Employing a part-time sales person!

[vhjay]

Hi All,

I'm looking at employing somebody part-time to generate leads for our video production and photography division. We film everything from school plays to corporate promos, training DVDs and awards ceremonies and have been trading now for close to 18 months.

When the phone rings, or an e-mail comes in, 9 out of 10 times I can convert it into a booking, and we've had some great feedback from clients and plenty of recurring business, it's just getting the leads and generating the interest/awareness that's my weak point.

I guess I'm just after some advice on what I'd get this new person to do - what their working day would look like. If you employ somebody for a similar purpose do you provide a list of numbers to call in a day, or a copy of the yellow pages, or do you expect your sales team to research and find new clients themselves?

I know that a lot of it will come down to the skills and qualities of the person I find, but I'd just appreciate any tips or advice you wonderful people may have to offer. I'm no stranger to employing staff as freelancers, contractors or support staff, but sales has always been a bit of an unknown area for me

Cheers,

Jay

 

[Louis Porter]

We've recently had an enquiry by a company in a similar position.

They were thinking about employing a sales/marketing person but thought they might be better off investing in SEO instead. Because it's inbound marketing, it might be what you need. Provided you have the time to answer the phone and convert those 9 out of 10 phone calls. But it will only work if you have a decent website.
Although, it is a long term thing. So If you're looking to get more business tomorrow then it might not be what you need.

Might be something to think about. Good luck.

 

[vhjay]

Thanks Louis, you're not the first person to suggest investing in SEO and PR/Social Media management rather than a member of staff.

I guess my concern here is that an employee would have a vested interest in increasing sales, chasing leads and increasing turnover, as their job would depend on it. I'm sure that a PR or SEO agency would 'do their thing' and deliver what is requested as far as their service goes, but at the end of the day, they're getting paid whether their strategies work or not - they would have no interest in whether I saw an ROI or not.

With funds being tight I need to know that I'll get some sort of return, a big ask I know, but our service and pricing is good, and we have a high conversion rate, so showcased to the right people at the right time we should expect to make sales.

Jay

 

[ethical PR]

I think perhaps see the role as more a business development role, where the person is also tasked with promoting what you do, building and managing client relationships, as well as trying to make sales.

What will be important before bringing anyone in, is to have a strong brand positioning for your company that differentiates you from your competitors and helps people understand why they should buy from you (not the usual we have a high quality product and provide a cost effective service and great customer service).

For the person to be effective you will also need an understanding of your target customers - who is the decision makers, in what sort of organisation, what sort of services are they likely to need, how do they buy, what sort of communications channels do they use, who are their influencers?

Use this information to develop your marketing approach and identify opportunities for growing your business with new and existing customers.

I do agree that before you develop your sales activity you need to make sure your online offer - be that your website or other digital platforms are top notch and that your site is optimised. And that you have other collateral and content in place to support your sales and marketing.

Personally I have never bought video production or photography from a sales person (and I commission both regularly), but if your research shows you this is an effective channel for your business and you have your marketing strategy and plan in place, then perhaps give it a try.

 

[vhjay]

Thanks for taking the time to give such an in-depth response At the moment I'm open to all suggestions. I'm busy re-designing our website and integrating it with our Facebook and Twitter accounts, and won't be launching much in the way of marketing activity until this is done - as you say, these need to be in place first.

Different sales channels seem to work for different clients - while I too would never think of using salespeople to sell a service such as video production, we have had success using this method for schools, dance colleges and theatre groups who may not have thought of the prospect of recording their events and selling DVDs.

One area that we've had some very positive experiences in, but are struggling to 'establish' ourselves is with seminars, galas and awards ceremonies - we've gained a few bookings in this sector by word of mouth and have had some excellent feedback. We'd like to build on this but I don't think that direct sales or cold-calling is the way to go - we just need to generate some awareness and be in the minds of the decision makers (be it the venue, the events management company or the organisers) at the right time. That's why I'm beginning to lean more towards an investment in SEO, PR and social campaigns rather than simply a sales guru - whether we outsource this to an agency, or look at creating a BDM role...that's another debate to be had

Jay

 

[telemax]

This is all for naught if you don't know what make you unique. How do you stand out?

It's all about knowing this and asking the right questions to find out what a customer wants. Often they don't even know this themselves.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Photography at the higher end is nearly always handled by agents. Lord Putnam was one. He handled David Bailey. Bailey is now with http://www.visualartists.co/artists/ Good agents are worth their weight in gold. In my experience of using agents for many decades I would say go for someone who doesn't know much about sales who will learn to sell your way of working.

 

[Christopher Ian Moulvi]

Hello,

I have had experience in hiring people for a similar business role but this was to generate my company leads for our Digital Marketing Company.

I would first look to make sure its cost effective and that you can make your money back as when I first did this I made the mistake of paying them way to much money.

I was paying them on a part time basis £1,800 per month to a company in America to generate my company leads via the phone .. they only did about 15 a day !! So you need to watch what they are doing i however did make my money back only an extra £300 but i had to call those customers back and sort the deal out myself !!

I know buy data and have a small team call them to sell over the phone thats 40% of my companies income right there !!

I would also look at other option for example investing in SEO and maybe targeting certain non generic keywords this might improve you click through rate.