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Sales Rep
- Thread starter Fatboy
- Start date
Just Another Sign Guy
New Member
pm me & call me I have setup compensation packages,sales tools, etcfor literally 100s of shops & have wrote what must amount to a small book on this forum on the subject (no disrespect intended but s101 search engine can leave a bit to be desired at times) pm me & we will set up a convenient time to talk. I need a lot of info from you to do this properly.
have a good day. Dan
have a good day. Dan
J
john1
Guest
Honestly that sounds like a good idea but a sales rep doesn't know what you do like you do so they may portray your company poorly.
Also, It seems they would get paid commission per job but heck i have even thrown the idea around and nobody wanted to work unless it was per hour for some reason.
Also, It seems they would get paid commission per job but heck i have even thrown the idea around and nobody wanted to work unless it was per hour for some reason.
Circleville Signs
New Member
Good sales reps are REALLY hard to find - ESPECIALLY if you are looking to pay only commission. The guys you want either already work for your larger competition and will want something to make them leave, or else they will do what Royster did and figure out that they can just cut you out of the picture and make more money starting their own company.
In order to afford a really good salesperson you better be ready to part with a base salary of at least $25-30k/yr, and generous commissions beyond that. You MIGHT be able to get someone great for a $30-40k/yr non-recoverable draw against commissions....
In order to afford a really good salesperson you better be ready to part with a base salary of at least $25-30k/yr, and generous commissions beyond that. You MIGHT be able to get someone great for a $30-40k/yr non-recoverable draw against commissions....
Good Luck! We just got rid of one...If they do not know the at least some of the business and materials do not hire that is my suggestion. We hired a woman who knew just about everyone in this area because she used to work at a local newspaper and sold ads for years and she couldn't sell our stuff mostly due to lack of knowledge. We did give her a chance, about a year to be exact and she just could not learn.
CheapVehicleWrap
New Member
I too learned that people who've sold allot of advertising are for some reason not as good as you may have thought selling vinyl printed products. In fact I wonder if the one's I'm speaking of could even give it away free.
Just Another Sign Guy
New Member
I apologize I have many phone calls to return in regards to this subject..as I said it is a crazy day and I will call everyone tomorrow.
First, in my opinion it is important that anyone who is going to sell for your company, understands your business...the materials, the processes, the artwork requirements, the production techniques, the timeframes of production, etc.
I insist that every sales person that has EVER worked for me has worked in the shop for a minimum of 2 weeks just to become familiarized with materials, etc.
It is VERY hard to come up with a winning commission structure that will encourage a salesperson to 'stick around' if your average sale is $150...it takes a LOT of sales to make a living if you are being paid on a commission structure with sales of that value. There are other options.
In addition I do not recommend hiring salespeople "because they know everyone" or they have a huge network...you want someone who can constantly prospect and can continue to build a growing network.
If they don't understand the value of referrals .... show them the door immediately.
My most successful salespeople (and over the last 25+yrs I've had well over a hundred..conservatively) have been commercial print brokers, ups drivers, beverage route drivers, and as weird as this is going to sound ... salesmen who sell tools/auto supplies/etc out of those mobile vans. All of those guys are used to making INSANE amount of sales calls...and the name of the game is making sales calls, the more qualified the better.
First, in my opinion it is important that anyone who is going to sell for your company, understands your business...the materials, the processes, the artwork requirements, the production techniques, the timeframes of production, etc.
I insist that every sales person that has EVER worked for me has worked in the shop for a minimum of 2 weeks just to become familiarized with materials, etc.
It is VERY hard to come up with a winning commission structure that will encourage a salesperson to 'stick around' if your average sale is $150...it takes a LOT of sales to make a living if you are being paid on a commission structure with sales of that value. There are other options.
In addition I do not recommend hiring salespeople "because they know everyone" or they have a huge network...you want someone who can constantly prospect and can continue to build a growing network.
If they don't understand the value of referrals .... show them the door immediately.
My most successful salespeople (and over the last 25+yrs I've had well over a hundred..conservatively) have been commercial print brokers, ups drivers, beverage route drivers, and as weird as this is going to sound ... salesmen who sell tools/auto supplies/etc out of those mobile vans. All of those guys are used to making INSANE amount of sales calls...and the name of the game is making sales calls, the more qualified the better.
Circleville Signs
New Member
+1 This.
petepaz
New Member
i agree if you hire a sales rep they should work in house for a period of time to learn the business but i think it’s just as important to find a good, aggressive salesperson, they can sell anything. i know many sales people who have sold for multiple types of businesses. the sales guy we have now used to sell business insurance before that he sold some sort of ceramic products and now for us he sells all our printing business plus custom cases and foam inserts for our sister company. he has been doing good and only been here 2 years but he is aggressive and learned enough to get started before we sent him out on his own. As important as it is to know the product they have to know how to close a deal. I sold carpet when I was 19 and I had worked in the store for 4 years before that I knew everything I needed to know about carpet. How it was made, what carpet was best for what area, how to lay it out efficiently, all the stain protections but I wasn’t very good with the people. I could give them an hour of useless info but needed to close the deal, get their money.
Just Another Sign Guy
New Member
that's sales 101 it is your job to listen not talk...& you have to ask for the sale. If you are unfamiliar with any of this invest in masters of excellence or even a book on the subject...but simply put you will increase your closure rate SUBSTANTIALLY if you simply ask for the order.
I hired a sales rep about 10 months ago and it's worked out great. We've had a huge increase in business. He as brought in a good amount of new business but we've also had a ton of increased sales from existing customers. It's amazing how much more you can sell to your existing customers by having a rep that can service the accounts and upsell them new products. The rep we hired had been selling in this business for several years. If you can find someone already in the industry that is the way to go. You also want someone that is motivated to sell and gets excited about selling, not the commission. We pay salary plus he gets a bonus on high profit jobs.
cartoad
New Member
No one can sell as well as the owner of the company. A practical solution might be to hire a production manager, or another full time person in the store to free the owner up to go out and do sales for 4 or more hours a day. Or if you have a good staff that can get by for a couple of hours, spend a few hours out doing sales in the morning every day.
FireSprint.com
Trade Only Screen & Digital Sign Printing
+1 (If you plan on hiring a sales rep) good advice.
+2 Because I think this is the right thing to do if you're not already spending half your day directly with customers.
I like to automate and let others take over certain parts of my business so I can spend more time with my customers, not less.
Good luck either way. Hopefully you're so busy and that's why you need someone else on the phone and shaking hands.
Circleville Signs
New Member
I couldn't disagree more on the owner being the best salesperson. Read "The E-Myth" sometime. The reality is that while an owner needs to be able to sell, it doesn't mean he is best suited to do so. As I've said in other threads, I started in the sign business in sales. I did very well with it - however, I HATE DOING IT. Hate it. Hate cold calling, hate phone prospecting, literally the thought if doing those things makes my stomach clench up. If I had to do those activities every day at this point in my life, I'd be out of this business in 3 months.
Pat Whatley
New Member
My FedEx Ground driver is a GREAT salesperson for me. (he can suck as a delivery driver, but he's great at bringing me leads and actual sales)
What is a sales person? A worker for commission? A whore? I think a sales person, a great one, is the one who can just connect a seller with a buyer with a need. A need with a product. NOT to sell to someone who does not need. IF your sales person believes you can produce the goods, you better have a few kids and start them young, or get more employees. Or if no employees are good, Get good with competitors, because they do your jobs you cant get to, and they pay you for them. Get a deal going with competitors/associates etc, and I don't know why, but if you get a reference, cause you helped some other sign company when they busy and you didn't steal their work after the first job, wait for the rest of the jobs. Start your own install/production network, that is where the money is. we cant do it all. A Salesperson can just as easily ruin you as make you, also have seen business owner change goal posts, say after original deal at start that they get less, sales person too successful and make too much. Profits are relative, and a good salesman will be happy to submit some income to make sure company is profitable. Mutual benefit. Just talk be open.,
The supposed little guy, word of mouth, LOL, at least you know he cares, and clients see he has not been bought. The best sales people are the ones you don't pay.
petepaz
New Member
+1
yes the owner may know the most but that doesn't make him/her a good salesperson. just giving your potential customer all the info doesn't seal the deal. #1 you must be a good salesperson, aggressive, people person #2 know your product