Questions

I am just starting my business, and because of my busy time at work, I can only manage the main aspects of the business, so I decided to hire a business development/sales executive to go and propose clients about our services. Here is the question: Do you recommend hiring this person as a full-time employee (salary based)? Or I should be hiring based on a commission of each sale transaction/client lead? Or a combination of both. Obviously, I don't want to endure too much costs at the beginning but i also want to start right.

Are you sure you're *ready* to hire a salesperson? Your question implies that sales is not one of the "main aspects of the business." I disagree—when it's your business, sales is *never* a secondary activity!

Begin with the end in mind—what do you want a salesperson to accomplish? Assuming it's "sell more," that means a focus on commissions over salary.

To its extreme, you'd want them to be commission-only, since you pay nothing if they close nothing. But why would a high-quality salesperson leave their current job to work for you when your company has no track record, and you aren't willing to guarantee even a minimum base salary?

If you can't afford to pay a base salary, you're not going to attract quality candidates (or would need to offer enormous commissions that wipe out your margins). In that case, do sales yourself and outsource production instead.

I'm glad to do a call to help you find the right option for your circumstances. Good luck!


Answered 7 years ago

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