I am looking for a salesman for my screen printing and embroidery company. I want to pay them a base plus commission. Would any of you be willing to share with me what you offer your salesman as far as a package?
I was thinking 250 a week plus a % of profit on each sale. Seem fair?
Thanks for the response Joe. These are employees. We are in PA. I have this same deal with another salesman. Do utilize in house salesman? what structure do you use?
No, I don't have salespersons. I do strictly internet sales.
$250 a week base is less than minimum wage in PA. I am not exactly sure how it works, but don't you have to at least guarantee them that they will make minimum wage?
Spyder; 250/week is "great" for the salesperson, some risk for you since you have a guaranteed out of pocket, he has a known income whether he makes a sale or not.
My pref. is 60% of gross profit. Gives them an incentive to not only sell more, but less incentive to readily discount product.
Good luck.
Smitty
Spyder;
My pref. is 60% of gross profit. Gives them an incentive to not only sell more, but less incentive to readily discount product.
Good luck.
Smitty
Thanks for your feedback... At 60% of gross you are not paying any base I take it? How many people do you have working on this plan? Is it working out for both you and the salesman. I agree that 250 base is tough (no guarantees) but it is a competitive industry and it seems like working on 100% commission may be tough, I would love it though. Let me know your thoughts.
Spyder, no base is correct. Sales are competitive; having spent years traveling and my only income based on my sales, I learned a lot about what works and what works well. The hungry will sell. The casual salesperson will be comfortable knowing there is a guarantee even if they don't make a sale. No, they won't get rich and lot's of people will not want to work without some base/guarantee. And that's fair if they are new to your organization so give them a 250/wk base for 30 days if it makes you and them happy. But this isn't a limited distribution business. Everybody and his brother knows someone who produces or can get access to the goods....that's why we need good salespeople. Every business/school/organization is a potential customer so there is a limitless supply of customers....the neophyte salesperson should be able to stumble on sales opportunities in the first week and can make $1000/month selling only $2800 in a month at 40% gross profit and earning 60% of the profit. That's only $646/week to make $1000/month. Do you want someone working for you that's selling less than $646/week? And you're paying that person a guarantee of $250/week? Not me, thank you.
Hey we have a mixture one is commission only 40% of gross profit:markup =1-(cog/sell price):another gets $250/wk+$100 car alowance +cell phone +15%of gross (20% if they exceed sales goal for month):another gets $100 car+cell phone+30%grossartner gets salery only: .....jeff
Thanks Guys... Jeff, if I may ask, out of he 3 scenerios who is you best salesman? Also, do you have a minimum profit percentage for each job? Do you set the price? Or do your sales guys set the price based on what they feel they can get? I have a price list that basically shows my contract price. I have my salesmen add that to the cost of the shirt. What ever they get above that is viewed as profit of which their percentage comes out... Does this seem right? Thanks again. MP
I used to sell new cars and a great way (probably works best when their is a "team" rather than 1 salesman. But in your package I would suggest allowing for bonus and fast starts.
Bonus a good place to start is with a reasonable target for them to achieve. they make it they get an extra 5% (for example) Salesman to exceed budget by the most gets an additional % or a cash bonus (Obviously this needs to be fair so the targets may vary from an experienced salesperson to a new one or one with a different target that may not be as easy to exceed target on)
Fast start - great encouragement. An example might be first to write $500 in orders for the month gets a $ bonus or a dinner for partner and self somewhere etc. (This encourages sales staff to get stuck in to the new month, even if the previous one wasn't a good one it refocuses them.) It usually has a snowball effect too because sales staff have chased prospects heavily they often end up in orders anyway.\
That is why I think a combination of the two works best. fast start to kick start the month then total order write bonus to keep them focused on the end result even if they don't win the fast start. $ amounts tend to work best as it is a tangible amount they know they are going to get (versus a percent.... 5% of stuff all is.... you guessed it stuff all but $100 is a $100)
Also run a taaly board somewhere, it encourages a competative spirit.
Hey, The two best are artner:250+car+phone+15/20%....I like the idea of incentive that cookie uses called fast start...how do you keep salesman from "holding"orders till next month....by the way naa i'll ask this on a new thread....jeff
That can be a hard one..... being a salesman there were times when you do....
Often the fast starts where I worked both varied from month to month and also not every month. this way you don't know what to expect. A bonus for achieving over target helps encourage the sales team to fess up and write it in the current month too!
This also means you can be a bit crative in the bonus area. We had things like winner gets a sat off (we worked 6 days) as well as perhaps a sports version demo for the weekend and dinner for yourself and partner with accomodation. Sometimes this can also help you "encourage" a particular salesperson who you think could be doing better by offering an incentive that especially appeals to them.
I was wondering alot on this also. We are a 2 1/2 person shop. (1 guy is part-time printer)
I would love to get a salesman out in the field, I don't have the time to do it myself. And I'm sure the days of customers just falling in my lap my eventually dry up.
I'm a tad lost on the paying them a % of gross profit though. We also offer promotional products and my profit on those are slim. Wouldn't I be better off offering a % of net profit?
How do you pay your screen printing salesman? 
artner gets salery only: .....jeff
