Carefully Choosing a New Sales Representative -

Details for Carefully Choosing a New Sales Representative

ID:	12461
Author:	jackrlandry
Title:	Carefully Choosing a New Sales Representative
Article:	There are many different things that you should make sure that you do and consider as you interview various applicants for the position of a sales representative. The sales representative that you choose will have a big impact on the success of your company. As a result, the decision that you make will be critical to the revenue that you company generates. When you talk to various applicants, there are many things that you will want to make sure to cover carefully to make sure that there will not be any misunderstandings. One of the things that leads to making a poor decision in hiring a sales representative is a misunderstanding about the job position, product, or qualifications of the applicant. Fortunately, there are many things that you can do as a hiring manager to minimize misunderstandings so that you will make the best choice for your company. The first thing you will want to make sure you do as you make a decision is that you get a commitment from the applicant in writing. This document should detail the tasks that the applicant promises to perform and his or her qualifications. When a relationship is built without a formal document sealing it, there is often a lot of room for misunderstandings to occur. As a result, the relationship sours and the representative does not perform as well or in the manner that would be best for the company. However, a written document makes sure that both you as the manager and the applicant understands exactly what is expected. Besides, written documents of the agreement are often required in some states. If you do not meet these state standards, your company could face severe penalties. The second thing you should make sure you do clearly during the interview is clearly describe and define the product or services that the representative will be in charge of representing. This may include a tour of the company or allowing the interviewee to actually use it. A list of the products and services that the applicant will be promoting should also be included in the official, written document. Many managers feel that this process is redundant and unnecessary because they are only promoting one or two items. However, if you decide to begin selling other items, you will need to have the authority to decide who will sell or focus on selling what types of items. The third thing you will want to make sure you define clearly is the area where the representative will work. In some cases, you do not want various sales team members overlapping, but you want them to all reach different local areas. Depending on the type of company you run, the territory that is defined may be a large part of the world or it may be a small section of the city you are located in. You will have to decide what is best for your company. However, the more specific you can be, the better. Specificity is key to preventing misunderstandings. The fourth thing you will need to decide on is whether this new representative will be the first and only marketer for a particular area. The other option is to have him or her work with more experienced team members for a particular area. Sometimes the first option can lead to new creativity that produces great results. In other cases, the second option is the best as it helps the applicant adjust to the new policies of your company and to increase the chances of making more sales because more people will be working on the project. However, sometimes there are also conflicts between team members because they feel that another person is taking advantage of all of his or her hard work. You will need to talk to each team member to find out their opinion and what they think will be best. The fifth thing you will definitely have to communicate clearly on is commissions. This is the area that mis-communication occurs in the most. You should carefully review the entire procedure of how you go about calculating commission and your policy for paying commission. Be sure to ask if the applicant has any questions. Be sure to talk about the other costs that are associated with the sale so that he or she understands where all of the money is going. As you do these things you will be able to minimize misunderstandings and you will be able to make sure that you have made a good choice for your company. About the author of this article: document.write(' jack r. landry has worked in the field of business management for 20 years. he recommends using lead management software for sales management software. contact info: jack r. landry jackrlandry@gmail.com http://www.insidesales.com/lead_management.php') jack r. landry has worked in the field of business management for 20 years. he recommends using lead management software for sales management software. contact info: jack r. landry jackrlandry@gmail.com http://www.insidesales.com/lead_management.php
Category:	Business: Sales
Date:	April 09, 2011 09:47:00 AM

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