Free Lance Sales People

IrlDigi

Hi,

Wondering if such people exist in Ireland ?

I'm looking for 4 regional free lance salespeople / franchisees for an exciting new business venture due online in 2-4 months. Not Network Marketing etc.

Pm me for more details or perhaps provide any useful links here in this thread.

Thanks,

D

nesf

Give details on this thread.

Company type, sales type, commission etc.

WhiteWashMan

nesf wrote:

Give details on this thread.

Company type, sales type, commission etc.

aye, the rules apply here same as any other thread.

besides, it might be interested:)

nesf

WhiteWashMan wrote:

aye, the rules apply here same as any other thread.

besides, it might be interested:)

I could hazard a guess to the type of sales, but hopefully he'll suprise me

IrlDigi

Nsef,

Not sure what you're expecting but this is a start up venture of my own.... not your typical earn millions while you sleep, retire to a desert island, car of your dreams etc....

To be honest this is still in early stage of development with web development almost complete, now looking at options for building a sales group. Really trying to establish if the model I have in mind will work....

The sales person will be selling subscriptions to a specialist unique website as well as generic advertising on the site. Commissions will be generous but are not defined as yet. Target market is potentially any business in Ireland

So at this stage, I'm really trying to establish if there are free lance people on the market who might be interested in working in this type of scenario.

Hope this helps to answer your query ....

Thanks,

D

nesf

Well, it's more that both myself and WWM have worked extensively in sales, and the title "freelance sales person" isn't a very nice one in the workplace tbh. Usually denotes poor commission and no job security. It's also used by larger companies as a way to get around employee rights, ie the employee is self employed and on contract rather than employed by the company.


If it's a start up I can appreciate your wish for not "giving too much away". But you should give more details on here in public. Projected commission/salary, benifits etc. Is is cold calling, direct sales or incoming sales queries? Is it telephone or face work? How much experience are you looking for?

There are more questions, esp regarding the area and type of product being sold. Is it a service or product? What is the target industry field?


Different sales people for different roles. Myself and WWM are both trained in sales but we are very much not interchangeable. You need to be more than just a seller for most sales work.

WhiteWashMan

aye. also, if you want feedback, then you have to gice something that people can give you feedback about.

if you are asking 'do people work freelance sales' then the answer is no.

why would anyone work in a job where all they get is commission on a product or service that they have no connection with?


you are more likely to look at something like a resellership if you want someone to sell your product for you.

however, if you have a business plan, and an opportunity, and are half way into putting this into practise, no offence, but i think its exceedingly poor planning to get to a point where you have a product and yet have no idea or have done no research on your route to market.

but then again, ihave no details, so i may be completely wrong, and you are after something else entirely...

IrlDigi

Guys,

Thanks for taking the time to give me feedback...... very valuable....

WWM, I hear what you're saying..... development is very much "paper" planned but not implemented yet, although that wouldn't be a major issue, have plenty of resources available to sort that quickly. At this point Business Plan is under construction. I am also about to start some mentoring with the County Enterprise Board.

So your feedback is excellent.... just the types of things I need to be more aware of and actually address.

Interesting comment re "Free Lance".... wasn't aware of this before.

One of the key constraints in getting this venture off the ground is, as always, finance. To be honest, I can't afford the risk of directly hiring 4 regional sales people right now..... that is why one of my possible routes to market is though this reseller or even master franchise style arrangement.

Is it possible for you to expand a bit on your "reseller" suggestion, how exactly does this work ? Can you suggest any other models that may appeal to sale people like you ? Initially I thought this would work for someone who is already in media or advertising sales, and they could simply sell for me as well.

In terms of potential revenue.... I will have 3 levels of subscritpions, would offer 5% on lowest level, 10% on middle level and 20% on top level subscriptions (this is the plan, not committment yet !!!) Could envisage €30k revenue for a salesperson in each of 3 regions, with €40-€50k in Dublin.

Expect it will be mostly cold calling initially, however could develop to lead closure. Expect face to face or telephone, both will be nescessary I expect.

In terms of experience, I'd expect a highly motivated sales executive with at least 3 years direct field sales expereince, preferable selling service type product or advertising. Industry target is very broad, could in theory be entire yellow pages !!!!. I think product will sell as it is unique. Enterprise Board have given "encouragement" to pursue this by virtue of the fact they have approved mentorship program for me. I plan to revisit them regarding funding later.... for now need to work on my plans.........

In the meantime, I look forward to further discussion.

Thanks,

D

Sposs

I believe you would be better off hiring some tele-sales people intially to get it off the ground , as your company grows you can then start to look at having sales consultants on the road.

I would be very surprised if you got any "good" sales people applying for a job. Most people have morgages and car loans and will be reluctant to work for commission only for a product which is yet unproven.

IrlDigi

Sposs,

I guess that is part of the reason why I thought someone could do this in addition to a full time or other role....

Can you recommend a telesales group that I could investigate? Any idea on cost ?

Thanks for feedback...... again... all good stuff

WhiteWashMan

IrlDigi wrote:

WWM, I hear what you're saying..... development is very much "paper" planned but not implemented yet, although that wouldn't be a major issue, have plenty of resources available to sort that quickly. At this point Business Plan is under construction. I am also about to start some mentoring with the County Enterprise Board.

what wouldnt be a major issue?
setting up this web based 'widget' wouldnt be a problem?

rule 1.
never assume

IrlDigi wrote:

One of the key constraints in getting this venture off the ground is, as always, finance. To be honest, I can't afford the risk of directly hiring 4 regional sales people right now..... that is why one of my possible routes to market is though this reseller or even master franchise style arrangement.

if you are going to set up a business, then i suggest you do ALL of the homework needed. a good idea is only a good idea. putting it into something tangible is a long and hard slog and very very painful.
you need to get yourself a book on starting your own business, and i suggest you do it sonner rather than later. dont expect this mentorship program to do the work for you. they wont. you need to be able to understand all of your routes to market.
and you need to know how to exploit them, and have a good understanding of why you want to choose a perticular one.

why cant you do your own sales? i mean, who better than the person setting up the business. just becuase the term 'sales' is used, does not mean its a dirty word,and something that other people do. you have to sell your idea to start your business. sell it by understand everything about the business.

IrlDigi wrote:

Is it possible for you to expand a bit on your "reseller" suggestion, how exactly does this work ? Can you suggest any other models that may appeal to sale people like you ? Initially I thought this would work for someone who is already in media or advertising sales, and they could simply sell for me as well.

my reseller suggestion was based onthe fact that you want a group of sales people who you dont want to pay.
someone has to pay them! if you want to use sales people that are paid by someone else, then i suggest a reseller. although i have no idea who would resell a website.

perhaps the idea of useing a telesales or marketing company to generate leads which you then follow up?

IrlDigi wrote:

In terms of potential revenue.... I will have 3 levels of subscritpions, would offer 5% on lowest level, 10% on middle level and 20% on top level subscriptions (this is the plan, not committment yet !!!) Could envisage €30k revenue for a salesperson in each of 3 regions, with €40-€50k in Dublin.

no offense, but i wouldnt get out of bed in the morning for a salary like that. im not blowing my trumpet and saing im the worlds greatest of most successful sales person, but for that amount of work for that amount of reward would show a great amount of deperation in my life!

at the moment, you have no idea of the life cycle of a sale, the stages that are relevant to your product, the needs of the customers. you cannot say how easy or hard it will be to sell this idea,a nd you cannot say how much time will need to be invested.
if you are offering 50k, and thats the 20% commission, then you are only revenuing 250k.

think about it, and work on it.

IrlDigi wrote:

Expect it will be mostly cold calling initially, however could develop to lead closure. Expect face to face or telephone, both will be nescessary I expect.

so you want a sales person...
if you are selling something that isnt a commodity, you will need to see the whites of their eyes, you will work on them to buy. you are talking about solution sales, with a long sales cycle.

IrlDigi wrote:

In terms of experience, I'd expect a highly motivated sales executive with at least 3 years direct field sales expereince, preferable selling service type product or advertising. Industry target is very broad, could in theory be entire yellow pages !!!!. I think product will sell as it is unique. Enterprise Board have given "encouragement" to pursue this by virtue of the fact they have approved mentorship program for me. I plan to revisit them regarding funding later.... for now need to work on my plans.........

In the meantime, I look forward to further discussion.

Thanks,

D

you wont get someone with 3 years of sales experience selling this product, for that money.

if you do, there is something wrong with the sales person!

like i said, i think you need to look at all facets of the business,and that means everything, from where you are going to sit during the day, to company tax, to development of your product, to paying staff, to regarding where you want to be in 5 years time, to how you are going to get money, to how you are going to pay back money, to forming a limited company etc etc etc etc etc.

im not trying to put you off, but you need to be more aware of where you want to be and how you are going to do it.

as i said, get yourself a couple of start your own business books, and read up. some of them are pretty useful, and one with a cd full of fill in forms can be very useful and give you some cool ideas.

good luck.

nesf

To put it in perspective:

A "good" salesperson in my field measures their sales turnover in the millions. I wouldn't attach myself to a new buisness like you describe for the money you are offering. I'd want direct profit share and company share tbh. I'm helping you build this from the ground. My experience and skills are worth a lot more than just commission.

I think you need to do some serious thinking about this mate. Have you worked in sales at all yourself?

It's not as simple as just finding a customer and dropping a pitch. What you're talking about needs after sales, customer care and as WWM said long sales cycles.

These are not things that are cheap to hire someone to do. If you want someone to do them right, then you will be paying for the privilidge. Ideally, you want to be able to do them yourself, but this is where you need to be honest. It's not nice, and it's very tough to keep customers happy in the long run. Buisness customers especially. It's not a job for your average person, it requires specific types of people in order to do it.

Also you'd ideally need people who have experience in it and who can make your outfit look professional.

You ain't going to get that with the salaries you're talking about.


I'm assuming here, you want this to get off the ground and work in the long term. If it's a quick grab and snatch, then you don't need to worry about brand, customer loyalty, long term marketing etc etc et al.

However, if you're not looking at this from the long term, then you shouldn't be even thinking of starting a business imo. What you should want is to have a well developed business in 5-8 years that you can sell on for a few million.

Imho.

drdre

i am interested in this oppourtunity,what kind of products will be sold. could you explain it a bit more specific eg cars,phones etc.:D
thanks

IrlDigi

Guys,

Again, thanks for both your detailed responses. Highly appreciated

I guess it is difficult for you to understand how much planning has went into this so far, in that I'm not fully ready to reveal everything about the project.

Rest assured I do know what I'm doing having been involved in 2 start ups one as a team member and the second as one of two directors in a limited company. We have just completed our first year of trading in this second mentioned project, so to be honest I've read many of the books and learned lots of lessons the hard way...... in saying that I'm always learning !!!

Suffice to say that Sales in this particular area is not an area I have had experience in, so with each post from you guys I learn more !!! I have worked in sales so I know all about sales cycles and conversion rates etc.


WWM, in direct response..... I agree with you comment, Never assume anything..... when I mentioned the web development I meant that much of the planning had been completed. I know implementation will pose many challenge, of that I'm under no illusions !!

Take your point about the mentor..... I don't expect them to do the work.... really I'm looking for a sounding board, a bit like you guys are supporting me here, someone to knock through some ideas, brainstorm a little and challenge me on my preconceived ideas !! In regonising the need to leverage the business and my personal expertise, this Sales and Marketing mentor was a necessity.

In terms of doing the selling myself, I guess its about leveraging my time and resources..... I guess I want someone who can do it better than me !!!

With reference to the revenue figures quoted, if I could find the right person, they could easily cover all-ireland with this..... then revenue potential is more like 3 regions by 30K plus 50k....so €140k..... would that appeal ? Also, this model is based on annual subscriptions, so potentially you can make this year on year plus.... Out of interest, at this point I have projected revenues €1m for Y1.

Nesf,

I understand what your saying, profit is not a problem, would consider this. For the right guy company share is a consideration too. I will consider all options to ensure this business has a better than average chance of succeeding.

So, what exactly would appeal to you. PM me if you like..... at the end of the day I have to be sure that you can deliver as well !!!

Guys again, thanks for the feedback, this is a very useful and important process for me. unfortunatly, I'm going to be off-line on a business trip for a few days, but will check in to continue this at the weekend !!

Meanswhile, Drdre, send me an email or PM me some details about you and what you feel you can contribute ...

Cheers,

D

IrlDigi

All,

I'm now looking to continue discussions in relation to this opportunity. At this point I would also consider partnership with someone, giving them exclusive rights to specific territories.

Any thoughts ?

Cheers,

D

WhiteWashMan

always interested, but would of course have to know what it is you sell....

onedmc

There are thousands of freelance sales people in Ireland. Most travelling sales people work on commission only sales.

Commission for these types of role variers from 7% up to 50% for new accounts.

But I dont think any sales person worth their salt would take on a freelance role for a start-up company without any brand identity. It would be months before they would get a decent return.

In this case you would need to pay a retainer plus a commission fee. Retainers generally start at about 1K per month and would then have a reduced commission.

nesf

Since said salespeople would be "building" the brand at customer level (assuming skilled people of course) then I'd argue that they should be either looking for some company share or long term commission on gross sales.

A retainer fee wouldn't cut it imho.

WhiteWashMan

nesf wrote:

Since said salespeople would be "building" the brand at customer level (assuming skilled people of course) then I'd argue that they should be either looking for some company share or long term commission on gross sales.

A retainer fee wouldn't cut it imho.

agreed.

if youre going to do all the hard work and earn the business, then you need more than 1k a month to keep you sweet!