Finding Commissioned Based Sales Freelancers

[Al50]

Good Morning All

I hope you are all well.

Last July I went about starting a small start up business providing IT consultancy and services. So far we have managed to survive and have done fairly well picking up a few big jobs from one company. However I know this work is going to dry up in the near future.

Speaking to a good friend of mine, he suggested finding a sales person and paying them on a commission basis. This sounded good as we simply cannot afford to pay someone a basic, but can with commission if we get a sale. My question is has anyone used this method of generating more sales/work and where would be a good place to look for people doing this kind of work?

Many Thanks Al

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Would Jobserve.com suit you?

 

[Al50]

I don't think so, I'm trying to look for someone who does this full time/part time. Maybe someone who could be recommended?

 

[AllUpHere]

You will struggle to find anyone decent for commission only. This subject has been covered a lot on this forum in various threads. A quick search will probably lead you to a few such threads.

Are you sure you need a 'sales' guy/ girl, and that the problem isn't simply your marketing strategy needs work. In my experience, clients who thought they needed sales, simply needed their marketing sorted.

 

[Al50]

Both lead to a sale in the end, however I just need to get new customers and the service will speak for its self...

 

[OElite]

chicken and eggs stories. But a business need first couple of sales to survive and then plan out the marketing actions before starving itself.

It's good you think ahead to get more sales before current work drying up (actually every business does). I do think what @AllUpHere said worth you to think about - sometimes it's always those efforts that do not offer immediate results pay off to sustain a business for years

 

[beasty]

If you have not already done so, work your existing clients for referrals, the quickest route to more business.

 

[telemax]

Good Morning All

I hope you are all well.

Last July I went about starting a small start up business providing IT consultancy and services. So far we have managed to survive and have done fairly well picking up a few big jobs from one company. However I know this work is going to dry up in the near future.

Speaking to a good friend of mine, he suggested finding a sales person and paying them on a commission basis. This sounded good as we simply cannot afford to pay someone a basic, but can with commission if we get a sale. My question is has anyone used this method of generating more sales/work and where would be a good place to look for people doing this kind of work?

Many Thanks Al

Why would a company want to use you out of the myriad of other Support companies out there. What unique benefit do you offer?

 

[telabadmanwot]

Put adverts on gumtree, online job postings or even fiverr. Find somebody that does it for a living, if you can give them a liable wage, they will stop working for others.

 

[Ryan000001]

Hi Al,

Finding and working with commission-based sales reps is not an easy thing for a person/company to do, especially if this is the first venture into outsourcing the sales function of your business.

There are a vast number of factors at play which determine whether or not your company will:

A). Attract the interest of quality sales reps in the first place
B). Have a good enough opportunity, structured in a way that will motivate them to make contact
C). Retain reps long term after you begin your working partnership

I have a huge amount of experience working on both sides of the fence. I've been a self-employed sales rep and have also been a company principal, running a large team of professional self-employed sales reps.

The very first step is to understand what a self-employed sales rep is and why they work on a commission-only basis. You also have to understand that it's an extremely fragmented industry and this type of sales professional fall under a plethora of titles depending on the type of products/services they represent.

There are many reasons why you'll rarely find great reps on sites like Gumtree and Fiverr. The opportunities are terrible and reps know that the companies searching there are highly unsuitable for their objectives.

I write extensively on this topic and think the following articles will help you tremendously on your way to building a successful team of your own:

10 Things To Understand When Working With Independent Sales Reps

How To Craft The Perfect Opportunity For Self Employed Sales Agents

The Independent Sales Rep Fired For Being Too Successful

I'm happy to help if you have any further questions