Sitting outside of the Bulgari Yacht Club Italian restaurant in Dubai, I was on my phone talking with my staff about HOW to get our remote sales reps to perform at a higher level.We have a strong team of sales reps but one was leading the pack, closing $300k-$800k per month very consistently. The food and scenery were immaculate. It was a perfectly sunny afternoon view of the Bulgari Residencies, the Burj Khalifa in the background and massive yachts comfortably waiting to go out to sea. And yet, I was concerned with my Number 1 priority: getting my sales team performing at a higher level.Entrepreneurs love the "idea" of a remote sales rep. It's someone who is making hundreds of calls a week and closing deals as the owner is kicking back enjoying a hot Americano in one hand and a Cuban cigar in the other in Dubai.I thought back on all that I've learned since I've exclusively focused on hiring remote sales reps, who are based all over the world, but sell to American schools and districts. The first dish arrived: a wonderful blue fin tartar with a lemon-vinaigrette. Each bite had bursts of citrus and the soothing mouthfeel of fresh tuna. I piled it high on a piece of sour dough and basked in the glory of the moment.Next, came one of my favorite pastas: Linguine alle vongole (with fresh clams). It's a simple dish of al dente pasta with a garlic-wine sauce surrounded by clams. I used the bread to soak up every last bit of the sauce.As dessert came around, I had to try the tiramisu and that's when it hit me: remote sales rep are only as good as the person who hires and trains them.Here's why most entrepreneurs fail at hiring good remote sales rep:Quick Intro: I scaled my service business from $1.3M to $10.2M in 19 months, and it takes me half a day per week to manage. Now, I help service founders hire and onboard remotes sales reps to generate $20k+ per month without them sorting resumes or building SOPs. Book a call: www.winwinwitheric.comI find that most entrepreneurs make the first mistake of:
Trusting the resume too much
When I talk to a remote sales rep I might hire, I take their resume with a huge grain of salt.Resumes are fickle creatures. There's always a reason a job "didn't work out" that's "not their fault."Even if I see an interviewee spent 1-5 years consistently at a company, I find that people tend to exaggerate what they've done.Here's a real life example:I had one interviewee claim they made a $40,000 sale…only to discover they had "set an appointment" for a closer to ended up making that sale. We all know that's not the same thing at all.A key thing to do is ask this question: Can you share an anecdote of your proudest sales accomplishment? Include what you sold, the amount and what you did to close the client.I want to hear an exact dollar amount that was sold, what the service/product was, and what objections were conquered to close.Use the interview as a time to do some real probing.
Not providing enough upside for remote sales reps
I'm very against the idea of a "commission" only mindset. My services are high ticket ($15,000-$1,000,000) and take months of followup and discussions before closing. I don't want someone desperate to close because they aren't making any money along the way.The key is not to pay an "hourly rate," but instead to find a middle groundI like 60% base and 40% commission/bonus. This way my remote sale rep can earn a liveable salary, but the real earnings come when deals are closed.Any sales rep who is comfortable with just an hourly wage isn't motivated enough to work hard.I like sales rep who know their worth and want to make more than their last job, and they're willing to put in the work and get results.When you talk to sales reps, ask them how much they made in their last job and see how this job is a step up.Why would a sales rep work for you that made less than their last job?
Not doing enough roleplay and training
Here's an article I wrote about how to do sales roleplay. Remote sales rep don't come on Day 1 with a thorough understanding of your service and expertise.It takes training in the form of SOPs, roleplay, shadowing and more.An easy way I like to track this is to make sure they do at least 6 hours a week of roleplay and shadowing. This could be 2 hours of shadowing experienced reps, 2 hours of 1-on 1- review and 2 hours of live roleplay.A lot of entrepreneurs expect a remote sales rep to start selling quickly. The onboarding should be fast, but also include some ramp up time to make sure calls, emails and follow-ups are done accurately.You can ensure most of this is taken care of thorough SOPs.But you also need to spend lots of time training and onboarding those SOPs. Good Training + Good SOPs = Success
There isn't enough competition
How can a remote sales rep fail on their own? Because they're by themselves! If you only have one sales rep, you have no point of comparison to see if they're truly succeeding or not.I was expanding my company to a new state and we only had one remote sales rep selling. This resulted in a lot of excuses that "the leads weren't working" or "the prospects don't like the service."Was the sales rep correct? Maybe, or maybe not. I couldn't tell because there was just one.The key is to hire two sales reps. It won't cost you that much more because one most likely won't work out, or will show lackluster results. If they both succeed, that's a bonus and you can keep them, but I have rarely see that happen.For every sales campaign, you want to have 2 reps.Example: If I'm selling to two near areas, New York and Florida, and have 2 remote sales reps, it's better to focus BOTH on one territory at a time. I'll check the results and see which is doing better. Then I can hire 2 more and focus them on the other state. In the past, I would split them up, see mediocre results and I could never tell if it was an issue with the service, the lead, the rep or the pitch.Because remote sales rep cost a fraction of an in-person sales rep (especially one living in the US) and you can use the base/bonus plan, you can afford two, at least for 2-3 months. I like to see results within 45 days, but it all depends on what you're selling.If you're a service business who wants to bring in a remote sales rep that generates $20k+ per month (guaranteed or we work for free), without hiring or onboarding (we do all of that), book a call with me at www.winwinwitheric.com