Dynamic Sales Agents are on a constant search for new product lines either to replace declining lines or to complement their existing portfolio and to add to their earning capacity.
At Sales Agents Plus we provide email alerts specifically tailored to your requirements for location and market sector.
What Principals are looking for are market knowledge and contacts – so critical items are experience in a particular sector and your contacts that you’ve built up over the years. The area you cover is also important but don’t restrict yourself too much as Principals can often be flexible in terms of area allocation. If you have a web presence or social media contact include this as it can showcase your Agency to a prospective Principal.
Finally detail how Principals should contact you and when – often better to have a relaxed evening call rather than a hurried conversation while you’re trying to land a new customer!
Considering becoming a sales agent? Let us give you all the information you need to help you take that first step towards becoming a professional self-employed salesperson. With the right attitude and know-how, there’s no reason why you can’t kickstart a successful career as a sales agent in no time at all.
Taking on the role of a sales agent takes a passion for the job and determination to make things happen, but once they do, you’ll be able to enjoy a fruitful career for many years to come.
What are the requirements?
It’s relatively simple to become a sales agent. It’s recommended that you have at least some sales experience before taking on a self-employed career in the field, but some people find that the skills come quite naturally to them, even without the experience. That being said, you’re more likely to win your first client with at least some sales experience under your belt.
At the very least, a successful sales agent will have excellent communication skills, as well as fantastic negotiation skills and the ability to create and present pitches.
Why you should consider becoming a sales agent?
A successful career as a sales agent can bring about a multitude of benefits. Many are attracted by the ability to be your own boss and to have the ability to decide what you’re going to be selling on a day to day basis.
The salary potential is fantastic, too. As a sales agent, you won’t have to worry about hitting a brick wall when it comes to your pay potential – you’ll see you paychecks grow over time, as you develop more skills and become increasingly competent as an experience sales agent.
Steps to take to become a sales agent
We’re here to make becoming a sales agent as smooth and simple as possible. With our opportunities page, you’re able to browse the various sales agent jobs available and reduce these adverts down to a select few that you might be interested in. From there, all you have to do is get in touch with any companies you would like to work on behalf of, to kickstart your journey towards securing your first client as a sales agent.
Many of the adverts on our opportunities page will state what kind of experience they are looking for. If you’re new to working as a sales agent, it’s best to make a move on any opportunities looking for the least amount of experience.
In your role as a sales agent, you might find that some companies would love to have you work for them, but on a commission only basis. This is a very frequent occurrence in the world of sales, but it’s understandable for those who are new to industry to have some doubts or concerns.
We have plenty of information on commission only sales, to help you understand the process a little more and to answer any questions you might have about this way of payment, before embarking on your career as a sales agent.
Are commission only sales worth it?
A commission only basis is more risky than sales agent jobs that pay a salary as well as commission, but that doesn’t mean these jobs aren’t worth pursuing. In fact, you’ll find that commission only sales are a lot more common than you might think. Companies are wanting to test your abilities as a sales agent out, before they agree to paying you more for your efforts.
Many commission only sales jobs come with a rather large commission rate, much larger than those with salaries added in. As such, by working hard and achieving your KPIs, you’re bound to receive a fantastic payment for showing the company how good a sales agent you are.
Are commission only sales jobs legal?
The legalities behind commission only sales can be confusing, and before you kickstart your career as a sales agent, it’s vital that you’re aware of what makes a commission only sales job legal.
The key component of what determines a commission only sales job as legal is how the sales agent works with a company. If you are employed by the company, whether that’s on a temporary or permanent basis, they cannot offer you a commission only sales job unless they can prove that you will earn more than the minimum wage. However, if you work for the company as a self-employed sales agent, which the vast majority of agents choose to do, then it’s legal for the company to offer you a commission only sales job.
How much commission can you get?
Commission rates can vary greatly, but you should expect at least 5% from a fair and responsible business. If a company isn’t willing to offer at least 5% commission, the job isn’t worth pursuing. Of course, there are companies who will offer much more than 5%, with some businesses offering 20% for your hard work and for selling their products and services to their target audiences.
Some businesses might offer higher commissions for products and services with longer sales timeframes. At the end of the day, it depends entirely on the company and the type of product or service they are asking you to sell.
What are sales agents?
Sales agents are typically defined as professional sales representatives who have been hired by companies to focus on selling their products or services. Sales agents are experts in pitching and selling a company’s products to their target audience. A specialist sales agent will have the best skills required to get the job done, as well as good relationships with the business’ target audience, to make selling their product or service as simple as possible.
Sales agents tend to work within a dedicated territory. This is usually determined based on a certain location to sell within, or a particular product or service they have been asked to sell.
Are sales agents classed as self employed?
The vast majority of sales agents work with companies on a self-employed basis. This means that they can take on a commission only contract, or one that offers a salary with commission on top. Self-employed sales agents typically have more control over how they work, when they work and what work they choose to take on.
In some cases, a sales agent may choose to work with a company as their employee, whether that’s full-time, part-time, permanently or temporarily. However, it’s much more common to find self-employed sales agents who work for themselves.
How are sales agents paid?
Sales Agents are usually paid on a Commission Only basis. This means that whenever you make a sale you should be receiving a percentage of the sales value. When you receive your payments can vary from business to business, so it’s important to understand when you’ll get paid when you take on the opportunity. Things you may want to look out for are any delays between the sales going through and you getting paid, along with whether you’re going to get paid after each sale or is the business planning on sending payments in monthly batches.
Where do you work from as a sales agent?
Because a sales agent is usually asked to sell products or services within a specific geographical limit, they usually from their own home or from another location of their choosing. This makes it simpler for the agent to work within the specific location they are asked to sell to, much easier than if they were asked to work from within the company’s headquarters.
To date recruiting Sales Agents has been expensive, especially when compared against the now almost universal on-line route. We’re changing that!
Our charges dramatically undercut current offerings but with a pro-active team we aim to stir the market for linking Sales Agents and Principals into unprecedented activity.
Principals can reach thousands of Agents with one simple advert process.
To get your Sales Agents off to the best possible start providing you with revenue and earning an income for themselves, you need to have the sales process in place, marketing materials available and time set by to train your Agents on your products or services.
Even the best sales people won’t succeed if they don’t understand your business and how it works!
Having an Agency Agreement drawn up and ready to be signed by the Principal and the Agent is also a good move – when you place an advert with Sales Agents Plus an Agency Agreement is included in the service!
You can find out more about on boarding Sales Agents in our blog post – Successfully On-boarding Sales Agents
Our forms are designed to make it easy to create great adverts that attract go-ahead Agents. What we need are details of the product and the areas you want Agents to cover. If you have a web presence our team can transfer images and graphics to give the maximum impact. We’ve divided the country into a number of areas but don’t be too restrictive – getting the best Agents is the most important factor in your mutual success. Details of a payments package and potential earnings are always great items to include.
Finally detail how agents should contact you and when – giving the option of an “out of hours” discussion is always appreciated by busy Agents!
Our team have great experience writing copy so concentrate on what you have to offer and we’ll do the rest.
The cost to advertise is £299 plus VAT for a six month display and we include regular scheduled email promotions to our Sales Agent contacts as well as posting to LinkedIn and the CV-Library job board. Payment is through PayPal and we keep no details of your payment card.
Company Principals all tell us the same thing – getting Sales Agents is not easy!
From our many discussions with Company Principals what they want to do is have a campaign over an extended period of time. “One-off” classifieds adverts just don’t work. Salesagentsplus is designed and priced to allow you to have a sustained recruitment campaign that is affordable. With a simple flat cost and no long term commitment it is in your hands.
Whether you’re new to the market or well-established in your industry, it pays to have a sales agent. These professional and experienced individuals are well-versed in the field of sales; they know what it takes to pitch your product or service, persuade potential customers that it’s exactly what they need, and win you new business.
Specialist Sales Agents in Your Industry
With many sales agents already out there working with a variety of businesses, you’re bound to find an expert that’s experienced in marketing products and services that are similar to your own. Not only that, they could already have strong relationships within your target audience, so much of the hard work is already done for you.
With the help of a specialist sales agent, you’ll cut a lot of the hassle out for your business and you can expect sales to build much more quickly thanks to their pre-established relationships.
Reduced Overheads and Expenses
Sales agents typically work on a commission-based contract, meaning they will only earn money from your business as and when they make a sale. This way of managing business sales is significantly cheaper than hiring new employees to do the same work for you. By assigning a sales agent to bring in the customers, you don’t have to worry about extended expenses and overheads that come with hiring a permanent, full-time team member.
Fantastic Return on Investment
There’s no greater return on investment for your business, than one that is provided through working with a sales agent. By paying your sales agent based on their performance, you’ll only see money going out of the business and to them, when they’re bringing money in! Better yet, you can speak to a variety of sales agents to find one that’s best for your business based on their commission expectations.
Knowing how much commission to pay to your sales agents can be a difficult decision to make. We find that it’s usually a thin line between maximising profitability and being able to attract the best sales talent. That’s why we’ve offered up some top tips on choosing a commission rate, for you to have a better understanding of the basics and what’s needed to kickstart your search for the best sales agent for your business.
How Much Commission can you Afford?
The first thing we’d recommend you look at when trying to decide a commission rate is finding out what you can actually afford. To do this you’ll need to work out the profit margins of different sales. This would be the absolute maximum you should offer, but remember you still need to make a profit too.
Does Your Commission Provide Enough of an Incentive?
A final factor to consider before posting your commission rate, is whether it will be enough to entice a quality and reliable sales agent towards potentially working for your business. One way to do this is to take a look at what other similar companies are offering. It’s important to remember here that you only compare to companies with similar sales processes. If you have a shorter sales cycle then you will be able to get away with lower commission rates and vice versa. Once you’ve seen what other companies are offering you can then choose to match them, or offer a better commission rate to be even more attractive to sales agents.
Although hiring a sales agent comes with fewer legalities than that of hiring a full-time employee, there are a few considerations you need to make, or be aware of, before jumping head first into taking on a sales agent. By understanding the rights and responsibilities of each party, you’ll be protecting your business from any hiccups that could occur.
EC Commercial Agents Regulations
A sales agent does not have the same rights as a full-time employee of your company, however, they are covered for certain mishaps through the EC Commercial Agents Regulations (CAR). The CAR has been put in place to protect and support sales agents, should anything go wrong when they take on work from a company.
In brief, some of the responsibilities that you as a business owner would have include; providing enough information for the sales agent to carry out their role and providing plenty of notice when the workload may be reduced. A detailed and thorough guide to the CAR can be found on gov.uk.
Agency Agreements
Having an agency agreement in place between yourself and the sales agent, will help to protect the business and the working relationship you have with the sales agent. An agreed upon agency agreement will ensure that both the business and the sales agent comply with the legalities of the working relationship.
In short, an agency agreement should contain; the basis of why you are hiring the sales agent; the responsibilities that the sales agent has during their working relationship with you; any minimum sales targets agreed upon; the commission rate you have agreed upon; what process needs to be followed for the working relationship to end.