I run a small, "boutique" web consultancy under my own name. Thus far I've done my own sales and project management. I'm a back-end developer and sub out my design and front-end. I've finally hit my new year's resolution of delegating more: I'm now subbing out most of my back-end dev as well, leaving me to focus on client relations and management.
My subs are all remote folks I've coded in the trenches with and trust. My customers are all word-of-mouth and view me as a "developer + team" rather than a Brand, LLC type of firm. I follow the (somewhat risky) model of One Large Client + Several Smaller Clients, and cashflow is usually decent.
The sales cycle in my business can be lengthy -- a few weeks of courting followed by a few weeks of estimation, proposals, and contracts. I typically receive leads from my contacts and do the rest myself, but I want to delegate this process as well if possible.
Question: how can I leverage a commission-only tech-knowledgable sales-person in this situation?
Challenges are:
a) I can only take so many clients at once (until I scale up operations), so I definitely won't be this salesperson's only source of work.
b) Beyond procuring the lead and getting the customer excited about the business solutions we can provide, it seems that the bulk of the sales cycle (the in-depth proposals, etc.) is out of scope for most salespeople.
Is the occasional mid-4-figures (USD) commission enough to attract a salesperson who can do more than just get me leads? One who can go deeper with potential clients before I have to jump in?
Advice and feedback welcome, as I'm sure I may be overlooking some possibilities here.
The sales cycle in my business can be lengthy -- a few weeks of courting followed by a few weeks of estimation, proposals, and contracts. I typically receive leads from my contacts and do the rest myself, but I want to delegate this process as well if possible.
Question: how can I leverage a commission-only tech-knowledgable sales-person in this situation?
Challenges are:
a) I can only take so many clients at once (until I scale up operations), so I definitely won't be this salesperson's only source of work.
b) Beyond procuring the lead and getting the customer excited about the business solutions we can provide, it seems that the bulk of the sales cycle (the in-depth proposals, etc.) is out of scope for most salespeople.
Is the occasional mid-4-figures (USD) commission enough to attract a salesperson who can do more than just get me leads? One who can go deeper with potential clients before I have to jump in?
Advice and feedback welcome, as I'm sure I may be overlooking some possibilities here.