated on my previous response I got lots of agents contacting me. Unfortunately, things have changed a lot since then - bricks and mortar retail has declined considerably, and traveling sales reps find it increasingly difficult to make a living. As a result, they are leaving the profession in their droves. I gave up on the whole high street retail idea and concentrated instead on ecommerce - I have to say it was one of the best decisions I've made.

It may well be the case that Agent Base isn't going to be effective now in the way that it once was.