# Hiring someone for sales



## Mantisface (Sep 5, 2010)

Hi I run a small screen printing shop and I have a catalog, introduction letter, business cards, and all that. I'm thinking about running an add for a commissioned sales person. I supply them with all the marketing tools they may need and they generate sales. I was thinking of giving them 20% of the sale and then 10% of repeat orders from leads they generated. Does anyone or has anyone done this before? What are the pros and cons and would I give them 20% of the profit or the total sale?

Also does anyone a good place to outsource printed promotional items such as water bottles, matches, lighters, and stuff like that. I keep getting a lot of people asking but I cant print those things.


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## JAF (Oct 12, 2008)

3 yrs ago I hired a sales person. She was a recent early retiree from a large corportion & a friend. 

In the end she was receiving 50% of the sale, after paying for garments, printing/embroidery, shipping...etc. I paid for half the cost of samples. This was a bad situation and I would never do it again. Maybe I was figuring something incorrectly? All I know is that this straight comission person kept complaining the she wasn't making enough money. "Well, if you got more sales you would be making more money." "Don't go to your cabin on Thursday, for a long weekend", "Don't start your work day at noon".
I would think long and hard before having someone selling for you. Have everything in writing.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

If you are on straight commish then something like 15% for gross sales under 100K/mo and 20% for gross over 100K/mo. Of course you need a gross margin of no less than 50% to do this.


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## Mantisface (Sep 5, 2010)

binki said:


> If you are on straight commish then something like 15% for gross sales under 100K/mo and 20% for gross over 100K/mo. Of course you need a gross margin of no less than 50% to do this.


If hiring a sale person brings me to 100k a month I'll be a happy man.lol


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## SeasonEnds (Sep 9, 2007)

I think it sounds like a good idea. I don't know a whole lot of salespeople, so I'm not sure if anyone would bite. I can sell, but I wouldn't go for it without some sort of guaranteed cash involved. I would like to hear more about this topic. Anyone else?


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## terzdesign (Mar 8, 2010)

my screen printer doubles as a salesperson. He's not dedicated to the task because I would rather have him printing, but when he finds new clients, I give him 20% of what the job made AFTER expenses. It's a nice incentive to have him go out and sell our wares.


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