Hiring Tip on Salespeople

Tim Basa, VP of Marketing at Bullseye Telecom, gave a presentation at CVX Expo at ITEXPO in Miami. It was very good. One tip of the 144 was that you should hire really good salespeople if you are going to hire any at all.

I get asked about sales compensation all the time. It's one of the top consulting projects I get hired for.
The right factors for sales compensation involve:

• Set target pay
• Select the right performance measures
• Establish Quotas
• Determine the right mix of base pay and incentive
• Get Buy-in
• Effectively Communicate

There is a lot of literature on sales compensation:

A college chapter on it sales compensation.
A whole book about it.
A blog from 2006.
An article in INC magazine.

In 13 years of watching companies try to build a sales force, the commission only positions never work out. Why? If you don't invest in your sales team, they won't invest in you. The best sales teams have good support around them from management, ordering, quoting, pricing, service and installation.