Questions about becoming a self employed sales rep

[SpaceOddity]

Hello guys,
I decided to write here to ask for your precious advices.
I would like to know more about working as a self employed sales representative.
I would like to become self employed as I also have other passions and commitments that I would be forced to cut out if normally employed by a company.
Obviously I understand that being a self employed sales representative must be full of risks in terms of financial stability, otherwise everybody would do it and choose to become their own boss. By the way I have experience working in Sales and as a Telemarketing agent.

I have a few questions. Some of them must be really stupid due to my incompetence on the topic.
1 How do I find a company or a product to represent? Do I have to go through interviews, like for a normal job?
2 Who provides me with the leads? Do I have to find them by myself on google? If so, isn't it hard?
3 Am I free to work as many hours as I want?
4 Is it only on commissions? Or there is a basic salary? I guess that with a basic salary I would have targets to hit. What is the best solution you would suggest?
5 How do I choose the industry of the products I will be selling? I guess it's not just about my personal interests but about choosing something not so difficult to sell.

Thanks for your time and help.

 

[Tim Coulter]

Lots of companies are keen to recruit self-employed sales people, but typically their primary motive is to expand their sales force without taking on extra risk. In other words, the positions available are usually commission only. In fact, it's almost implicit in the self-employed nature of such contracts that they are paying for results; not simply paying for someone to go through the motions of selling.

Despite you taking all the risk, good companies will still expect to interview you, since they will want to ensure that you are a person of good standing who will act ethically and not put their reputation at risk. However, they will probably be more tolerant and willing to give you a chance, even if you have limited experience, than if they were offering a hefty base salary.

Although some companies may have specific guidelines about the times of day that you are allowed to contact their prospects, there shouldn't be arbitrary restrictions on how much (or how little) you can work, as you will effectively be a 3rd party service provider.

Who provides the leads will depend on the industry and the specific company that you choose. However, even if you have to generate your own leads, a good company will have already worked out the best ways to do that and will share these procedures with you as part of your induction. You should ask detailed questions about this at the interview stage.

Whether or not it's beneficial for you to work on a commission-only basis will depend on how good you are at closing the sale. In general, if you are good at your job and achieve results, a commission-only position is likely to offer you more earnings scope. However, if this is your first time selling, don't underestimate the time it will take to learn your trade or to get acclimatized to the industry you choose. You might face a long period of famine before you hit your stride.

Your choice of industry and company must come down to personal choice, based on research and influenced by your leanings. I recall having seen a few recent posts on UKBF from company owners either looking for self-employed sales people or struggling with issues related to sales, so it might be worth you searching and sending a PM to the relevant posters.

 

[SpaceOddity]

Hi Tim,

Thanks a lot for taking time to provide me with all these explanations.
I hope that at least in the early stages there is a chance to claim for tax credit or some sort of help in order to survive and make it through the initial famine that you've just mentioned. Otherwise I don't see how anybody can take such a huge risk for this type of career.

Is it true that I can represent more companies/products at the same time?

Apart from the posters here in the forum, is there a specific site for jobs of this type? Something like CV-Library, totaljobs, reed or Indeed.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Tim Coulter]

I don't see how anybody can take such a huge risk for this type of career.

It's only a huge risk if you don't have confidence in your ability to sell and/or you choose the wrong company to work for. As with any business, the seeds of success will be sown in the initial strategy, research and planning. After that, it's up to you to execute on that plan and make a success of it. It's also substantially less risky than some other types of business that need capital investment.

Is it true that I can represent more companies/products at the same time?

Yes, but obviously not companies/products that compete with each other. That would be a distinct conflict of interests. However, I can't see any benefit in doing that. If you have multiple opportunities, it's better to choose the one with the greatest potential and commit to it 100%.

Apart from the posters here in the forum, is there a specific site for jobs of this type? Something like CV-Library, totaljobs, reed or Indeed.

I've seen ads for freelance sales people on People Per Hour, although they tend mostly to be for telesales people, like this one. However, why not use your sales skills to land a position by researching companies that could obviously benefit from your services? Nothing will impress a prospective client/employer more than a real demo of your sales skills to sell yourself.

 

[SpaceOddity]

I guess the confidence and serenity would also depend on your bank account.

How do you survive in the early stages when you might not to get back what you give? How do you pay the rent and the bills? Do you need the financial help of your parents?
I really would like to hear from somebody who's just been through this.

What do you need to get started? A laptop and a phone?

I would like to be home based rather than somebody driving the whole day and running from an appointment to another.

How to choose a company? Is it better to choose a popular national one? Most of the time I read of companies I've never heard of.

I apologise again for the thousands questions.

 

[ethical PR]

It's important when starting out to do due diligence on any potential clients. You don't want to take on companies who don't have a tried and tested product or good sales support .

Some start ups and established companies see commission only sales as a cheap way of selling their products and services or don't have the money to invest in their sales and marketing.

You will get lots of people wanting commission only sales people. You need to take into account how much you need to make and your costs and how likely it is that what you are selling will generate the income you need.

You maybe better starting out working for companies that give you basic plus training to get experience before going commission only.

I don't think you can rely on tax credits as they are based on actual earnings but give their helpline a call.

 

[Feldon]

Have a look at Agentbase who are located in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. They match agents with companies looking to promote their products via self-employed sales agents, they also used to sell a handy little book on how to make it all work.

 

[SpaceOddity]

It's important when starting out to do due diligence on any potential clients. You don't want to take on companies who don't have a tried and tested product or good sales support .

Some start ups and established companies see commission only sales as a cheap way of selling their products and services or don't have the money to invest in their sales and marketing.

You will get lots of people wanting commission only sales people. You need to take into account how much you need to make and your costs and how likely it is that what you are selling will generate the income you need.

Absolutely. For this reason I was wondering if there were websites where I can see reviews made by other agents saying how hard, or how pleasant it is to sell for that company, just to avoid as you said "the ones who don't have a tried and tested product or good sales report".

You maybe better starting out working for companies that give you basic plus training to get experience before going commission only.

I'm sure it would be the best solution but then I would be again pressured with targets and an annoying boss above me. I'm fine with having a boss, but in Sales, and when you're pressured to hit targets, it's awful. Also I guess that giving away a basic salary, they have that little risk that "commission only" wouldn't give them, so they might become a little fussy and looking for a specific profile of sales person, that I might not be.

I don't think you can rely on tax credits as they are based on actual earnings but give their helpline a call.

I think they are mainly based on your weekly working hours. You need to do a minimum of 30 hours weekly to be entitled, but I need to investigate more.

 

[ethical PR]

Tax credits are based on how many children you have, whether you have a partner, your previous income, current income, hours worked etc

If you are going to become a commission only sales person you will still have targets and expectations by those employing you.

If you don't like working in a target led environment than sales is probably not the right environment for you.

 

[SpaceOddity]

If you are going to become a commission only sales person you will still have targets and expectations by those employing you.

I understand expectations but how can they claim targets if you basically work for free? It looks like they always win and never lose in this game. They just pay you commission but still demand a certain performance. Is it fair?

 

[hurokjj]

Hello guys,
I decided to write here to ask for your precious advices.
I would like to know more about working as a self employed sales representative.
I would like to become self employed as I also have other passions and commitments that I would be forced to cut out if normally employed by a company.
Obviously I understand that being a self employed sales representative must be full of risks in terms of financial stability, otherwise everybody would do it and choose to become their own boss. By the way I have experience working in Sales and as a Telemarketing agent.

I have a few questions. Some of them must be really stupid due to my incompetence on the topic.
1 How do I find a company or a product to represent? Do I have to go through interviews, like for a normal job?
2 Who provides me with the leads? Do I have to find them by myself on google? If so, isn't it hard?
3 Am I free to work as many hours as I want?
4 Is it only on commissions? Or there is a basic salary? I guess that with a basic salary I would have targets to hit. What is the best solution you would suggest?
5 How do I choose the industry of the products I will be selling? I guess it's not just about my personal interests but about choosing something not so difficult to sell.

Thanks for your time and help.

I am curious if anyone has had any success with hiring commission only sales reps to advertise their services. If you did, what was your experience like?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Most likely you will be paid monthly which actually means at the end of the month you invoice the company and then wait maybe 1-2 weeks after that to actually get paid. clients who don't continue their agreement means you often have to pay back the finders commission

If you have proven sales experience and the ability to convert leads into sales you can do well, but many find they cannot accept constant rejection

 

[J Arnold]

I understand expectations but how can they claim targets if you basically work for free? It looks like they always win and never lose in this game. They just pay you commission but still demand a certain performance. Is it fair?

And that's the fun of being a self employed sales rep.

You also need to know your % on a sale, how long the sales pipeline is, at what point do you get paid, are expenses covered (probably not)

 

[ethical PR]

Hi Tim,

Thanks a lot for taking time to provide me with all these explanations.
I hope that at least in the early stages there is a chance to claim for tax credit or some sort of help in order to survive and make it through the initial famine that you've just mentioned. Otherwise I don't see how anybody can take such a huge risk for this type of career.

Is it true that I can represent more companies/products at the same time?

Apart from the posters here in the forum, is there a specific site for jobs of this type? Something like CV-Library, totaljobs, reed or Indeed.

Thanks a lot.

You need to make sure you have enough saved up to bank roll you for the first 3-6 months until income comes in

What expertise do you have in sales? Have you developed a marketing plan with budget behind it?

 

[Mark T Jones]

I am curious if anyone has had any success with hiring commission only sales reps to advertise their services. If you did, what was your experience like?

I'm in an industry where self employed / commission only is the norm, and works extremely well.

I also have customers in very different businesses who work with commission agents. Very different set up, but it can work well

The key thing here that it isn't a master/ servant relationship, it's 2 parties with different goals and skill sets understanding what each needs to put in to get what they want out.

 

[fisicx]

You need to make sure you have enough saved up to bank roll you for the first 3-6 months until income comes in

What expertise do you have in sales? Have you developed a marketing plan with budget behind it?

It’s an 8 year old thread. I suspect the OP has long gone.