Compensating a Coffee Salesperson

 Cover Your Ears Kids, We're Talking About Sales: Compensating a Coffee Salesperson

This is a tempting one but before you hire a fully commission coffee salesperson, do the math.

Sure, if you are selling high margin items like a house it may make sense to structure a compensation package that is only an “eat what you kill” compensation package but it's very unlikely that your salesperson, especially if they've never done sales before, will be able to go out and find a $200k deal on their first day. In fact, it may take years before they get there. most larger contracts and accounts do take that long to close.

Be sure to structure your compensation package in an equitable way but also in such a way that your salesperson can stick around and chase those larger accounts for the years that it takes to nurture them as prospects.

In order to keep your salespeople around longterm, you’ll likely have to get creative with how you structure your compensation plan rather than a traditional percentage of sales structure.

Regardless of how it’s structured, you’ll need to ensure that they are paid fairly for your area to be able to do their job well and have a balanced lifestyle while selling your coffee.