Looking for some commission only based sales reps

[David White]

Hi UKBFer's

I am seeking some local UK sales reps who are happy to work on a part-time of full-time basic on a commission only basis to sell a digital publishing software to Publishers, IT Directors and Marketers in all industries.

Does anyone know of anyone?

This could also be a good chance for any agencies who work with clients in these areas to make some cash and offer a new product line at the same time.

PM me if you are interested, thanks.

 

[kjmcculloch]

Hi David,

You'll be very lucky. Commission only normally suggests you have no confidence in the product and therefore want the salesperson to take all of the risks.

You could try somewhere like peopleperhour.com

Kris

 

[David White]

Hi David,

You'll be very lucky. Commission only normally suggests you have no confidence in the product and therefore want the salesperson to take all of the risks.

You could try somewhere like peopleperhour.com

Kris

Thanks for the feedback Kris, although I am not sure where you source this from :|. We are not hiring people, just looking for people interested in making some extra revenue, the product has over 2500 clients using it so anyone interested can of course review it before deciding, which of course would be expected anyways.

 

[kjmcculloch]

The source is from my own common sense, but good luck to you. I did also suggest a vehicle.

Good luck.

Kris

 

[David White]

The source is from my own common sense, but good luck to you. I did also suggest a vehicle.

Good luck.

Kris

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the vehicle but don't appreciate my post being ruined by a negative guess based on your common sense.

 

[kjmcculloch]

It's hardly ruined, I think that's slightly over dramatising the situation.

The only reason why people use commission only salespeople is so that if the product or service fails it doesn't cost them, but rather the salesperson. While if it does happen to sell the owner reaps rewards.

I simply suggested it showed a clear lack of confidence in the product and if you are not confident in it's ability to sell, why should a salesperson?

Kris

 

[David White]

It's hardly ruined, I think that's slightly over dramatising the situation.

The only reason why people use commission only salespeople is so that if the product or service fails it doesn't cost them, but rather the salesperson. While if it does happen to sell the owner reaps rewards.

I simply suggested it showed a clear lack of confidence in the product and if you are not confident in it's ability to sell, why should a salesperson?

Kris

Well this is now post number 7 and we seem to be talking about your thoughts on why people use commission only salespeople so maybe I should amend the post title.

As far as I can see you run a book keeping forum so you don't know much about sales or the product in question, so why don't you go and post on your own forum and talk about things you do know about.

 

[kjmcculloch]

You based my knowledge on one link? insightful.

 

[David White]

You based my knowledge on one link? insightful.

You already stated your source was based on your common sense. It's clear by your common sense that you have no idea about sales, I don't need any links to judge that my friend.

 

[Esk247]

Do I spot bickering..on UKBF..surely not

You'll struggle to find any decent Commission Only sales people. It's too much risk, they're basically employed and not being paid until they make a sale. Also you're aiming at "Publishers, IT Directors and Marketers in all industries" which means this sales person is going to have to be nifty, experienced and good at what they do. Most sales people like that are already on 40k a year plus commission plus company car

I don't know if it's worth even considering a sales person, on commission only they won't have time to really study and understand your product. You understand it best, perhaps you should have a crack at doing the sales bit?

I'm going to give it a whirl myself with my products, i could ask for commission only sales people but i know i won't get a decent one so i'm going to give it a shot myself, i'll be useless at it but "hey ho, ya live ya learn" in the words of Russell Brand

 

[Psl]

Hi UKBFer's

I am seeking some local UK sales reps who are happy to work on a part-time of full-time basic on a commission only basis to sell a digital publishing software to Publishers, IT Directors and Marketers in all industries.

Does anyone know of anyone?

This could also be a good chance for any agencies who work with clients in these areas to make some cash and offer a new product line at the same time.

PM me if you are interested, thanks.

I will send you PM of a company that may be of interest to you.

Unfortunately it is people that cannot sell on a commission only basis that often are against the whole premise of the 'self employed commission only sales person', this just my opinion though, being a self employed commission only salesman, albiet a company owner, no sales = no money for me but my staff get paid if there are no sales!

 

[Billmccallum]

I much prefer to base decisions on common sense, any other method can be flawed by subjective information, such as relying on knowledge of "sales" which is wholly subjective and biased on your position as the salesperson or the customer.

Your offer for commission only sales reps implies that you are seeking to employ people, but from my perspective, you don't need sales reps you need to work with people in existing businesses, complimentary to yours, who can add value to their product range by selling your product. These people will already have established customer base and contacts who they work with on a regular basis.

 

[simonswords]

Check this lot out: http://www.agentbase.co.uk/

Warning - we tried commission only sales people for a software product we developed some time ago and it was a disaster. While I'll happily accept part of the blame for being a little inexperienced and overeager the fact is that commission only sales agents will only remain committed to you and your product(s) while they're earning from you. The moment something more profitable comes along for them they'll be off. Oh, and they'll tell your customers absolutely anything to make a sale.

 

[Mike W]

Oh, and they'll tell your customers absolutely anything to make a sale.

lol. But you knew that really at the time though...

 

[captaincloser]

Check this lot out: http://www.agentbase.co.uk/
The moment something more profitable comes along for them they'll be off. Oh, and they'll tell your customers absolutely anything to make a sale.

This wouldnt be a watered down generalisation about salespeople would it ?

For goodness sake dont hold back , give us both barrerls while you are at it.

But commission only software sales ?...oh dear which came first the chicken or the egg...and you were in charge ? Oh my...

 

[simonswords]

This wouldnt be a watered down generalisation about salespeople would it ?

For goodness sake dont hold back , give us both barrerls while you are at it.

But commission only software sales ?...oh dear which came first the chicken or the egg...and you were in charge ? Oh my...

I don't generally have a problem with sales people.

 

[David White]

Maybe I should clarify that this is one of the top publishing software products in the market, and we already have a direct sales team and over 2,500 customers and the product is very easy to understand. We are not hiring anyone, I was simply looking for any salespeople or agencies interested in referring this to their clients to give them the opportunity of getting a decent commission on selling a well valued product.

 

[cboutso]

As a salesman myself, with over 20 years experience of selling at director level, I can agree that to find someone with the experience and gravitas you are seeking would be challenging on a commission only basis.
I know from my own experience that commission only sales in a B2B situation is OK for commodity items that are bought quickly with little technical discussion, but systems that will be integral to the operation of the business and require technical know how to decide on, tend to have a longer sales cycle and therefore commission only requires a salesman with time a resources. In which case they are almost certainly already successful and therefore do not need to take the risk.
I wish you well, and I think you should see if you can sell the product your self to create a track record and sales system. That may also generate enough cash for you to be able to afford to pay for a salesman.

 

[dagaul101]

Well in this economy, you would be pressed to find someone who only wants to be paid commission only

 

[salesman_northeast]

Iv been in sales to for nearly 20yrs B2B and Im quite happy working for commission only if I feel ok with the company and the product but Iv spend many years in the publishing IT world too, before it went computer to plate, where you use to have to produce cromlins etc and use to sell systems that integrated with old macs, not the new os x, and quark, Photoshop and all the rest and from a self employed sales agent, I would find it hard to work on commission only basis for something that could probably take weeks if not months to get a sales from a customer, even if commission is good, what do you do for the first 3 months while trying to get into new customers and its a long turn around for a solution software sale. hope this helps a bit on the insight from a self employed sales agent....

 

[harryboon]

So what about companies like Avon? I would suggest Avon are very confident in their products wouldn't you?

You'll be very lucky. Commission only normally suggests you have no confidence in the product and therefore want the salesperson to take all of the risks.


Kris

 

[Baldykev]

Interesting "discussion"

I my self am looking at the options to get a new product to sell

as my time is VERY limited I looked at trying to source commision only sales rep's - its virtualy impossible



there are 3 basic types that fall in to this category

1 - realy good self employed reps
These guys/girls can demand the top end commisions and usualy specialise in a sector

2 - good sales rep's
These tend to demand a car/allowances and very high % of comission

3 - The also rans
These tend to be disatisfied sales rep's employed by a major company that "think" they can do it better but are not securing the rewards...that says it all

May be the way forward is to seek the services of a "closer"
You do all the leg work and get the appointments they go in to close the deal

Just a thought




I am looking at investing my time in picking up the phone and speaking directly to people

this way I will know what short falls my product has and can go away and improve on it if needs be

If its a good quality product that people want then sales will follow - so either way my time is invtested wisely

ps- another thought
If you dont get the right people to do the selling it can do more damage to your company image and product than you realise

 

[callumclarke]

Hi,


I work on commision only sales and i make a very good living however i am provided with good leads, telephone and email address. Thats all i need to sell a product. If the product is field sales based then they would have to cover car cost as well

Callum

 

[matty.beds]

Hi, i am new to the forum and i am also looking for commision based marketing specialists for my cybersecurity based business which is in the northwest of the UK. My business advisor recommended outsourcing and only paying commision due to the low costs involved. I have confidence in my services and company however the expense of hiring full time marketing specialists is to much at the moment. However i do offer %10 commision on all paying clients and prices range from £250 to £500 per five devices on a network. My target market is small business and i believe this could present an opportunity for all.

I disagree with the idea that only businesses that do not have confidence in there services use commision based sales as there are a number of factors that determined my strategy. So if you find a way to locate specialists then let me know, i do know that advertising on twitter and linkedin could provide specialists but if anyone has other ideas please list them or contact me.

 

[paulgbrown]

Hi everyone,

I am Paul from AgentBase, the UK Sales Agent Register. There are some interesting (and faily common) misconceptions aired above regarding sales agents.

For instance would you say that Crocs or Pandora lacked confidence in their products? Or 3M or BT or SodaStream, or Yale? Would you say that sales agents who earn more than their principal's MD are failed sales people? I often come across agents that earn hundreds of thousands a year - just from one principal - and they usually have several.

BTW. The Avon Cosmetics model is different to most companies in that their agents are DIRECT sales agents (i.e. B2C rather than B2B).

We have over 10,000 members and have been going over 20 years, and have dealt with thousands of clients - from 3M etc down to start-ups - who have used sales agents to great effect (Ref again Crocs and Pandora who both built their UK brands with sales agents).

If anyone wants any questions answering about sales agents, I am happy to help.

I know this isn't supposed to be a place to self-promote but there is a fair amount of info and resource on our website if anyone is interested: just Google agentbase.

(We are mentioned above already by one poster - with our web address - and thanks by the way for not blaming us for the lack of success you experienced with agents! I would be happy to discuss that with you if required. We can often get our clients on the right track. Getting the formula right for working with agents is our speciality)

All the best,
Paul

 

[RainWolf]

So what about companies like Avon? I would suggest Avon are very confident in their products wouldn't you?

Hehe... MLM... let's not go there!

You do know that most reps lose money - plus experienced sales people don't touch that stuff?

 

[RainWolf]

Erm, as a supporter of MLM (although I don't work in it), can you show where I resorted to insults and name calling?

Oh mine, please let's not make this personal. But you did use "spouting the usual rubbish", "ignorant", "wild statements"...

All you need to do is to state your case.

 

[RainWolf]

... As to being against the principles of business,which principles would they be?

For your information, I have been involved in MLM very successfully, indeed MLM gave me the money to invest in my first pub. I haven't been involved since but am still friendly with people who have been with the same MLM company for over 35 successful years.I have seen it work for hundreds of people with my own eyes, so I know that it works.
[/qoute]

Well, what does success mean? Can you give numbers? Did you also sell "training", besides the official products?

As to your comment "There is nothing a franchise or MLM can offer you, that you can't do better yourself IF you really understand business and marketing." that would assume that you have the finances to do research and development, buy in bulk, create brand awareness etc etc.

I could take you to a hamburger joint that is half a mile from a Macdonalds. Their food is better and cheaper, they have an excellent local reputation. The business is well marketed and well situated. Yet they turnover less than half of what the Macdonalds does. Had the owner invested in a Macd franchise he would have made the investment back in extra profit within 5 years.

As to the majority of people failing, yes that is true, however the figures for the number of people succeeding in substantially higher than the 5% average across all business types.

Turnover is one thing. Profit is another.

Secondly, you do understand that McDonalds is not about the best food - it's FAST FOOD. Note the best, not the cheapest. Fast. Plus you can trust that you get the same thing everytime you buy it.

This means that cheaper and "better" is not what these customers are looking for.

What does well marketed mean?

You don't need brand awareness to have a profitable business. That's, by the way, another reason why new business fail - they focus on the wrong things.

Plus, the brands that MLM companies sell have little recognition outside of the MLM community.

As for the empire thing, that's what MLM companies use to lure people in. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that that's what people expect when they join.

To be fair, most people who start a business don't know what they're getting into either.

 

[oldnickb]

Well, what does success mean? Can you give numbers? Did you also sell "training", besides the official products?

Over a 3 year period I saved over £40k. To put that in perspective, my wife was a radiographer and her annual salary was just over £1400. Did I sell training? Yes I produced a series of training and promotional videos for those I sponsored. I also ran an ad co-op to generate leads for my front line. The videos were good enough for the company to start selling them to other distributors on my behalf. They probably accounted for about a third of my savings.

As for the empire thing, that's what MLM companies use to lure people in. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that that's what people expect when they join.

To be fair, most people who start a business don't know what they're getting into either.

I would agree that some MLM companies do over-hype the opportunity. The most successful people are always the ones that paint a realistic picture of what is involved and teach people to concentrate on retail then recruit from within their customer base.

And I couldn't agree more about people starting a business not knowing what they were getting in to. A few years ago I did some mentoring for people taking tenancies with a brewery. I met people who had started trading without even being aware that they needed to be VAT registered!