Does anyone have any tips on finding / hiring sales people for an online service to offline customers?
BEFORE attempting to attract or hire ANY Sales Reps you Need to Know these things (you may already have these figured out but I did not want to overlook the most important ones before continuing to places to find them)?. 1. Commission Structure: What type of commission structure do you currently have in place (or are thinking about putting in place)? One time commission per sale, recurring, etc. 2. Client/Customer Retention and Repeat Sales: Retaining clients can become a full time job after their account list gets large. You may want to consider one of two things. A. Having a sales closing team to aquire clients and maintain loose contact + a dedicated service rep responsible for client retention. B. Offering increases in recurring commission based on the rep's retention rate of clients. i.e. pay 15% instead of 10% for those reps retaining 70%+ clients, etc. Of course you'll need to run the numbers and see what makes the most sense. Also, having a ladder approach with steady increments typically works best than just 1-3 levels. 3. Ongoing Customer Service and Sales Training Methods and Delivery Systems: After all, these ?reps? or ?agents? are going to be representing YOU and YOUR company. You need to make sure the level of service and communication is consistent and representative of you. While you might think this is not a big deal for a small time operation, I?ll assure you the world is MUCH MUCH smaller than ever and if you intend to operate in the IM industry and bad decisions you or your staff make will come back to haunt you in the future. When I was regional manager I only had the opportunity to visit each team once every couple months at best. Some more often if they were closer to my home base. In those cases we conducted webinars, teleconferences, etc. We utilized WebEx and the like for trainings. They are very interactive with technology these days. NOW ON TO FINDING ?QUALITY PEOPLE? This is an art and a science and no matter what don?t expect to get it right over 80% of the time. No one does, Fortune 500 companies included. Places to find people: Local and National Newspaper Classifieds Online Classifieds (Craigslist, etc) Career Builder/Monster.com Job postings Referrals from Friends Job Forums Sales/Marketing Forums (jobs or JVs) AND, My two favorite ones: 1. YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMERS/CLIENTS (they already know and love the service, why not use them) 2. Local community colleges and universities. a. I like to find students in business, marketing or psychology majors (those tend to fair the best) b. Instead of just posting flyers (which I also do), I contact the heads of each department and ask them for their top students/reccomendations for a potential "Internship" (paid or unpaid). Fact is, these are bright, talented, energetic individuals who are looking to bulk up their resume prior to entering the workforce full time. Many will work for free, but I typically pay them based on ROI/Performance or a base salary....which typically beats the hell out of what they would make at a traditional "Student" job on campus. Attracting QUALITY people: - $$$ Money talks, bullshit walks lol - Incentives + Bonuses + ???? - Opportunity for growth - Setting standards in your wanted to hire ads (bachelors degree, DOCUMENTED sales experience, etc) - Interview everyone yourself. Make them sell you something over the phone. Fact is, for small businesses it is going to be hard to attract seasoned quality sales agents simply because a quality sales agent can and does demand a high pay scale to work for you. They are worth their weight in gold and know it. That said, you have to be willing to either hire good workers with good communication skills and then train them in sales, OR be willing to pay a lot of money for quality reps. If your budget doesn?t allow for high pay, get creative with other bonuses that are tailored to the individual?s specific interests. I used to give theater tickets to my rep that enjoyed the performing arts, paintball passes to the young professional I knew liked the sport, etc. Treat your people well, respect them and have a genuine care for their personal and professional growth and they will treat you the same. Regards,
Not a problem. I come from a corporate background in sales and marketing/consulting. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. If the topic is big enough I'll just make a thread for it : ) Best of luck to you. Regards,
Does anyone knows where to find a complete sales training for people we hire for offline sales, i just want this to go throw the basics to what are the services and how to sell them thanks in advance
I'm not sure I would say there is anything that is a "complete" sales training package, though some corporate "sales training" companies may like to think so. That said, there are some good resources out there. No one can tell you that a certain course will be the end all be all, but sticking to training from people like Dale Carnagie, Gitomer, etc. will give your reps a strong foundation to build on. i.e. "How to Win Friends and Influence People," "The Sales Bible," "Little Red Book of Sales," etc The best sales training is the one YOU develop internally that is specifically tailored to your business and prospects. Another thing to keep in mind is that there are many different theoretical approaches to sales and some are more fitting than others to your niche, business model and clients. Here are a few off the top of my head to think about.... 1. Hard Sales (aggressive approach, cold and sometimes insulting). 2. Consultative (solution oriented, results driven, partnerships and long term relationships are key) 3. The EXPERT (product and industry knowledge expert, I liken this to informative sales) 4. The Buddy Approach (all about slick, funny, casual...get them to like you and you've got a sale approach lol) Good luck!
I'm curious...what is your reason for hiring a sales person? Is it that you've maxed out your own time and now you need to bring on help to scale up? Or is it that you don't like the sales aspect of the business (which is common), and you'd rather bring someone on board to handle that aspect?
i am more looking for the type of training for a person to learn about the services in a wise how to sell them or explain them to the customer got 2 good sellers in insurance that are interested in selling for me but i am trying to see how is the easy way for them to learn sufficient about the service but not enough so they go on their on thanks again
Not a fan of sales yeah, but mainly because I'm not the sales guy type. I do development / design / etc.
Great post. Question- I too have an online offer and have 2 agents doing sales on a rebill offer. The agents are hitting anywhere between 6-11 sales a day. I am looking to really beef this up also. Any feedback would be great!
You should test your own offer and script first even if you don't like sales. Plus when people asks you stuff like:"Have you ever sold it before?" and you say "no" it looks bad. You should do what your guys are doing. It will save you money because they won't have to figure it out by themselves. Morale will be better because they have faith in their training, etc.
