Do commission only sales people exist?

SillyJokes

Free Member
Jul 26, 2004
4,585
596
Crumbs, is everyone here from Northampton?

Yes we got a slot on the radio and I'm doing another one next week. It's surprising who listens.

Anyhoo I can't help with commission only sales off the web as I only know a bit about affiliate marketing on it.
 
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Yup loads around just a matter of the right advertising, My husband is self employed commission only designer of furniture - the problem is many people are loath to risk commission only v salary + commission v salary

Usual suggestions try the job centre, local adverts in newspapers etc

My Husband wouldnt be much use to you - the electric razor is a technical as he gets

Kerry
 
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daveashton

Free Member
Apr 14, 2004
692
1
Scotland
Re commision only

1: If they are any good they can get a basic which means eitrher you take on bad sales people or if they are good they soon leave and go to a company that will offer them the basic.

2: If you are selling support I hope you have a profiled database for when the support contracts in your targets are up for renewal? If not you need profiles by marketing/ telesales not fieldsales!!!
 
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Yes they exist, but not all are very active or indeed proactive in what they do, im a Director of a commission only sales company we represent 6 principals in two very different sectors with very different geographical areas. You can try BAR and agentbase but they cannot guarantee the service level from an agent they only introduce the parties. The days of driving around knocking on doors are gone, good sales companies (like that of mine) are getting ahead by being a little smarter and moving with the times.
 
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Like many things in business it’s all about finding the right balance between risk and reward.

I am assuming that you don’t want to pay a basic salary and commission because there is a risk that you’ll employ someone who doesn’t sell anything and you’ll have lost out financially. You don’t want to take the risk.

The same is true for salespeople.

If I were employed by you on a commission only basis and despite my best efforts your product doesn’t sell - then I will have lost out financially.

So, in order for you to tempt me to work for you commission only the reward would have to be substantially higher to compensate me for the addition risk of potentially having no income. This is why you find fewer commission only sales jobs – because employers are not prepared to offer high enough rewards to tempt sales people into taking that risk.

So by offering a reasonable basic salary plus a healthy commission the risk is shared and everyone’s happy.

Probably.
 
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S

Successful Selling

Like many things in business it’s all about finding the right balance between risk and reward.

I am assuming that you don’t want to pay a basic salary and commission because there is a risk that you’ll employ someone who doesn’t sell anything and you’ll have lost out financially. You don’t want to take the risk.

The same is true for salespeople.

If I were employed by you on a commission only basis and despite my best efforts your product doesn’t sell - then I will have lost out financially.

So, in order for you to tempt me to work for you commission only the reward would have to be substantially higher to compensate me for the addition risk of potentially having no income. This is why you find fewer commission only sales jobs – because employers are not prepared to offer high enough rewards to tempt sales people into taking that risk.

So by offering a reasonable basic salary plus a healthy commission the risk is shared and everyone’s happy.

Probably.
This is a great post and very well explained. Nice one.
 
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I got two sales reps that are completely commission based.They are very good but the problem is that once they have earned the money they dont work half as hard.They are paid very very well to sell a product that sells itself.....VERY HARD BALANCE....
 
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S

ServersandSpares

I'm just in the process of recruiting a commission only sales person. I'm poaching him from a media company, as he has a proven track record of cold calling. However, its not something we have gone into lightly. We previously employed two sales people, one on 36k, the other on 20k plus a fantastic commission structure. The first was downright lazy, and the second, despite glowing references, did not have the ability to sell our products, even though he had worked in the industry for 13 years.
So we decided to think outside the box, as for a small company its a costly business employing, and then having to go through all the processes to be able to terminate that employment.
We have employed somebody with no sale experience and are training him ourselves, and now recruiting the commission only sales person. We have no problem in giving a fantastic commission structure as at the end of the day, the more sales, the more we both benefit!

Let me know how you get on, I'm interested to see fi it allworks out :)

Julie
 
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I've been a commission only salesman. I've also been paid on a modest salary plus excellent commission basis, and more recently I was earning a very generous salary plus a modest commission. I am now an employer.

In my experience salespeople are most motivated when substantial rewards are available, but there needs to be a fallback, so offering a sensible basic is the best option. Commission only is a risk, and if you know that you're good and you're willing to take on that risk - then you might as well go the whole hog, become an entrepreneur and reap all the rewards.
 
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O

Ossett town AFC

In my opinion (just my opinion)

NO.

In today's financial climate a good sales person can negotiate a salary, if they can't are they that good a sales person?

If you want to promote your company you could try contacting me to arrange a refferal scheme, (can't promise business as your not paying me a basic) but if you sponsor us I can guarantee pormotion across the entire north of england and you WILL gain business from it.
 
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O

Ossett town AFC

In my opinion (just my opinion)

NO.

In today's financial climate a good sales person can negotiate a salary, if they can't are they that good a sales person?

If you want to promote your company you could try contacting me to arrange a refferal scheme, (can't promise business as your not paying me a basic) but if you sponsor us I can guarantee promotion across the entire north of england and you WILL gain business from it.
 
Upvote 0

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