Question

Topic: Career/Training

How To Hire An Outside Sales Rep?

Posted by Anonymous on 11/5/2010 at 6:14 PM ET 250 Points
My company is looking at hiring an outside sales rep, however; we have NO idea what percentages sales reps make. Our rep would be specifically selling our embroidery & screen-printing services and clothing to other businesses. Any information on how sales reps are compensated (especially in a small business) would be greatly appreciated.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by michael on 11/5/2010 at 7:00 PM Accepted
    Heather,
    This is really all over the board. The question is whether the person will be an employee or an independent rep.

    Safest place to start is at 10%. You also need to consider if you will pay that 10% from every order from the same company. No hard & fast rule their either.

    I've represented companies that provide a cell phone (or bag phone as it were....argh!) and those who provided a weekly gas allowance.

    Michael
  • Posted on 11/6/2010 at 4:10 PM Accepted
    Why not ask your prospective sales rep candidates what they think a fair commission rate would be? You want it to be high enough to motivate them to spend their valuable time and energy on your products. If it's not, you're just kidding yourself about the effectiveness of this sales approach. A small percentage of zero is still zero.

    P.S. The amount you need to pay depends on the perceived effort required to earn enough money to be worth the effort. No sales rep is going to focus on a line that doesn't return a decent commission. So how much of their time and attention do you want/need?
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