The other day, I was talking to a business owner who needed to hire some salespeople, so he put an ad in the newspaper. He had done sales management before, he knew what was involved, but he also knew he had a limited budget, and didn't want to take any risks. He'd been burned before by salespeople that didn't pull their weight, promised that they were the best salesman in the world, and had a resume with all kinds of glowing reports. He's not so easily duped these days.
So here is what he did, he put the ad in the newspaper, and on his website which gets a lot of traffic for local and regional salespeople. When people called, he told them that it was a commission only sales job, and he was surprised how many people were interested, but they also demanded and wanted a base pay and the ability to take a draw. He decided to hire three people. He hired one gal who agreed to his terms for commission only, and he hired two other people with a very small base pay.
The gal he hired for commission only kicked butt, and sold all sorts of deals all over the place. He later asked if she wanted to have a draw or get a base paycheck because she had proven herself, and he didn't have a problem with that. She said; "no, thanks." She felt as if she didn't need a base pay, and that might make her weak, whereas the other two folks didn't sell anything, and sat in coffee shops all day, and made about two appointments per day "working" on average, if you can call it that, 3-days out of the 5, without ever making a sale for the first two weeks.
Needless to say, the used up all their base pay without making those sales, and then they duly quit when he told them that wasn't good enough. It seems there are a lot of people out there who want to make money without doing anything. That's not the way the world works. Had they applied themselves, worked hard, and done what they needed to do, or had the sales experience they promised as per their resume and interview, they should have not had a problem. They just wanted to get something for nothing.
Indeed, anyone who is in business knows these things happen, and it takes time and energy to find the right people. If someone isn't willing to put in, and trust themselves and their abilities, then why should you? The gal he hired trusted herself, took the job, and was unfazed by the lack of base pay. The other two failed to make the grade, but they probably knew that in advance, that's why they wouldn't take the all commission only job, even though they claimed to be great salespeople. Please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Sales Topics. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/
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