How To Become A Successful Freelance Commission-Only Sales Rep

Commission-only sales is one of the few professions with virtually limitless earning potential. A skilled rep with a high commission rate and good clients can take home a considerable sum each year. In fact, it’s estimated that freelance salespeople make up to $135,000 per year on average.?

Many companies hire commission-only sales reps to handle clients for two main reasons. Firstly, they don’t need to have their own sales department. Instead, they rely on specialists. Secondly, they only have to pay the commission-only sales reps when a sale goes through.?

However, freelance sales is extremely competitive. To earn a big ticket commission, you’ve got to be a master of your trade. In this article, we discuss how to become a successful freelance commission-only sales rep.?

Become a Freelance Sales Rep: Step-By-Step Guide

There are plenty of top companies hiring commission-only sales reps. This doesn’t mean that good jobs are easy to come by, though. Becoming a successful sales rep takes time and dedication. But, if you’re committed and work smartly, you can lay the foundations for a prosperous career.?

To help you on your journey, here is our step-by-step plan to get you on your way.?

1. Get Experience

Experience plays a big role in becoming a top sales rep. First and foremost, the experience gets you battle-tested. By getting involved in lead generation, prospecting, negotiating, and closing, you start to develop the essential hard skills. These are foundations that you can build on.

Future clients will likely view your experience as qualifications to do a job. So, if you know what industry you’d like to work in, try to get a job in that sector. This might not always be possible and is most definitely not essential. Any sales job that teaches you the core skills and helps you move up the ladder is useful.

Getting experience also gives you the opportunity to build a network with colleagues and clients. If you’re lucky, you might even find a mentor to help you throughout your career.?

1. Learn About Freelance Sales

Freelance sales reps are essentially entrepreneurs. To have a successful future in the industry, you must be diligent in developing your skillset. Learning and upskilling are part of the process.?

This ensures you’re ready to adapt to any market changes and new technologies. It also allows you to continue growing and setting higher targets year-on-year. The work ethic helps keep you motivated and ultimately, earn the skills and relationships you need to be a high-achieving sales rep.

Sales courses and certifications can be highly beneficial. For example, the Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP) certificate, the Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP) certificate, or the Certified Sales Leadership Professional (CSLP) certificate, are well regarded in the industry.?

If you can’t afford an expensive certification, be sure to self-analyze and recognize any skill gaps you might have. It’s also useful to seek feedback from a mentor or manager. Always have a plan and stick to your goals. If you continue with this mindset, you’ll see steady progress.?

3. Build Your Portfolio

As a freelance sales rep, it’s unlikely that you’ll sell the same product or service continually for years. With that in mind, it’s imperative that you start to build a strong and diverse portfolio earlier in your career.?

Evidence that you’ve had sales success across a variety of product lines will help in your pursuit of clients down the line. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to get sales jobs in every industry possible. You just want to demonstrate your ability and flexibility and ambition.

A strong portfolio may also be used to build an online profile or website. Plus, you can present your portfolio to potential clients during pitches.?

4. Decide On Your Target Market

There are mixed views on specialization in sales. On the one hand, you can become an authoritative professional in a specific field. This can lead to high-paying specialized sales work.?

On the other hand, committing to a niche makes you limited in the eyes of some clients. They may prefer someone with more general experience or a sales rep used to upsell a variety of products and services. Furthermore, securing niche sales work may be difficult.?

Regardless of whether or not you niche down, it’s important to understand your target market. Find an area within sales that you enjoy and start to learn everything you can about the market. Here are some tips for analyzing your audience:

• Study consumer behavior among the customer base
• Read any available market research papers
• Analyze competitors in the niche
• Study buyer personas (create them if they don’t exist)
• Continuous research

Consumer markets are in constant flux so it’s important to keep analyzing the market as it develops.?

5. Find Your First Client

With solid experience, certifications, a portfolio, and extensive market research in your back pocket, it’s time to secure your first client. Depending on your experience and accomplishments, there are possible starting points.

If you’ve had a successful career working for a company, you may already have a network of clients that you can sell to. Or, you may get referrals from previous customers. If you’ve been diligent in building your portfolio and professional profile, you can start acquiring high-paying freelance work right away.?

However, this isn’t the reality for most people. You’ll have to trawl job boards, use freelancer marketplaces like Upwork, or make cold calls to companies. This can take time so make sure not to get discouraged. Freelance sales work typically comes with its ups and downs.?

Once you secure the client, the rest is up to you. Use your skills and experience to deliver first-class sales performances. From here, you can continue to grow by getting a referral, more work, or a retainer.?

Conclusion?

Freelance commission-only sales can be an extremely lucrative career path. Freelance salespeople earn significantly more than the average US salary. There are zero limits on the amount of income you can earn as a sales rep, setting you up for the career of your dreams.

Becoming a successful freelance sales rep doesn’t happen overnight, however. It requires experience and significant skill acquisition. It’s a career that demands continuous learning and you’ve got to work smart as well as hard. Selling is a skill and your skill level will have a direct impact on your earnings.?

To kickstart your career in commission-only sales, or to hire top-tier commission-only sales reps, reach out to Jayce Grayye Consulting and Recruiting for personalized guidance and support.