Independent Sales Reps

contracts, challenges, payments

[George_J]

Hello all,

I'm about to set up my web design/PPC/SEO shop and need my first independent sales rep (ISR) to supplement my own sales efforts. The ISR will generate his leads, negotiate the contract on my behalf and close the deal. Initially, the ISR will be paid on straight commission with the possibility of going on low base salary plus commission for proven performers that decide to stay with me for at least one year.

What is the best way of reaching as many qualified reps as possible (craiglist, local newspapers, specialized sites)? Are there any serious problems with working with an ISR located in another major metropolitan area? Any suggestions on finding the real gems among the dozens to hundreds of resumes that I'm likely to get?

From reading the various threads on this forum and elsewhere I understand that "hired guns" can be difficult to control and so I need to find out what kind of contracts are needed and what specific clauses need to be included.

What kind of quotas do you impose on your sales reps? What other controls do you implement that ensure that the ISR will not overpromise and then let me handle angry clients?

Since clients can be slow to pay and I need to manage my cash flow carefully I'm thinking about adding a clause that stipulates that the ISR will receive his cut once I got paid by the client, say, two weeks after the funds were transferred into my business account. For example, if the client agrees for SEO work at $2,000 per month payable on the first day of every month then the ISR will get his $400 on the 15th of the month. If the client is late or defaults on the monthly fee then I should have the right to delay his payment or cancel it altogether. This way, the ISR will have an incentive to provide good service to prospective clients and help me with deliquent accounts.

I welcome any other thoughts, suggestions, warnings or admonitions (yes, I can take sharp but helpful criticism). I would also appreciate if anyone can recommend a skilled lawyer specializing in Internet services.

George

[TypicalSurfer]

If you want a hired gun that doesn't shoot blanks you may need an attitude adjustment. Going into that area with more design on how to nitpick and control versus feedom to EARN BIG will only get you pea shooters who won't do you any good anyway. Why would a sales professional want to take on the risk of investing his/her time and expertise on YOUR venture, think hard and put yourself into the shoes of someone who can produce then go back and see if you are all that and a bag of chips.

Don't mean to sound too harsh but I don't think you understand the rainmaker type (hint:they like to get wet too).

[gstick]

Surfer is on the right track. I suggest that you think about sales people you know. Talk to them even if they are employees. They think about the business of selling and they may know other sales people.

If you have any connections with a small company see if you can talk to the sales manager. Use the yellow pages and find some independent reps. Cold call them and ask for 3 minutes from them to give you the key points. Sales people love to talk and everybody likes being the expert.

I have seen a few good books on this topic over the years. It would be worth looking at one or two to get an informed framework of thinking about company/rep working relationship arrangements.

Talk to specialized employment/recruiting people who hire sales people. They know something about why some sales people prefer to be independent.

Good Luck

[Automaton]

Sales reps hate restrictions, and they are very sensitive to being paid correctly and on time. You can impose certain requirements though. You can design a basic sales script, but do not expect them to use it word for word. You must allow them to work their magic. That is what the best ones do.

I think you need to decide which of the following you are really looking to hire:

1. A top producing sales rep.
2. A telemarketer.

Choice #2 will be cheaper and more likely to agree to whatever you say. Choice #1 will probably produce better results if you give them more freedom. But there are also a lot of wannabe's, so be careful.

[Marcia]

>>2. A telemarketer.

Will read a script and sound like it, and will 99 times out of 10 get the phone slammed down a few words into his/her pitch.

>>1. A top producing sales rep.

Can be in person or by phone, but top producing salespeople know how to qualify people and detect the difference between prospects and suspects, and know how to shmooze the customers and develop relationships.

You can't control that kind of personal interaction, and it's debatable whether it can even be taught; it's usually something that comes naturally.

Another thing - there's a difference between an employee and an independent contractor. Give explicit instructions, oversight, restrictions and supervision, quotas and demands, and it's employee status - beyond specifying what "promises" can be made to avoid misrepresentation.

[gpilling]

I have found that local theatre students make good telemarketers. They are used to working for nothing (so paying them ANYTHING is a huge increase), and they are good at pretending that your product is the most fantastic thing since sliced bread.

The only headaches I have had is working around their rehearsal schedules.