What To Look For In Home Improvement Commission Sales Job

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What to Look for in Commission Only Sales Reps Jobs

A commission based in home or home improvement sales job can be the best or worst opportunity depending on the job and company you pick. Worst because as you have heard one of the biggest frauds are contractors or people who sell home improvements. They can be an offshoot of the 1960s siding salesmen who were the used car salespeople of their time. High-pressure sales with no integrity or value. These can be spotted because usually, they are trying to sell you more on working there than seeing if you would be right for the job.

 It can be the best because if you pick the right one you are helping improve the quality of people's lives by improving the quality of where they live. Their home. It’s a job where you can literally have no experience or college degree and make high six figures a year. Totally fun and not being tied behind a desk or computer screen. Meeting new people every day in their homes. Never boring. I know because a job like this made me millions and a wonderful life. 35 years and 16,000 homes later I still love this business. So you need to be sure you pick the right one.

Here is what you should be asking and/or looking for when you interview for this type of position. You can get my list of questions by clicking on the link below to use as a cheat sheet or guide when you are in the interview and tips on how to use it to interview.

You’re ultimately the one to have to make the decision based on the information you have gotten. These are just some of the main things.

Essential Questions to Ask Before Accepting a Commission Only Sales Reps Position

Geographic Coverage and Travel Expectations

One of the first things I look for are going to be the basics such as the geographical areas that are covered. So how far are you going to be driving? Is the mileage paid? How many appointments do you see a day and what time is the first appointment and the last? You need to know if you're going to be able to work these hours. The average length of the sales call. Is it a one-call or two-call close…and then how many days a week you expected to work? Is there weekend work? Are weekends mandatory? And if so, is it one or two weekend days? And then how much time off is there and if there's flexibility in that?

Understanding Commission Structure and Payment Schedules

You want to find out if is this 100% Commission. If so, are you 1099? Are there bonus plans available? How does pay work in terms of from time sold to when you get paid a full commission? This would include how long the job takes to be installed and front-end vs back-end payments. Typically you will be paid something when you first make the sale. This is the front-end payment. Then you will be paid the balance after the job is installed. This is the back-end payment. This is so you can plan financially and make sure you can afford to work there depending on how soon you can get paid after the training and you start to sell.

Benefits and Support: Does the Company Invest in You?

 The number two things to look for are signs that they have a vested interest in you. And therefore, more interest in helping you succeed. It's probably going to be 1099. But see if they have a medical and/or 401K program. A  paid training class of at least two weeks. That way, if you have no experience, you have a shot. Less than that, and the training is not going to give you enough.

Do they provide preset appointments? This is probably one of the most expensive things a company has to supply. I wouldn't take a job that doesn’t give you preset appointments.  The job is hard enough as it is then for you to go out and cold call and get your appointments. Preset means that the appointment is set up at a specific time. Then find out where they get their appointments from. Are they home shows? Are they cold calls? Is it a direct response such as from the Internet or something like a lead aggregator like HomeAdvisor?

Leads and Appointment Setting – A Crucial Consideration

Then what percentage of these appointments result in giving you a sales presentation? That's what they call the sit rate. Do they have ongoing training and support field? Meaning, are there people who go out with you in the home and actually watch what you're doing so they can help you?  Do you have sales meetings? If so, how many and where? What type of equipment is provided? Do they give you samples? Are there tablets? Are there PCs? Nothing should involve you paying a cent or any money to work there. If you have to be licensed to sell home improvements in your state then they should be paying for it. The next information I would get and hopefully the CHEAT SHEET I have below is to get the numbers. In other words, how many leads a week and then break it down so you know what you're getting into. So how many leads a week? How many of those turn into presentations or sit rates? How many of those turn into sales? And then how many of those sales fall out due to either not being approved for credit or the customer cancellations, the average contract price, and the average commission? The average income of all the reps. What is the lowest and highest income a salesperson makes there? The next thing I look for has to do with credibility.

Evaluating the Credibility of a Commission Only Sales Reps Employer

Credibility is everything. In its basic form, commissioned sales means that, well, if you do this, we'll do this or pay you this. It's a promise. And if the promise is not real, then you're wasting your time. So I like to check the numbers. See what they promised and using the numbers we discussed earlier see if they match the promised income. For example, they. We have 8 reps and we do 30 million a year. They tell you the average Rep runs 10 leads a week and sits or does 9 demonstrations a week and then closes 40%. That should be an average of 3.5 gross sales a week. And if they lose 15%  due to credit rejects and cancellations each rep would end up with three net sales a week. If the average contract price is 15,000, then each Rep would sell 45,000 a week, or times 52 weeks would be 2.3 million per year. 8 reps would then mean 18.4 million a year not 30 million a year. Something doesn't add up and that would red flag me because credibility is everything.

Understanding Rep Tenure and Turnover Rates

If you're new and this seems daunting. Do it simply. In other words. How much business do you do? We do 10 million a year. So do you know how many reps they have?  We have ten salespeople. Figure out how much each rep does. Which would be 1,000,000 a Rep and then match the dollar amount so that you can figure out the average commission and average pay each salesperson makes. So if they have 10 reps and they do $1,000,000 a year and their average Commission is 7%, then that means each rep is making $70,000 a year. Again I don’t want to confuse you. You probably might not do it there in the interview, but later on, you can look at your notes and see if the numbers match what they're telling you.

Company Reputation and Customer Satisfaction

Check the reviews of the customers and make sure they're happy because you have to believe in what you're doing. If you don't, you're never going to be successful. Make sure it's something where you honestly believe you're helping the customer when you sell them. I would find out how many people work there and the average tenure. Which means how long the average person has worked there? So another way of looking at this is how long the shortest tenure has been here and how long has the longest tenure. Why are they hiring? You don't want to say this to them, but is it a bad organization and they keep turning people over are they growing? And then what are the opportunities to move up and what does that entail?  

Matching the Right Product to Your Selling Style

Now the last thing to look for is the product, the product that you're selling. Make sure it's something that you like and you would have fun selling. The choice of product is important because when I was a sales manager at a company that sold all products when we were interviewing people it was really important that we try to match them with the right one. OK, this guy is more analytical. He's not going to do good in Kitchens but would be great selling Hvac or vice versa. And the more that you like something, the more fun it is to sell and the better you do. For example, if you like design and picking out colors, sell kitchen remodeling. countertops, kitchen refacing, bathroom remodeling, or acrylic walls. These would be fun to sell because you're picking out colors with the customer. Now if you're more technical and you like figuring out calculations and measuring things, things like HVAC, roofs, and even gutter guards, this would be a product more suited to you. If you don’t have a preference you can't go wrong selling things like Windows, doors, and siding because they have a little bit of both of those. This is important because do think you’d like selling cemetery plots? I know what you're gonna tell your friends. Business is dead.

Final Thoughts on Choosing the Right Commission Only Sales Reps Job

Hope these tips and questions helped you. Don’t forget there is a free download available of all the questions so you can use them in your interview linked in the description below.  There are a lot of variables to consider. Ultimately to me, if one person there can do it I know it can be done. Nobody is better than you. Don’t forget it. Once you find what you want; apply yourself, commit, and constantly learn so you can get better and make more money. Learning is earning. If you want more information please check out the video above on Thinking About a Commission Sales job and once you get your dream job check out the playlist on how to succeed in it.

Happy selling!