Question:
We want to expand our customer base and anticipate that someone with a proven track record of establishing and building business is what we want. While we have offices in two specific cities, we are comfortable with the thought of someone working anywhere in the U.S. In fact, by being elsewhere it might offer us better coverage of regions where we have less presence. Naturally, compensation is dependent upon their historic performance and the prospect of bringing in new clients with whom they already have great rapport. For the right candidate, we have no problem paying into 6 figures. At the same time, I am hoping that a sales candidate would have enough self-confidence to have a larger proportion of their compensation come from their success in the form of commission as opposed to one that is built around a high base.
Answer:
What you have described is the catch 22 of market research sales these days. You want someone with a track record of producing (I.e., some sort of guarantee for payment on your investment), but you are not willing to pay current industry compensation levels. Seasoned salespeople cost $ but improves the likelihood of success. Producers with track records will look for $80-120K in base plus commission. The only ones willing to take a low base and work mostly on commission these days are the ones with little/no track record, so you may get them at $50K but there is no guarantee of success for your investment of money and time.
Essentially, the more you spend on base, the higher the likelihood of getting someone good and having them produce. The industry has set current salary expectations for sales producers and it’s tough to get them to accept high commission structures, especially with so many similar types of companies have messing around with sales commission plans recently…causing sales folks to ask for even higher percentages in the base.
So much depends on:
- What they will be selling
- Margins/profitability
- Annual revenue targets
- Unique value proposition/differentiation…do they think they can sell it!
- Etc.
It’s really more of a conversation so that I can figure out what you are looking for and how that lines up with current talent market expectation. Then you can decide how much you are willing to spend and what kind of risk you are willing to take with a new hire as far as track records and pay.
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