To ask if anyone else works for commission only in a sales job?

[GirlMaths]

I've worked in sales for years and have been offered a high commission sales job, but the only catch is that it is commission only.

It is also tech/software based so isn't something that businesses are going to buy on the first call; I have to make cold calls first, book online demos, build a pipeline, develop relationships etc. It's likely to be 2-3 months before I make any money but I think eventually there could be potential to earn a lot of money each month.

Has/does anyone else work in a commission only job? My reservations are that surely a company with a product worth customers buying would want to secure good salespeople by paying a basic wage? And also I'd be classed as 'self employed' but would have to work certain hours, and take lunch at a certain time etc.

I wouldn't entertain this kind of a role, like you say if the product is good enough they would want to secure the best sales people with a basic salary, sounds like they are taking the piss. If they are serious they shouldn't be running their sales department like an MLM.

From your own perspective would you want to invest 2-3 months into this and then find its actually a shit product and no one wants it?

Probably not tbh. The other thing that bothers me is I would get businesses to agree to buy the software, then refer it back to the company who will put the sale through and the payment. I guess the thing that bothers me there is that they wouldn't be honest about sales going through.

To add, I've worked on commission only a couple of times in the past but that was for insurance brokers, so I'd literally get paid for every call I put through to them, and it was easy money really as I'd know exactly how many calls I'd put through per day and they'd just pay me at the end of each week. This one just seems like it would take so long to get a payment and so much working on the pipeline.

Yeah I think your gut is right especially with your update, they seem to want you to take a lot of risk, even for a high commission that is a lot to ask from a sales person for this kind of product.

Dodgy as fuck. It’s not a self-employment situation at all. They’re trying to avoid paying employers NI, pension and NMW. All of which are illegal and HMRC would haul them over the coals if they found out. They’re scammers.

I have. It was a more tried and tested product though. This sounds like a piss take.

No where near as fancy as your role but I worked in commission only charity sales for a while. It was dire, they would implement so many caveats to basically cheat you out of any money they made. It may have been less regulated sort of role bit it really left me very distrustful of commission based roles.

You know your own experience and skills, but I would say if you think they are strong enough you could make good money with these sort of targets, I'd bet you could find a paid role that offers commission on top!

No way. Sounds dodgy as fuck. As someone who works mainly on commission, you will find that you have quieter periods throughout the year and without a basic pay, you will struggle during this time. I love working on commission but I wouldn't do this.

Absolutely not a valid company. Scam/chancers. AVOID!

I did do stuff like that a few times when I was desperate. It was miserable. The first one the product was a rip off and the second one the product was also a rip off.

Definitely don't do it. It's not even legal if you're an employee to get less than min wage. Which it probably would work out as.

Run a mile. If they were good they would pay a basic wage plus commission. What other rights aren’t they giving you.

I wouldn’t and at the moment companies are not splashing out on software, they’re making do and mend(unless they have to get off Windows 10 or whatever).

Sounds like an absolutely terrible idea, what exactly is making you consider it?

Girl run, this sounds like a nightmare career move

Thanks all! I’ll definitely be turning it down. I wouldn’t mind the commission only aspect of it if it was something I’d earn from instantly but two or three months without any earnings whilst working full time is a piss take