Others have already given you some good points. Getting partners in any definition of the term, IT consultants, building managers, PBX installers, etc is probably a good intermediate step.
If you get to the point where you need an employee to be on the payroll, I think you’re going to need to go the route of base pay plus commission. That is what we do anyway. Commissions do not start until you sell $1500/month and after that it is a one time payment of 1x the MRR and as the sales go higher in the month the multiplier goes higher. There are no residuals because we need the person to keep making sales. We are near enough Chicago that the range in pay is huge. You can find people selling business services with base pay over 100k. I think your current job description is tough. I mean you’re asking a lot from someone without much initial compensation. To some extent you’re almost in startup mode as far as the sales person is concerned. Since you do not have a system to drop them into with a proven success of sales, they have a safer personal financial future if they work at a fast food restaurant. Risk / reward, right - but they need to have confidence this could work for them. The base pay is what does that in my opinion. Everyone we have brought in has taken some time to ramp up - months. It’s a long term approach. I haven’t done this yet but sometimes I talk to someone at the cell phone store or the fast food drive through at 6AM that is just so darn energetic and happy. I wonder if I should give them a business card and tell them to call me about a job. If you can’t swing a direct hire, that’s fine. I think then you need to go the route of attempting to make connections with people who have a network of people who can do the selling for you. Or, you do marketing to get the calls coming it for you to answer. We’ve had better success converting sales via advertising to residential customers than business customers though. Joe > On Oct 28, 2016, at 10:42 AM, Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > > You might just have to accept that an ant can't move a rubber tree plant. > > Before getting into wireless, my ISP sold T1 and ISDN to small businesses > primarily in office parks. Like you, I came up via the technical side, and > am not a born salesman. I tried direct sales, and had no success until I > started working with the management companies at the office parks. Most of > my business came from new tenants. There is usually an information packet > for new tenants with a list of approved contractors and local providers. > They usually want to minimize who is working in their wiring closets and > there might be some hoops to jump through to get on the list of approved > contractors. At one office complex, I had master keys to the mechanical > rooms which even the AT&T techs didn't have. One building (one of those with > single person offices and a shared receptionist and conference room), the > deal involved me wiring each new office they rented with Cat5 drops for free, > I think they were taking advantage of me to their building wired for free. > > You want to be on that approved contractor list or have your brochure > included in the new tenant packet. They also sometimes have monthly > newsletters for tenants and are willing to include a one-pager or trifold > brochure for you. Figure out what it takes to be the preferred provider for > the management company. (Hint: it usually includes giving them free > Internet.) They will sell for you. As long as you don't screw up. Also, > some may want a piece of the action, not in my experience though. I was in > buildings with a lot of churn and the property manager wanted to lease space, > and was interested in anything that helped them do that. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Hammett > Sent: Friday, October 28, 2016 10:24 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Finding Sales People > > One man show. :-) > > -----Mike HammettIntelligent Computing SolutionsMidwest Internet ExchangeThe > Brothers WISP > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: That One Guy /sarcasm <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 09:55:26 -0500 (CDT) > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Finding Sales People > > you also might look a little closer to home, do you have an exceptional tech > who is aware of the operation, and driven? you might already have what youre > looking for in house, you might lose a solid tech, but customers love sales > folks who actually know what theyre talking about > > On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 9:50 AM, That One Guy /sarcasm < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> our partner company got one of the sales guys from on of the vendors >> to come over to him, if you can snatch up a vendor rep (a good rep) >> youll be golden >> >> On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 6:45 AM, Mike Hammett <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> What's the best way to get a B2B sales guy? That's the overall point, >>> but digging in deeper, what should I be asking for? I'm very tech >>> oriented, very little sales. I'm needing someone that can do it on >>> their own without guidance from me on what I want them to do. To me, >>> sales sounds more like B2C or lower end services while business >>> development sounds more B2B or higher end, but does the sales world reflect >>> that? >>> >>> Where do I look? The #1 source people say is referrals, but >>> apparently I don't know anyone that knows anyone worth a darn as I've >>> posted it on various social media... a dozen times over the last couple >>> years. >>> >>> >>> Here's the copy from a posting I did this past summer: >>> >>> Job Description >>> >>> Local ISP seeking independent sales leader. ICS has been operated in >>> the DeKalb - Naperville area for 12 years by tech guys. >>> >>> Compensation will be a one time commission after the sale and a 10% >>> residual to ensure the customer is attended for on an ongoing basis. >>> Our services range from $30/month into the thousands of dollars a >>> month. The path you take is yours. >>> >>> Job Requirements >>> >>> We need someone with B2B experience to lead our sales force. You will >>> be responsible for the entire sales and marketing process. The tech >>> guys will say what they can do where and your job will be to develop >>> the strategy and then pursue those clients. We can teach a good B2B >>> salesperson the tech they need to know far easier than you'll teach us how >>> to sell. >>> >>> We believe that boots on the ground would be necessary, so >>> willingness to travel to the DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, southwest DuPage >>> and northwest Will County areas as needed would be required. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ----- >>> Mike Hammett >>> Intelligent Computing Solutions <http://www.ics-il.com/> >>> <https://www.facebook.com/ICSIL> >>> <https://plus.google.com/+IntelligentComputingSolutionsDeKalb> >>> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/intelligent-computing-solutions> >>> <https://twitter.com/ICSIL> >>> Midwest Internet Exchange <http://www.midwest-ix.com/> >>> <https://www.facebook.com/mdwestix> >>> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/midwest-internet-exchange> >>> <https://twitter.com/mdwestix> >>> The Brothers WISP <http://www.thebrotherswisp.com/> >>> <https://www.facebook.com/thebrotherswisp> >>> >>> >>> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSdfxQv7SpoRQYNyLwntZg> >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> If you only see yourself as part of the team but you don't see your >> team as part of yourself you have already failed as part of the team. >> > > > > -- > If you only see yourself as part of the team but you don't see your team as > part of yourself you have already failed as part of the team. > > >
