Self-Employed Commission Only Sales Reps

[Simona]

Hi,
I am trying to recruit a team of commission only door to door canvassers and experienced Sales Reps but I am finding it very difficult to recruit for these positions.

I have tried advertising online, even payed for the ads but it didn't work out great.
I've been to Job Centers and again that didn't help very much. If there is anybody out there that has got any ideas on how to go about recruiting for these positions I would really appreciate it.
The pay packet, even though is commission only, it's excellent.

 

[Richard White]

What are you selling?

Agentbase is a good way to attract commission only sales agents. Hiring commission only sales people as a conventional sales team is not easy unless you have something that is relatively easy to sell and the sales person does not have to wait too long before they get the commissions.

If you can provide more details I can give you some ideas

 

[fisicx]

....but I am finding it very difficult to recruit for these positions.

Maybe because it's not something people want to do. You might pay well but people don't like having doors shut in their faces.

 

[Simona]

We sell solar panels and we pay weekly as well.
Thank you

 

[Simona]

I take your point fisicx when it comes to door can but for sells reps that's not an issue because they go on booked appointments

 

[beasty]

You are not really recruiting, you are hoping to get free labour with no risk

Recruitment means employment, you are not offering that, so you should hardly be surprised that not many people want to donate their efforts to you risk free

 

[Simona]

dear Beasty, i didn't start this thread for you to insult my intelligence.i really do not appreciate your oppinion, it is a job like any others and people make a living from it all of their life if they are amazing at it. i thought i might get some support but obviously this is not that kind of website.

 

[beasty]

Well boo (Word deleted) hoo

 

[tan_lan]

OP, you dont get it.

You want someone else to take all the risk.

Why would someone do that when they can be an employee and the risk is shared.

 

[BartJr]

Hi,
I am trying to recruit a team of commission only door to door canvassers and experienced Sales Reps but I am finding it very difficult to recruit for these positions.

I have tried advertising online, even payed for the ads but it didn't work out great.
I've been to Job Centers and again that didn't help very much. If there is anybody out there that has got any ideas on how to go about recruiting for these positions I would really appreciate it.
The pay packet, even though is commission only, it's excellent.

It's hard to tell you anything without knowing what product/service you are selling

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

You won't find any good salespeople who work on commission only. They want a base salary with bonuses.

Whilst it's normal for sales reps to work on performance-based arrangements, they don't want to be constantly worrying that a lull in sales means that they won't be able to pay their bills.

That's why the good, experienced sales reps, the most sought-after, will simply snap up the base salary + bonus jobs. You may get some people who take up your offer, but there's a big spectrum of quality when it comes to salesmanship.

What is your commission structure? How many sales would they have to make, and at what value, to be able to earn a moderate £2k per month salary?

 

[Mystro]

I would Imagine the commission is excellent if they get a sale, but the business model is flawed, how many doors do these people need to knock on average to get a sale, realistically how many doors can they knock per day. I know from experience it wont be many doors knocked and maybe a sale or 2 per month

You would be so much better off buying leads then sending a commission based sales guy in, the door to door salesman will be much more welcomed to this approach.

Many people buy solar and such but knocking doors will be like finding a needle in a haysatck and just wont work

getting warm leads is the way forward, but will require the investment from you to start it off

And here's your first freeby ... there are tonnes of these people out there, maybe not exactly what you looking for but I am sure the solar industry crosses their paths all the time

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/energy-resellers.344595/

Good Luck

 

[kate1]

Im not saying this to gain myself work, but I would probably try telesales, booking appointments for reps, you can get much more contact this way, plus bonified leads

 

[Patrick @ BIG in the UK]

OP, have you made it clear the agents will be going out to pre-booked appointments? That the solar panels will be free etc?

In addition to that; if earning good money is realistic, why not offer minimum wage and less commission instead of more commission and no wage? Just an idea.

 

[beasty]

The OP has said they are going on appointments, these are always two stage sales with someone setting up the meeting and then the salesman going

Regardless, there has to be a learning period and commission only for a company that is not known is almost certainly not going to work, people work commission only for brands they know or recognise as industry leading.

It is quite normal to have commission only sales in this type of business but you are not employing people you are looking for self employed agents, a more profitable way forward would be a training and evaluation period with some guaranteed income and less commision tailing off to commission only. Using your own time to learn a product with no compensation is not something people are keen to do especially when the product is not a household name.

 

[Bruceflea]

beasty talks a lot of sense there. I'd imagine the typical car sales type package would be more attractive by offering a higher salary for 3 months, then after this the salary reduces significantly as they should be capable of generating enough sales to make up/ exceed the previous higher salary in commission. This type of structure means the risk isn't totally theirs and they will get enough to cover their bills during quiet months as all industries have them.

 

[Psl]

The vast majority of the solar pv industry is run using self employed, commission only sales people. It is a growing industry and the best sales people are already taken up and out selling.

D2D canvassing is not the way to go. Great training and product knowledge coupled with confirmed appointments is. That way you will see results.

Comments such as 'employees and shared risk' and 'free labour' and 'you won't find any good sales people that work on commission' are frankly nonsense.

 

[beasty]

Comments such as 'employees and shared risk' and 'free labour' and 'you won't find any good sales people that work on commission' are frankly nonsense.[/QUOTE]


I read the comment that prompted this and instantly thought, yup another person with no history in sales advising on how sales works.

It is pretty clear that some people form their opinions and gather (Knowledge) based on earlier posts on this site rather than having been employed or been through the situation they are posting on.

 

[Psl]

Are you saying that I have no history/experience in sales?


@fuelpovertyuk @energy__saver

 

[beasty]

NOT you, the post YOU were referring to

I did not highlight the important parts too well!

 

[Psl]

Ahhh. I have misunderstood your reply. My apologies [emoji2]


@fuelpovertyuk @energy__saver

 

[Derek mccaig]

Have you considered appointment setting in your sales area it is probably cheaper than canvassers and you only pay on results the same as you would pay a canvasser we can help with this if you need it we specialise in appointment setting and all appointments come with a recording so your sales people can listen to the conversation before attending the appointment getting an idea of what the client is looking for.Send me a pm if this interests you