Do you eat what you kill?

[Danny reds]

I've been in business now for 5 years helping business and individuals with tax debt to the IRS and the state.

I've been in the industry for 13 years and i've seen a verity of different comp plans.

I feel the comp plan for my sales department needs to change do to the competitive market.

Do i change my structure to eat what you kill structure or keep the base pay plus commissions, bonus?

 

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[Merging Left]

How have you structured your commissions schedule? Is it an annual goal, quarterly goal, monthly goal, etc.?

What, specifically, makes you think you need to change it up?

What kind of comp packages for your competitors offer?

 

[Danny reds]

How have you structured your commissions schedule? Is it an annual goal, quarterly goal, monthly goal, etc.?

What, specifically, makes you think you need to change it up?

What kind of comp packages for your competitors offer?

Our commission schedule is monthly and I don't think i need to change it. I think the issue i'm having is hiring the right people to do the job.

Now that i have been on the forum for a couple of weeks i'm getting a lot of knowledge from other entrepreneurs. I know the areas where i need some fixing. Thats hiring the correct people that fit my culture and system.

 

[Get Right]

How many people do you have to have on your sales team right now?

 

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[Danny reds]

How many people do you have to have on your sales team right now?

I have 10 right now. All contributing 10 to 15 k a month Per seat.

 

[Get Right]

I have 10 right now. All contributing 10 to 15 k a month Per seat.

Nice. Do you have a sales manager or do you perform that role?

 

[Danny reds]

Nice. Do you have a sales manager or do you perform that role?

I’m playing that roll right now as well as playing the roll of The main closer. Top producer.

 

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[Get Right]

I’m playing that roll right now as well as playing the roll of The main closer. Top producer.

Awesome! So if I were in your shoes, this is how I would reorganize to answer your initial question and the one in your other post.

Name a sales manager. Give him/her a nice base. Make this person responsible for managing the others. Set up a percentage commission based on the employees he manages.

Your position - see if you can get out of the sales cycle and manage your sales manager. Start looking for new hires that have a good work ethic but no experience. Coach them up and put them under the sales manager.

Bonus points - Name 2 sales managers and split the team between them. Make it a competition, because true salesmen will perform better if put into a competitive environment.

If your business works with this setup CONGRATS because TIME/SCALE is now on your side!

 

[Danny reds]

Awesome! So if I were in your shoes, this is how I would reorganize to answer your initial question and the one in your other post.

Name a sales manager. Give him/her a nice base. Make this person responsible for managing the others. Set up a percentage commission based on the employees he manages.

Your position - see if you can get out of the sales cycle and manage your sales manager. Start looking for new hires that have a good work ethic but no experience. Coach them up and put them under the sales manager.

Bonus points - Name 2 sales managers and split the team between them. Make it a competition, because true salesmen will perform better if put into a competitive environment.

If your business works with this setup CONGRATS because TIME/SCALE is now on your side!

This is all great information and I’m not to far off from the exact formula you had mentioned. When I hire people they are just okay making the 10.20 hr base pay it’s crazy to me. After 2 weeks of not producing or picking up to the training I have to fire them. Wasted money!!!!

We do daily drilling and training, we have the best lead source in the industry, our data is fresh. That’s a big deal because our industry is becoming very competitive and everyone is trying to do it.

Our sales training is the best in the industry. Other firms put you in a with leads and a phone and they say sink or swim. I know i worked for a few of them before launching my business.

Any insight from you is greatly appreciated!

 

[Scot]

It sounds like you have a very similar set up to @458

I know he offers free Skype mentoring, you should talk to him, see how he set up how call center.

 

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[CareCPA]

we have the best lead source in the industry

How do you know, objectively? Everyone putting up numbers thinks their's is the best.

Our sales training is the best in the industry

Again, how do you objectively know?

Just saying you have the best because it's better than other places you've worked does not make it the best. If you're running into issues with retaining sales people, then either your hiring process or comp plan needs improvement.

You may be right, you may have the best leads and the best training right now. But you should always be challenging and improving those. Someone could come along next week and come up with a better training program, or a new way of scraping leads.

My advice on the comp depends on what kind of sales people you're bringing in. If you are bringing in fresh blood, you need a healthy base, and less commission. People generally won't work for cheap with a future promise of money - it's too much risk. You will lose money on them for the first couple weeks, maybe even months. I don't think two weeks is really long enough to see if they'll produce, especially if this is their first real sales job.
If you're bringing in experienced people, I would weight more heavily towards commission. They should know what they're doing, they just need to learn your product. If you find someone with a decade of sales experience that wants a high base salary, they don't plan on working that hard.

 

[Danny reds]

How do you know, objectively? Everyone putting up numbers thinks their's is the best.


Again, how do you objectively know?

Just saying you have the best because it's better than other places you've worked does not make it the best. If you're running into issues with retaining sales people, then either your hiring process or comp plan needs improvement.

You may be right, you may have the best leads and the best training right now. But you should always be challenging and improving those. Someone could come along next week and come up with a better training program, or a new way of scraping leads.

My advice on the comp depends on what kind of sales people you're bringing in. If you are bringing in fresh blood, you need a healthy base, and less commission. People generally won't work for cheap with a future promise of money - it's too much risk. You will lose money on them for the first couple weeks, maybe even months. I don't think two weeks is really long enough to see if they'll produce, especially if this is their first real sales job.
If you're bringing in experienced people, I would weight more heavily towards commission. They should know what they're doing, they just need to learn your product. If you find someone with a decade of sales experience that wants a high base salary, they don't plan on working that hard.

I 100 % agree there was a big issue with my hiring process. All this information you gave me is really helpful. I greatly appreciate it!!!

Sales is my background and spent a countless hours building our sales training platform. This is what separates us from other tax relief firms. They don't spend time or money in their sales people. I hire people that worked all over in the industry and they always tell me they thought they would never be able to hit the numbers they are hitting. Not only that their work ethic and vision has changed.

I also worked for two of the largest and original tax relief firms and i know for a fact they don't train like we do.

 

[Scot]

Also, as a commissioned salesman at my day job... I’d never touch a company that paid more than 50% of my pay in commissions. Not because I don’t trust my sales skills, but because I don’t want to pay a 33% luxury tax on my commissions. The amount you pay in taxes for commissions vs normal salary is just absurd.

 

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[CareCPA]

Also, as a commissioned salesman at my day job... I’d never touch a company that paid more than 50% of my pay in commissions. Not because I don’t trust my sales skills, but because I don’t want to pay a 33% luxury tax on my commissions. The amount you pay in taxes for commissions vs normal salary is just absurd.

It's taxed the same as wages. There are different methods of withholding tax for commissions, but it all washes out at the end of the year when you file.

 

[Scot]

It's taxed the same as wages. There are different methods of withholding tax for commissions, but it all washes out at the end of the year when you file.

Oh really? Sure as hell doesn’t feel like it. Maybe it’s different in Florida. But I know for sure I lose more money to Uncle Sam percent wise every 3 months.

But alas, you’re the CPA, so I’ll take your word for it haha