10 MORE lessons from hiring Remote Sales Rep for 16 years

In a continuing series, check out the original post: 10 lessons from 16 years of hiring remote sales reps Recently I was consulting with one of my clients who had this odd issue:  her in-person sales staff, in England,was inflating the numbers and not tracking activities correctly on their crm.  Meanwhile, their remote sales rep, in the Philppines, had a great month and tracked everything perfectly.   We had had several past conversation about continued training for the in-person sales rep.  But STILL nothing changed.  This person kept making excuses about "not having enough time" to enter the correct data.   I asked my client if they wanted to keep or fire or continue to train this person.   But regardless of that decision, I suggested we hire another remote sales rep, because we were getting great results.   And in business, when you're seeing success with one thing, you keep going!   Here are 10 more tips on hiring and training remote sales reps, something I've been doing for 16+ years. Tip 1:  My ideal pay structure is 60/40: base and commission I get a lot of questions about how much to pay a remote sales rep per hour. If you're selling something that's low-ish ticket, think $200-$1,000 per sale for services like beauty treatments, you can hire someone in the Philippines to call and close for $9-$10 per hour.   If it's something higher ticket $15k-$500k, which is what my main service company sells, (culinary educational workshops to schools) and the sales cycle is longer, then you'll need to pay more, around $16-$30+ per hour. But with the higher ticket services, you don't have to pay that total hourly up front.   I like a 60/40 split.  I.e. The base for the sale reps is say $16 per hour, but with bonuses that can go to $25, $30 or even $40+ per hour. It allows you to hire more expensive people, and pay them more BUT only after the sales are in the door and the cash is collected. Tip 2:  Fire Quickly I've been running sales teams for 16+ years and I can just tell when someone is not capable of the high-ticket sales my company specializes in. I can see that they have the script kind of memorized, but not fully. Often their tonality is off. Sometimes this person is not putting in the numbers, which is typically 100 calls per day if their pipeline is very light.   When I see this, I try to help them.  But if after a few days or weeks there is no change.   Then it's better to fire them. Don't repurpose them.  Or try to switch their position in some way.  I like to keep my sales team full of very good people so my energy is given to those who can best use it to make more sales. So fire quickly.  Do it professionally, with care and honesty.   If the person worked hard but did nothing "wrong" you can also off some pay on the way out, like a week or two or four depending on their performance. Tip 3:  Give WRITTEN feedback Before you fire, you should have WRITTEN feedback sent to them by email. I like email because it's time-stamped and ease to search. It's proof we talked about something that needed to be fixed. And hopefully the sale rep improved on it. Please, AVOID "verbal" feedback that isn't paired with a quick email. Don't post it on "slack" either Just send a quick email.  It's very important! Tip 4:  Onboarding Is Fast I don't like to waste too much time getting a sales rep up and running. How long does it take to memorize a sales script to get from a gate keeper to a decision maker? My answer: 2-3 days if it's the core focus and their is some role play. How long does it take to execute a First Time Appointment? Probably 4-5 days with lots of training, shadowing and roleplaying. Just don't make it "one week."   If someone is working 8 hours a day, that's a LOT of roleplays and practice…if they actually do it. Tip 5:  The Bare Minimum Video/Audio Setup Since these sale reps are "remote" it's key to have standards when it comes to video, audio, their outfit and background. I don't move forward with anyone that doesn't have all 4 of those components dialed in. Video:  The rep has to be easy to see, not grainy and with reliable internet.  The camera has to be decent and presentable.  A laptop that's a few years old with a solid camera is all that's typically needed. Audio:  I need to be able to easily hear the rep without interference from any background noise.  A headset solves most of these issues. Outfit:  I have my team dress in a business casual outfit while talking with a prospect or returning client.  For internal meeting, it's ok to be a bit less formal, but not by much.  I don't want to see baggy t-shirts, hoodies, unkempt hair, etc.  It's just not professional in my opinion for someone I'm hiring to be client-facing. Background:  I've seen backgrounds that are absolutely ridiculous: including ones with people walking through them a lot.  Pets jumping in and out of the frame.  Posters that no one needs to see.  I need a background that is clean, simple and professional for reps. Tip 6:  No weather excuses When you hire remote sales rep you'll hear a lot of, "I couldn't join because there was a storm."   Or  "I need to keep my video off because the power is out." At the end of the day, we run businesses that need RELIABLE staff.  If someone can't show up for their job regularly, then why are you hiring them? I find that good remote sales reps (and operations coordinator) very, very rarely have any issues when it comes to showing up to work.   I've had staff in literal war zones make sure they are at a cafe with a backup generator so they can work. The good people show up no matter what. And the others just "make excuses" and don't put in much effort. Tip 7:  Focus on reps with confidence and conviction Most sales reps don't work out because while they are good at selling themselves, they aren't as good at selling your service. They get tripped up in conversation when they don't remember the answer to an objection in the SOP.   Reps are often good at selling themselves, but if you find they don't have that same conviction selling your service, then it's not going to win over a prospect. Tonality is important, as it's a balance between being confident but not bullish. Most reps, without much sales experience, are too soft and polite.   I'd rather downplay someone with too much confidence and strong vocal conviction, then try to "bring up" a sales rep that doesn't have it. Tip 8:  Write every objection If you've done sales enough, then you can write every objection and answer to go with it. Sales rep, especially the new ones, just need to see what to say in the script and MEMORIZE IT. I don't like when a rep tries to "phrase it" their own way, because they usually stumble and have too many "ums" and "ahs" and it never sounds convincing. I've got in my SOP answers to everything from "the price is too high!" to "this competitor seems better" to "let me think about it."   A good rep will appreciate these objections and just focus on knowing what to say, then making it up. Tip 9:   The Sales Script Lists EVERY part of the Sale A good script goes over the key parts like How to talk to gate keepers How to talk to decision makers How to execute an FTA How to followup And so much more. Think of each of these pieces like "chapters in a book" Your job is to make it clear as day on how to deal with each situation with 90% accuracy.   (Remember 100% isn't impossible to write down…but 80/90 should get good reps to the finish line Tip 10:  Good reps have the "push" I previously talked about "confidence and conviction" but there's another key part. It's the "push" It's the ability to move forward WITHOUT being too much of anything.   A good rep is considerate, polite but not weak A good rep is also strong, dominant but never too much. It's such a balance. I saw one of my long-time appointment setters use the "push" to book a meeting with a decision maker. You could feel it in his voice, how he knew he would get them to agree despite their many objections and he did. He asked good questions. He engaged them and showed he cared. And got the job done! If you run a service business and want to bring on a remote sales rep that generates an extra $20k per month, without dealing with hiring, training, or SOPs, I have 4 spots open this quarter. Book a call: www.winwinwitheric.com