I'm hiring a Salesman

Dave Olson

Dave Olson

Workin North of 60
I'm going hire a salesman. I’ve never had one before. Can anyone give me some insights? Do’s and don'ts!

You guys that have sales people, what do you provide (car, road expenses, office) etc. Are they paid a base salary and then a commission? Do you have them sign a Confidentiality, Non- Competition and Non-Solicitation agreement?

Thanks for your time and interest.

Dave Olson
 
Hello Dave, I know of a exhaust cleaning company here in Iowa, They have been in business for about three years and have always had a salesman.... They are the largest next to Getz.

They give him 400.00 a week and also 10% on any non-corp. jobs, than they also give him a card for all expense that comes up, gas, motel, and anything else that is business related....

Hope this helps,

Matt
 
Salesman

Dave,

My salesman gets 10% for all new accounts, first time out. 4% for all repeat work. He gets a $250.00/mo gas expense on his car, he uses magnetics on the sides(the only vehicle I use with magnetics). I provide single benefits and two weeks vacation. He does have an office space.

To start I paid him $600.00/wk for 8 weeks (was supposed to be six) for what I called, training. Then he was on his own. He has now been with me for 10 months. He loves his job and I am just as happy with him working for me. I hope that helps.
 
All of my salesmen are subs so they pay all of their own expenses. They get 25% of the first service and 10% on the recurring services. My top guy has been selling full time for about 4 years and he already makes 100k a year on just the recurring services, the new sales are icing on the cake for him. The deal is that as long as they work with us in any capacity they get their residuals.

We took on a salesman in '95 that had been working for one of the large companies out here for 30 years and got laid off when they sold the company. He started to get ill a few years ago and could only do a couple of leads a week but he was still doing well with the residuals coming in every week. He passed away last year (on this day as a matter of fact) at 72. We still pay his residuals to his widow so she will be taken care of for the rest of her life as well.

I'm not sure if you want to make this kind of deal with your guys, but it works out better for your salesman in the end. The first year or so will be rough but the more he sells, the fatter the checks get and he will tend to want to stick around for those juicy residual checks. You could have him come on as a worker and do sales part time or better yet get one of your workers in to sales, theres nothing worse than a salesman who has never done the work he is selling.
 
mbryan said:
better yet get one of your workers in to sales, theres nothing worse than a salesman who has never done the work he is selling.
Click to expand...

I have a guy I could do that with...............but the trick is getting someone to replace him on the "worker" end of things. He will not be easy to replace if I did that.
 
better to have too much work and not get it all done, then to have a real good worker with nothing to do.
Let the worker replace YOU and you go sell.
Your feet stay dryer and no commision check's.
 
Just a TIP.

If your are planning on paying someone other than commission only hire someone with a good sucessful experience in sales.

I have worked is sales and both my Mom and Dad were professianl sales people. There are A LOT of people who try out being a salesman, and don't have the commitment.

If someone has a natural skill of selling that is great, but someone who is willing to talk to as meny people as possable will sell alot too. (if they are a decent human being)

If just commission is your thing then you can have as many salepersons as you can hire.
 
Dave,

Hiring a salesperson is a great idea. It will free your time up. Everett and Bryan sound like they have had experience in doing this.

Base, salary, and residuals are all important as is the salesperson and the sales he or she will generate. If it were me, I would not want anyone to put a cap on my wages other than myself. Finding key people is tough.

It won't take long to find out if the salesperson is going to work out. They either are or they aren't. Look for someone with some knowledge in pressure washing and find someone who can get interested in what it is they're selling. One thing for sure, it's hard to sell something that you, yourself aren't sold on first.

I would consider a non-compete and I have I could email you a copy of.

If I can be of any help, you know how to get ahold of me.
 
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I guess if your business is big enough than having sales people work for you is as good as gold. Since my company is small potatoes as in 3 people I do all the sales along with a ton of work.

Eventually I want to do all the sales since I have the passion for this business and have alot of workers do the physical end.

Slowly but surely...should be my motto;)
 
well i bought my first power washer today...i'm not going to tell you what kind because it's probably wrong:) However I am just starting out and I thought I'd post because I come at this from a different direction..I am a sales guy who needs to learn to power wash...I just moved to hilton head and after a few months of exploring I saw a real oppurtunity in this industry...I plan on doing all the selling and marketing as well as the PWing to start...I need to learn my new trade...I have also lined up 3-4 people who are hard workers that I am going to use as assitants and see if they work out. I have a lot to learn but i am excited about it. Sales is not rocket science but like anything, it has it's own unique set of skills...Evenutually (in thinking after a year I want to be dedicating most of my time to sales, service and customer satisfaction....PWing as an industry is no different than any other in that most of your competition drops the ball in client service and retention....Well i digress, just thought I'd post a note :)
 
Helping new pressure washing companies get started correctly and helping existing companies do their jobs easier, is what we do for a living.

You'll find that this is a very helpful tool in learning your new trade. This site is a highly recomended pressure washing board when it comes to learning. You'll find most of the people here on PWI are very knowledgeable and helpful. Please read back through posts to learn as much as you can.

Good luck and if you need any assistance or have any questions, feel free to email me.
 
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