Sales Team Payed on results does it work?

Good Evening,

I'm wondering if there is anyone who has ever used someone to sell their products but pay them based on results.

Does this work or do you believe knowone is interested in this concept?

Richard Tweed

info@buttonbashing.co.uk

Can work, depends on what and how much.

Hi,

I'm in the process of trying to get more schools enrolled on our active gaming club program and would love someone who is fantastic at selling or getting information across to schools to maybe secure meetings. 

I was thinking that £50 per meeting secured.

Richard Tweed

Without knowing much about what you've got going on, but from experience - I'd estimate you'd be looking at closer to £250 for a fully qualified meeting with several of the decision makers.

Hi Richard

I think this works if they are sales agents, already visiting say a retail store with all their other products, and yours fits in nicely. (not sure if this would work for schools).

To incorporate a commission only sales team for your business, is very difficult.  I would start by looking on agentbase.co.uk to see if there is any suitable categories.

Jane

yea, I'd agree with Agentbase - I've picked up work from there when I've been looking for cash.

Thanks for the tip off about Agent Base Jane - I'm also looking for a more driven sales person for my business, and will see if this could help me out too. 

I have found a couple of people on People Per Hour who have found me 2 - 3 sites each over the last 2 -3 months. I think they will find me more and even acclerate this rate, but they are doing it as too much of a "side-line" really - I would like a more consistent flow of business.

As you say, if I can find a sales agent who's already got a existing client bank and / or relationships within my main niches (restaurants, hairdressers, etc), it would be an ideal thing for them to be able to talk about my service at the same time. 

We have tried it in the past and to be honest no it did not work for our product, and we was offering a very big commission rate on sales. its like anything if its easy to sell and people think they can do so with little effort you will get their buy in. But if its a tough sell or a long wait between quoting to getting the order they are not going to want to sell it.

Hi Richard,

I don't personally believe in commission only sales models, if your looking for someone to promote a business or even a venture your best looking at engaging a partner who has these skills. 

We personally have a number of agreements with Trainers and Speakers who do workshops where we sell and organise their events. They put on the training course and manage the day itself, profits are shared accordingly after. Personally these type of ventures are normally better for both parties when they are genuine partnerships.

James

If you're good at what you do, why would you bother taking such a risk? (please don't say if you're good at what you do then it's not a risk, being an SEO I've lost count how many times I've heard this over the years). 

You need to balance out the risk...at this moment, all the risk is with them. Offer them three times what you would ordinarily pay an employee, providing your margins are still intact, and you will probably see far better results. 

The biggest reason people fail with these "tactics" is simply because they make it all about what they want - this is a partnership, and in order to create the partnership, you need to get inside the head of your partner and give him or her what he or she wants i.e. an incentive. There needs to be as much in it for them as there is for you. 

You've also got the second issue that most employee-orientated people, even though they ARE good at what they do, have lower risk thresholds than "entrepreneurs" - they aren't concerned about opportunity as much as they are about the safety net, they've got bills to pay and kids to feed (and typically the better sales guys will be in this position - they have built up contacts over a number of years and they can leverage them and generate more business). 

n.b. despite Agent Base being a sensible recommendation from Jane, I personally am not a fan - they send me quite a lot of e-mails, and I'm not convinced by a company which works predominantly as an introducer (this is their business model, right?). 

I can't remember the details but I saw a recent post on here by Sam Swinstead about the implications of commission only and minimum wage and it may be worth checking this with her.

This is something I'm also interested in. I'll try Agent Base as well, so thanks to those who have recommended them. I worked with PeoplePerHoue a few years aago as well, and picked up some good projects from there. 

I'm looking to offer between £50 and £150 commission for each mobile website to the referrer, depending on the size of the sale, which will typically be between £250 and £600. The feedback I've had from my business FB page has been fantastic so far so I don't think it'll be a difficult sell...I just haven't got the time to get out and sell it.

I created the job on PeoplePerHour last night and paid to have it marked 'urgent', but have had an email from them this morning stating they don't advertise commission only positions and suggested I find a different platform.

AgentBase looks fantastic...all of my businesses are aimed at micro companies / SME's so could be packaged. Thanks Jane 

Richard,

If you do decide to use the comm only route, i would advise highly against paying on appointments only. I would advise to pay a smaller comm for the appointment and the larger comm for completed sale!

Sales guys are money driven, especially those who are on comm only. Using the 2 tier comm scheme will produce better quality leads and therefore better sales figures!!

I would look to develop a strategic partnership with a company who is already selling to your school market.