Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with business and sales

What metrics are sales professionals guided by?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:27:00 -0800

What metrics are sales professionals guided by? Working with my sales manager to help redefine how inside and outside salespeople should be compensated and reviewed.

Everything from leadership to new accounts to call metrics to closed business... how does your business (or your competitors) judge the success of your sales force?

[Also, if you have any articles of interest or website recommendations, it would be just as valuable.]

Do online companies need toll free numbers?

ckohrman — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:14:20 -0800

Do online companies need 800 numbers if most of their sales are online from their website?

How to start my sales team?

Elminster24 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:52:18 -0800

Growing my business...what are my options for building a sales force? All the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place for my new b2b lead generation business I am launching and while my new website isn't live yet, I've already received inquiries from people on forums and such which is getting me pumped.

Once the site is live in the next week or two I was planning on just banging the phones and dialing for dollars. However, I'm aware of the fact that I'm not a great sales person and that is the first part of my business I'm looking to have someone else handle.

I don't want to deal with the headaches of employing someone and can't afford to pay a full salary at this point so I've been looking into getting an independent contractor to do sales but I'm clueless as to how much to offer them and what sort of payment structure would be acceptable.

My initial thought was that while I'd love to have someone work on 100% commission for me, realistically that probably won't happen at this stage given how new the business is. Nobody wants to take a chance on an "unproven" business.

So my next thought was looking for people on Craigslist to do this at an hourly rate. I'm just not sure what acceptable pay would be for someone to just make phone calls all day for this sort of business. I'm thinking something like $10/hr plus 50% commission (where an average deal will probably be around $600-1000 net). Does that sound like a fair amount?

Anybody here able to share some thoughts on the above? Any experiences you've had with starting a company and getting that first sales person would be hugely appreciated!

Happy to provide any additional details. And for the love of god please don't take this as a job posting...I've encountered confusion in the past with people thinking I was making a job posting to AskMeFi when in reality I'm looking for ADVICE ON HOW TO FIND SOMEONE for this job and everything that entails.

What are good data sources for laptop and PC sales?

PercussivePaul — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:51:58 -0800

Where can I find detailed sales data on best-selling laptops and PCs? I'm scoping out a research project and trying to see what kind of data I am going to be able to find. Ideally someone would hand me a database containing records of all models of laptops and PCs for sale in the US (or the world, or other countries) along with their list price and all relevant specs, and total number of units moved per year for the past few years.

Something like this already exists thanks to Amazon (best selling PCs, best selling laptops, or of course I could just pull the data straight from Amazon itself). This is a good starting point, but two main issues:
1. It only tells me what Amazon is selling, and I'm interested in what everyone is selling
2. It has sales rank, but I want absolute numbers, or at least a percentage of total sales.

I imagine this data exists but is likely not freely available on the web. I don't know where to begin looking for this sort of thing as I don't have a background in business or anything like that. I have found some stuff (IDC quarterly PC tracker, NPD Group) that might be what I want but I can't read it and it's clearly meant for businesses that can pay a lot. Being a grad student, I can't.

There are possibly resources at my University I could use (for example I have access to Forrester reports) but having spent a day or two poking around I have yet to find what I need. Before I go bothering people in the business school for help, I could use some orientation as to what's out there. Thanks.

Suggestions for starting a small event photography business?

tkolstee — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:34:01 -0800

Considering freelance event photography as a sideline. The kind where you take the photos, and then sell them later online. Any advice - including talking me out of this - is appreciated. I'm considering doing something in addition to my 9-5 job in order to bring in some extra income, or maybe just have some fun trying. My main concerns are low up-front cost, and nothing that will commit me too heavily in case it doesn't work out or I decide I don't like what I'm doing.

Photography has been a hobby of mine for a while, and although I'm nowhere near professional-quality, I've taken some great shots and learned a lot about exposure and some tricks of the trade.

I'd like to stay away from art or stock photography, and focus on shooting events and the people in attendance. I don't think I can commit to doing this work for hire, like a wedding photographer. Instead I'd like to do what I've seen some others do on the web - show up at an event that's open to the public, shoot the event, and hand out cards telling people where to look for their pictures to order prints or downloads. I might consider taking shots of opportunity for stock or to sell to a news agency, but my main focus would be on individual sales. The nice part about this is that I can be flexible about when, where, and how often I want to work.

How feasible is this, and what do I need to get started? More specific questions and details below, but really I'm trying to keep this open-ended. Any and all advice or warnings would be very helpful.

Occupational Licensing:
I'm in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. IIRC, you can make X amount of dollars per year before it stops becoming a hobby and requires a business license. Can I wait until I hit X before applying? Any problems with going sole proprietorship to keep things simple? I know my personal assets can be subject to business liability this way, but how much am I really exposed to risk? Will I have to charge sales tax, even when it's still a hobby?

Website Hosting / Sales Operation:
My main career is in running UNIX(ish) servers, and I've dabbled in website design and programming enough to know I can take care of that end of things, if I have to. I'm fully willing to design my own website, upload sample watermarked versions of the images, set up PayPal, even have the printing and mailing done myself. However, I know there are services out there that will do much of this for you. Any particular hosts of this type that are good or bad in your experience? How much of this work can I offload, and how cheaply can I do so?

Getting into the events themselves:
How easy is it to get permissions to photograph and market at events? Do I have a chance at getting into children's athletic club events, school-sponsored events, festivals, etc? What's the best way to keep up-to-date about things coming up that I might be interested in shooting?

Practical considerations:
How will I know how to set my rates? How can I protect my gear? Will I encounter problem people while "in the field"? What kinds of legal risks might I encounter?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Want to trade ads for ads

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:08:28 -0800

Help me plan a mutually beneficial, strategic partnership with a sponsor for my podcast. Details within. I'll try to keep this short and break my info into sections. I apologize on being vague but due to some competition I have I need to not tip my peers to my idea. And I feel some background is relevant for my company.

Podcast history

I have three podcasts that are what most deem "moderately successful". They range in age from one to four years of regular broadcast. Two get about 2,500 COMPLETE downloads (judged by measuring KB, not counting just hits/requests) per show in the first few weeks of release (usually topping out around 6,000 to 10,000 after a year of release), and the third gets 3,500 in the first year, topping out at the higher end of that same range. All of our podcasts are released on a weekly basis, so on average 4 shows a month.

Thus far I have been focusing not on advertising and sponsorships but on growing our audience so we would truly have something worth showing sponsors/advertisors. My research shows that a 30 second ad on a podcast runs anywhere from 3 to 5 cents per listener, so theoretically I could charge $125 for a 30 second ad on any of those shows (now if I would get that is another matter...). Premiums are charged, from what I've seen, for "before the show" ads (i.e. the first sounds on the show being "This show is brought to you by..." etc).

I now feel we have a history but I still want to grow the audience more, especially on our four year old "flagship" show. But as we are using over a terrabyte of bandwidth each month and 160GB of disk space, server costs are getting a bit high and I'd like to offset those with SOME income.

Note that for the next few sections I'm only talking about our Flagship podcast, Podcast 1.

Company history

We incorporated a few years back when we were approached, based off the work we'd done on our independant podcasts, to do a corporate podcast. This paid well and paid all our comapny's bills for quite a while. Unfortunately the company ran into cash problems, and is now out of business.

Growing my audience

As mentioned before the niche I service is very competitive and I am not the number one show, I am number 3.

There is a magazine, Magazine A, that targets the specific niche audience I do, and I approached Magazine A regarding placing an ad. While we currently have no income, I thought pushing ourselves to #1 would greatly increase our ability to get the ad rates mentioned above. However the magazine charges $5,000 for a full page ad, $3,000 for a half page (discounts for multiple purchases). This is far beyond our range at this point as we have no income.

A Previous Advertisor

In the past we did charge a modest amount for web ads, etc. Our best sponsor was Company X, a company directly related to our subject matter for Podcast 1, who paid us under $100 per month for a weekly mention on the show plus an ad on our home page. The monthly payments changed with a web site redesign and we currently have no regular sponsors or advertisors however Company X seems interested in doing more advertising in the future.

Company X seems to have a very large ad budget, as they regularly run half page and full page ads in Magazine A. However they do NOT sponsor the #1 Podcast in our niche as it is not AS directly related to his business as our podcast is.

Future revenue hopes

Given that I am at the point where our company needs to start earning, I was looking at August to begin looking broadly for advertisors, perhaps at $0.025 (2.5 cents) per listener for a 30 second ad, 4 cents for a minute, etc. with various discounts for multiple purchases, and additional charges for before-the-show ads, etc.

But I had thought about approaching companies to be our "official sponsor" for a period of time. Initially, given the rates above, I had hoped that we might get as much as $1000 or more a month per podcast for sponsorship (4 shows a month, this breaks down to only $250 per show. Given the rates I've seen for 30 second ads, for several minutes of ad space with no competition, $1,000 seemed like it might be a rate companies would go for, and discounts would apply for multi-month agreements, and it guarantees them 10,000 listens per month).

Current thought

However, again, especially in this economy, getting companies to open up their checkbooks, especially for four figures a month, for podcasts (which unfortunately are still seen as "new" and "unproven" for ads) seems daring, especially since Podcast 1 is only number 3 in its niche.

So I had thought about approaching Company X for a bit of a partnership. They have, as mentioned before, a large ad budget, and place regular ads in the magazine I want our company to be in.

I had thought about asking them to do a partnership for perhaps 4 months, and during that time they woudl be our official "sponsor" with the benefits listed above (only advertisor, before show and mid-show spot, etc). In exchange I would ask to be featured in their print ads as well as on their web site. I had also thought about asking for a cost-offsetting stipend of perhaps $500 for all four months.

The question

Is what I'm asking for fair? Feasible? Reasonable? Is the cost-offsetting stipend too much given that what I really want is to be a blurb in his print ad to grow our audience so hopefully, at the end of the 4 month period, we can get far more (hopefully closer to the $1k per month per podcast)?

Should I add in Podcast 2 and Podcast 3, which have good download numbers, are not generating any revenue at present, and are somewhat related to Company X's business, but not quite as directly as Podcast 1?

I've never done ad sales, I'm a producer and this area is new to me. So I would appreciate any and all advice on how to monetize the download numbers we are getting.

Thanks MeFites!

international custom fees for online orders

ChloeMills — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:49:46 -0800

I have a small online company in the US. Am I responsible for the custom fees other countries charge my buyers? I've sold many shirts to the UK and never had anyone say anything before but now one my customers is asking to be refunded for the custom fees - which seems ridiculously expensive. (If I refund him he'd basically be getting the product at my cost.) I would assume that is the responsible of the customer and part of the extra expense they would get from ordering a shirt from the US - like shipping. Am I wrong? Is there a way to avoid my customers being charged this fee?

I don't want to risk getting myself in trouble by lying on forms. Currently I go through USPS and list the item as an online sale and list the value as the cost the customer pays. Should I instead be listing the value as what I pay for the product? I don't bother with the Tariff numbers on small orders - would doing that help?

If I go through UPS or FED EX would my customers be less likely to get this extra fees?

Has anyone else had this problem? I'd love some advice.

How can I work for myself?

Hellafiles — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:16:42 -0800

Help me build my sales empire! So I've been in sales for the majority of my working life. I've been mostly involved in selling to customers via the telephone, calling on "C-level" individuals and selling software etc. I've had about every good job in town, and currently work in the telesales department of a software company where I've made between $100-134K per year since 2004.

I have come to the realization that I would like to work for myself somehow. I would really like to get my own small office space, or even work from home and sell my "own" products. I figure that I'm currently selling millions of dollars of someone else's product a month, and if I could somehow find a service or product that I own or offer I could make a nice business for myself. I just have no idea what it would be.

I know the economy is in shitter right now, and I should probably just be glad that I'm making good money. But I'm reaching out to you guys for suggestions on what types of products or services I could sell for myself and make bigger bucks.

I don't want to sell insurance, or become a real estate agent / mortgage broker etc. I want to find some niche where I can become my own reseller or agent and take my sales skills to the next level with my own operation. Can anyone recommend any suggestions to me?

How do I sell to norse companies?

MaxK — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:24:41 -0800

Norwegian Businessfilter: How would an american with almost no understanding of Bokmål go about getting contracts from Norwegian companies? What's the best way to go about selling computer programming services remotely to companies based in Norway? Is there an English-language business portal for the Norwegian tech industry? Really, this isn't entirely specific to Norway, but I'm trying to take advantage of lower taxes from foreign income while developing contracts with clients in countries I'd like to visit in the next 2 - 3 years.

Any recommendations for good sales / business development blogs?

tundro — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 06:38:04 -0800

Any recommendations for good sales / business development blogs? I'd like to find interesting and informative blogs related to sales and business development issues. I work in marketing and advertising industry and already read blogs like Adrants, Techcrunch and MarketingVox. I'm also an avid reader of productivity sites like 43 Folders and Lifehacker (to give you a sense of the kind of news and tips I'm looking for). I'm not looking for the "basics" as I'm firmly established in my career and have enough experience to know those points already. But I'd like to stay on the cutting edge of new technology, strategic approaches, conferences and general know-how on the subject. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Biz travel: little time, big splash?

diastematic — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:00:13 -0800

How should we make the most of our business trip? Two partners and I are visiting NY next week for a client meeting. (We're normally in London and US West Coast.) We may have a spare couple of days, and I'd like to make those as productive as possible from a networking perspective. Suggestions? (More inside.) We already have a healthy dose of dinners, lunches, etc. scheduled with our contacts, but we may still have some gaps in our calendar. Should we...host a cocktail hour at a bar and see who drops in? Invite distant contacts to a salon-style group dinner?

We're also quite visible online for our small industry and have a healthy email list for friends, clients, associates. We can put this to work for us in making any announcements for whatever events we can whip up.

Ideas appreciated. Thanks!

How to get submission form fields from email to database and more!

prophetsearcher — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:20:48 -0800

How can a new company track leads submitted via its website through the sales and post-sales process, simply, automatically, and online? (Caution- IDon'tReallyKnowWhatIWantFilter:)

I'm helping to start a small company (well, it's really a division of a larger consulting firm) that is selling a one-off product/service to non-profits.

Through AdWords, I have managed to attract nearly 30 leads a day (which I'm quite pleased with, considering the cost of our product). Problem is, each lead comes into my inbox - as well as my partners' - as emails. (I believe the site is an ASP.net site, with form submissions. I'm pretty clueless, though).

Is there a way that each of these emails, which is a filled out form, could automagically be imported, fields intact, into some sort of database (ideally, online, but not necessarily).

Even better, would be if we could add notes to each lead ("Joe called Org on 30/1/08 and was asked to call back in a week") and automated reminders ("2/7/08: Joe- Call Org back"), and results ("2/12/08: Product Sold for $999,999.95") and more followups (8/12/08: "Call Org to find out how product was used; interested in more?")

This all would have to be (1) not crazy-expensive (2) easy to use (3) ideally, usable by people in different continents (ie, online?).

I suppose, all else fails, a Google Spreadsheet could take care of some of this, but I'm looking for a frictionless solution that would import our leads, fire off reminders, integrate with our address books and calendars, etc.

I've seen this question, but it didn't seem exactly right and didn't get the types of responses I'm hoping for. Honestly, I'm not quite sure even what I'm looking for or if it exists in our price range...

I'm not scared of a little bit of mucking around, as long as that's only for the setup. It would have to be foolproof for the other end users.

wedding ring removed for sales pitch

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 21:03:42 -0800

Is it ethical for a women who is in sales to remove her wedding ring so that prospective clients will be more interested in hearing her pitch? I've heard that some women will remove their rings when being interviewed so that the new boss won't discriminate against them. I know that some men will and I guess some women will remove their rings while traveling to say perhaps" extend the possibility of fun". I also know that some single women will wear rings on their wedding finger when the travel to ward off the men who are looking to " extend their fun" But this business sales tactic of "acting single" has recently come to light and I'm just not sure how I feel about it. your thoughts would be appreciated.

How to efficently set up a sales department?

tundro — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 16:41:58 -0800

What is the most efficient organizational structure for a sales department? I run the sales division of a successful marketing consultancy. For the last few years our business has grown by leaps and bounds (more than doubling our revenue each year for the last few years) and we've finally outgrown our sales infrastructure.

To that end, what is the most efficent way to set up the sales department for managing this hyper growth? As a consultancy, training new sales reps is difficult as our sales process is very involved and requires a strong knowledge of the marketing process. Any and all insights are welcome. Thanks!

Filter by month, not year in Excel?

ggypsy — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 11:21:27 -0800

How do I sort a column of birthdates in Excel to by month and NOT year? I have an Excel spreadsheet with customer information: last name, first, birthdate, etc. I need to sort by month, so I can send out birthday cards. But I can't seem to format it just to month and day; it assumes I mean that date in 2006. And when I try to filter it by "Begins with" with the month entered, I can't get it to work.

How do I accomplish my goal, here?

How to I pull off the sales event of the year?

ieatwords — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 16:02:13 -0800

How do I pull off the sales event of the year? I have been put in charge of my company’s fiscal year end sale/open house. The purpose of this event is to generate sales (both immediate and future). We sell specialized machinery to hobbyists and professionals. This will be an opportunity for our local customers to come and see our show room and get great end of the year deals. This will also be marketed to our national customers. They will be able to call in and get the same deal as someone attending our event. We have the opportunity to market to several types: people in our database that have purchased a tool from us in the past, people in our database that have a deposit on a machine, people in our database that have expressed interest in our machinery in the recent and far past. I have several questions that hopefully this knowledgeable group can answer. The event is in 35 days. When do I start marketing this? I don’t want to ruin the deals people have going now by having them wait to purchase the machinery at the sale. What is the best way to get the local people to attend…and buy? How do I market to and attract people nationwide to call in on the day of the event...and buy? E-mail blasts will be the medium. Should I also get my sales guys on the phone to start mentioning the event to local customers? To sum up…how do I get people here (or on the phone) and spend their money? All advice is greatly appreciated. The last thing I want this to look like is a hokey department store sale.

Sales process development books

will — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 21:26:07 -0800

Have a sales process development book or other resource recommendation? Looking for something practical with sample processes and documents, less on theory.

Online Fulfillment House

mathowie — Mon, 05 Jul 2004 14:54:41 -0800

Does any company at all do online fulfillment? I'd love to sell t-shirts, photographs, and eventually my own books, but I don't like shipping stuff and cashing checks, etc. I've looked and looked and can't find anyone that just holds inventory, sends it out when requested, and takes a cut. Heck, I'd be willing to pay a few bucks per item to someone doing this. It must exist, but I can't seem to find anyone doing it.