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Finding, Hiring, Training, Compensating & Keeping Successful Salespeople

Jeff Meyer, MAS, CEO

Certified Marketing Consultants, Ltd.

July 20, 2011

(c) Certified Marketing Consultants, Ltd. 2

Managing Successful Salespeople

The following material presented by CertifiedMarketing Consultants, Ltd. is based uponhistorical data collected by CMC, Ltd. Theopinions and conclusions expressed during thispresentation are the unbiased and professionalopinions of CMC, Ltd. and are being presented forthe purpose of discussion only.


Introduction

Background and Experience Industry Status & Trends Industry Questions

Salespeople employees or Independent Contractors? What drives profitability & cash flow? Commission split? How should I handle…? What went wrong? How much is my company worth? How do I get and keep good salespeople?


What are theIndustry Trends

Personal Reassessment Reengineering Consolidation Technology Recession “opportunities” Direct marketing if there is no added

value


Managing Successful Salespeople

Y R U Here?


Today’s Objective

How & where to find salespeople. How to hire salespeople. How to train salespeople. How to compensate salespeople. How to keep salespeople.


How & Where to find Salespeople

Myth #1 “The best place to get asalesperson is from a competitor.”

high risk, easy come, easy go, rarely brings the book of sales promised, margins suspect, usually very demanding.



The fact is, it is easy to findsalespeople to grow your business:

salespeople from other industries, college graduates, internal CSR’s, retired business people, owners of other distributorships, firemen?



So how do I contact prospectivesalespeople?

Newspaper ads, College interviews, Internet / Social media Job fairs, Personnel departments at plants that are closing, Intermediaries, Churches, etc.



The promotional product industry is agreat industry with a lot to offerprospective salespeople. But manydon’t know about it. Make sureyour ads highlight the benefits,such as the large split of grossmargin, unheard of in otherindustries.


How to Hire Salespeople

WIFM High commission rate, Benefits, Industry growth, Support, Technology, Professional atmosphere with personal feel.


How to Hire Salespeople

Hiring sales people definitely takesresources & commitment:

Capital,Interview time,Training time.


Should we hire Employees or IC’s?

Salespeople Independent Contractors Less payroll tax & benefit expense

Sales EmployeesMore control of sales efforts / measurable

results “Ownership” of customers


What should the commission split be?

Salespeople

Independent Contractors 50/50?

Sales EmployeesNOT 50/50


Other Hiring Considerations

Contracts with employee salespeople, non-compete clause

Policy & Procedures Manual,

Personality tests,

Competition, commissions paid on booked,

resources,

higher commission rates,

draw policies, etc.


TrainingSalespeople

Policies & Procedures Manual,

Trade shows,

Entry level CSR’s,

Industry consultants,

Other salespeople,

Sales meetings,

Sales calls, etc.


A Policies & Procedures Manual is Critical!

Anyone who represents your company mustknow what they can and cannot do. And moreimportantly, you and they should know what thecosts are and who pays them.

The number one cause of salespeople leaving adistributor is misunderstanding one or moresales policies.


Issue Written Policies to Salespeople

When is commission paid? When are commissions paid on calendar orders? What is your commission split? What is your bonus policy? What percent of commissions do you withhold

against bad debts? Do you have a different commission structure on

co-op program business?



What do you charge your salespeople in respect to: Sample Kits Catalogs Random Samples Personalized Samples Samples with Distributor Imprint Only Business Gifts Speculative Samples

Other charge-back policies on samples?



Do you have a draw policy? Do you have a minimum annual volume for

salespeople? New Salespeople?

Do you have house accounts? Do you utilize contracts with . . .

Independent Contractors? Commissioned Employees?



Who pays the supplier rush order fees,you or your customer?

Do you mark-up rush order charges tocustomers?

Do you mark-up extra charges?


Credit Policy

Do you require advance payment onorders?

Do you require credit applications onnew accounts?

Do you hold orders until applications areapproved?


Credit Policy

When do you consider an account delinquent? Do you hold orders on a delinquent account? Do you charge customers for late payment? Do you charge salespeople on their customer’s

late payment? Do you charge back bad debts to salespeople?


How to Keep Successful Salespeople

Myth #2 “You have to keep yoursalespeople at all costs.”

The fact is, the goal should be to keep yourcustomers:

Employees vs. Independent Contractors, Customer acquisition vs. Customer retention, Clear and consistent Policies & Procedures manual, Common sense, treat them right & keep them happy.


Operations

Operational StructureCustomer acquisitionSalespeople find the tigers

Customer retentionCSR’s skin the tigers

The goal is to form a lasting relationship between the customer and the Company while providing

superior service.



Myth #3 “If a salesperson isn’t selling$250,000 or more, he/she isn’t worthkeeping.”

Salespeople who produce large volumes are usually moredemanding with lower margins, and are probably a high riskof defection,

Customer acquisition vs. Customer retention, Margins are much more important than volume, Excellent training reduces the cost of inexperience.



Summary

Finding salespeople isn’t that hard, Hiring salespeople takes commitment & money, Employee salespeople are less risk because the

customers belong to the company, A Policies & Procedures Manual is critical. Keeping Salespeople is easier when you do the

other things right.


Finding, Hiring, Training, Compensating & Keeping Successful Salespeople

Questions?

Good luck!

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