Complete Story
04/05/2022
quoins2pixels
Hiring A Sales Rep
Without sales growth, profit growth is impossible. Growing sales almost always means adding sales reps. Every firm who endeavors to do this quickly discovers that hiring a successful sales rep is the hardest of tasks. The opportunities to waste large sums of money are immense and the failure rate is very high.
- Firms that have made the best of this tough challenge generally hire sales beginners and focus on personality traits rather than printing knowledge.
- They look for people who really want to make a lot of money, bearing in mind that while al-most everyone wants to be rich only a few want to go to the trouble of getting there.
- They look for people who have a high level of curiosity and who are better at listening than talking. Who can feel the prospect’s pain points and think about addressing them.
- They look for people who have had some experience with outside selling even not in printing as they have lived in that environment and accepted its challenges.
Once they hire the sales trainee, they must deal with compensation. Even though, some firms have salaried sales reps, it’s likely that given the special challenges of outside sales, a clear, incentive-based system is best. Even if it’s salary only, the rep gets a raise based on performance so the salary is really a delayed and uncertain version of a commission. If the rep is paid on a commission basis (gross sales, value added or some other variant), they must also receive a draw, since initially their sales may be zero. The draw should not be high enough for them to be comfortable, for the object is for them to move to commission earnings high enough to cover the draw (and more!) or leave if they can’t get there.
Of course, the trainee sales rep needs help and should get it, but at the end of the day, the ball is in their court—that’s why finding a successful candidate is tough but doable.
A special case is the “experienced” sales rep with a following. This person is the dream hire but often the dream turns into a nightmare. It is a very bad sign if the “experienced” rep demands an enormous draw.
After all, if they were as good as they say, wouldn’t they be better off with no draw but a higher commission rate? Some employers have dealt with this problem by explaining to the “experienced” rep that they want to spend the first two or three weeks calling with the rep on all the rep’s clients, to explain the firm’s commitment to serving them. If the rep is the real deal, they will see this as supportive. If they aren’t, they’ll leave.
quoins2pixels—the bi-weekly, nuts and bolts management newsletter
Graphic Media Alliance is proud to announce the coming arrival in your email of this publication which is short, easy to read, but totally focused on the nuts and bolts of the actions that will increase your profits. Each issue contains four or five short, but focused articles on the ideas that will really impact your bottom line like…
- What are your costs, and what does “cost” really mean?
- Steps you can take to preserve your cash, the lifeblood of your business.
- Compensation for sales reps that keeps them on your side.
- Should you buy or lease?
- Is overtime an expense or an opportunity?
- How do you price the new digital press?
- Thinking about buying another firm (or selling your own).
This is just a sample of the management challenges and opportunities that quoins2pixels will be exploring in every issue. Look for it in your email and editions of First Impressions and share it with your key people.
quoins2pixels is written by Bob Lindgren and Joe Polanco. Bob and Joe have spent decades in the printing industry, and throughout their careers, they have counseled hundreds of company owners on a variety of management topics. As a value-added service of Graphic Media Alliance, they are available to expand on these articles, or aid with projects. Bob can be reached at (818) 219-3855 and Joe at jspolanco49@gmail.com.
