Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

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  1

  mike.tressler@...

  03/13/08 | Report as spam

  Old school thinking...

  Those "tips for selling are very old school, churn and burn style selling. They do not bode well for the long term growth of a company. CRM is just another name for what reps used to keep in their "rolodex" or "tickel-file. This guy sounds like he is afraid of anything new. Think about the statement that if products aren't selling go to a new company...maybe the reason they are not selling is that he has burned all his customers and needs a fresh group to go through. Just the thoughts of someone who has made a great living selling commission only and now is a senior manager at an internaional company.

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  2

  schkayalogy

  03/13/08 | Report as spam

  Score 3/6

  Disagree with 1
  
  Perhaps sharks need to change their strategy. When I was selling for commission, I would work with sales persons in other companies who targeted similar markets. Our products were different so there was little conflict of interest (except how the customer wants to spread funds). But I ended up with a lot of referrals (sales I didn't even work for directly).
  
  Agree with 2
  
  If after a long time, plenty of strategy changes, you still can't sell that product and you believe it's really the product, you should know when to move on.
  
  Agree with 3
  
  Isn't that your job description? Selling for Commission? Suck it up.
  
  Disagree with 4
  
  Perhaps your 'friend' doesn't understand the purpose of having sales managers. We promoted a guy to a sales manager NOT just because he was bringing in the money. He had exceptional 'LEADERSHIP' and 'Management' skills. While he was really good as a sales person, we decided to take a risk and have him train equally good people (with less experience).
  
  Disagree with 5
  
  The line between marketing and sales has gotten thinner today. Sales people not only need to know how to sell, they need to learn how to prospect using various marketing channels. They need networking skills because a lot of business is done based on good standing relationships these days. So upgrading oneself in other fields is necessary. Take body building for example. Your ability to increase your squat weights depends on how strong your abs/back are too.
  
  Agree with 6
  
  It's ALWAYS about the customer first. If you can benefit from benefiting the customer ... it's a win-win. But always try to look for the win-win-win. The customer gets what he needs, you make your sale or get your strategic positioning but something fresh and exciting should develop from that relationship too. Something unexpected perhaps ... something Good.
  
  Mark Claudius Png
  www.shoutlabs.com

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  3

  danland

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  Batting a 1000

  Getting real the score is basically a 6 for 6. May think it old but it's real for results. The CRM, Sales Mgrs, processes, etc., all take care of themselves. Sure there is a system, a flexible system, that any sales person who makes it long term in commission only develops. Just most can't really define it or frankly care what it is (within ethical bounds)because they are bottom line focused. And their bottom line does not take care of itself without some form of CRM, etc.
  
  As an "old school" mentor put it - sink or swim. But the best process is good old fashioned Mentoring from success. "Do and I do and you'll get what I get..." And yes, be prepared to cut a healthy commission split to your Mentor to keep their attention.

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  4

  castries

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  That's absoutely true.It's survial of the fetus out there. You must work towards acheiving a goal, and to do so, you must have what people need and what interest them the most. Without this, it is useless trying to market a product or service which is already dead.

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  5

  castries

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  This is absoutely true. It's survial of the fetus out there. You must have a product or service the drives customer interest and needs 100%. Too many forecloseures. Families must eat, children must be educated and insurance have to be paid. If your product or service is pretty, or beautifully wrapped, but does not generate income for me to do all the above, sorry Charlie. I must move on! You can't deposit a nicely wrapped product at any mac machine or bank but you sure can deposit cheques.

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  6

  gadders

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  Respect to your friend for doing that all his life. I couldn't do it. I had my one taste of sales (and commission only sales) as a student for a Summer job. F-that.

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  7

  7leads

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  Advice From A Pro ?

  I have been selling my entire life. This advice sounds like something from a car salesman. Dirt eat dirt type of business model. You can take this approach and piss off everyone around you, including your clients...or...you can use an exact opposite approach and maintain clients and build your wealth year after year. Technology has changed so much that there is no need for most of these sales tactics. Give me the same products, let me go head to head with this guy, and in a years time I would kick his butt. This is truly "old school," and people just don't do business like this anymore. When your working on commission only, these type of guys have to work 10 times harder to make the same money I would make. Totally disagree with this article.

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  8

  Magnetic Elephant

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  No wonder salepeople have a bad rap...

  Wow, this is why people have learned to hate salespeople.
  
  This guy sounds exactly like the type of salesperson I would slam the door on and he wouldn't care. Most of his thinking is very "old school", churn and burn thinking. He may do well but I would wager he has to work harder and longer hours than I do to make the same amount of money.
  
  The question I would have for him is - how many referrals for business does he get? I would wager not many - if he's not concerned about loyalties, I would imagine there aren't too many people loyal to him either. It's a two way street.
  
  A true sales professional should have a whole team of people out in the world watching out for him/her and sending deals their way - because they believe in that person and know that they stand behind what they sell and honoring their commitments.
  
  There are better ways to sell - welcome to the 21st century - it's a new world.

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  9

  alex.lazari@...

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  A mix of old school and some realistic punches we, sales reps in big companies, have to hear every once in a while. If you have to make your life out of commisions, you've got to be where the money is, and not waste your time in long term relationships which are nice for the ego and bad for your pocket, because they just don't deliver. So, I like tip # 3.
  
  I also like tips # 1 and # 6. You've got to be very assertive and really have a hunger for business to be successful. I don't think our friend means you have to do business at the expense of the customer. I think what he means is just that you've got to be very assertive about the business opportunity with a customer, and very respectful with the customer's time and specially with your time as a sales rep.
  
  I don't think, though, sales processes and sales managers are a waste of time. They are good instruments available to the sales rep, and they have to be wisely used. The best reps are the ones that know best the products they have to sell, have the vision and sense of opportunity to know when the products fit a customer need (articulated or not) and use their sales managers to leverage their negotiation strategy with the customer. Processes, although I recognize there is plenty of BS out there, are good to help in the thinking process, specially when entering new accounts.

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  10

  websiteguy

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  The commission only business model exists for one reason and one reason only, so employers can avoid paying payroll taxes. The commission only model benefits no one, the employer has employees who can do whatever they want without accountability or loyalty and the employee has no job security or benefits and must pay self employment taxes. Employment is like a legal contract, you give your services for a paycheck. The base plus commission model creates a true partnership between the employer and employee. If you work full time for a commission only job the IRS will find your employer sooner or later, just ask Microsoft.

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  11

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  Heartland Systems...

  ...had a commission-only sales compensation for years, with stock options. Also had a very high retention rate. When it went public about 40 sales reps became instant millionaires. I'll write more about this interesting company sometime in the near future.

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  12

  gphelan

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  Is he real?

  In today's world this gentleman(hhhm...hhmmm) is not the type of sales professional I want in my organization. Poor form! He is definately out of his mind and does not understand nor appreciate new techniques. This is the type that gives us all a "BLACK EYE!"

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  13

  cschubel

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  My question is "Would you buy from this salesperson?" or better yet, do you have salespeople on your team with these thought processes. If so, get rid of them quick before your customers fly out the door!
  
  In regards to his quantity and quality of life, I would venture to say that he has made a decent living with minimal social attachments but not rich in lasting relationships or quality of life in anyway!

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  14

  Sid Herron

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  Salespeople do what you pay them to do...

  One of the purposes of a sales compensation plan is to shape the behavior of the salespeople. If you put your people on a straight commission plan, you're telling them that closing business is their #1 priority. If you want them to do other stuff, then you probably need to modify the comp plan.
  
  Jim Cecil, the "Nurture Marketing" guru, who has done a lot of research on how and why people buy high-tech products, likens it to the fruit pickers on the farm where he grew up who were paid based on the amount of fruit they picked. His comment was, "The pickers are not concerned about NEXT year's harvest. I've never seen a picker who wasn't willing to break a branch to get to the ripe fruit."
  
  His message was that if you're going to have people on a straight commission plan, that's fine - there's no better way to keep them focused like a laser on closing sales. But you'd better understand that's the message you're giving them, and you'd better have some other plan in place for customer retention and ongoing relationship development.

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  15

  pjr224551

  03/14/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  This seems to me to the stereotypical description of a sales person and while I really agree with point 6 (why would you try to sell a product to a person who has no need) I must admit that I very much struggle with all of the other comments. As both a successful sales person and sales manager I am offended by the comment that I am working as a manager because I can???t sell. I get a lot of personal satisfaction in seeing others succeed. This person sees himself as a lone shark (and how does that work into consultative selling) so it stands to reason he wouldn???t understand leveraging people, technology or referred lead prospecting. The question I am left with is if he really believes all that he says why is he sharing with us?

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  16

  jefjen123

  09/27/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  The saying is Survival of the FITTEST. NOT survival of the FETUS! Meaning the strongest person will survive over others that they might be in battle with over food and therefore will not starve or be killed. Fetuses are not going to battle with anyone for anything.
  Knuckleheads.
  

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  17

  jefjen123

  09/27/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Commission Only (Advice from a Pro)

  Wow, guys. The saying is Dog eat Dog. NOT dirt eat dirt. what the heck would that mean anyway. dirt eat dirt? Dog eat dog means the salesman or whomever, are the dogs and they will talk crap and hurt the other salesman to destroy the competition.
  geeeez