There are hundreds of individuals who make their living by selling other people’s products and services. They establish a network of clients, find out what their clients need, and seek out the products and services that will meet those needs. These people are usually referred to as “independent sales professionals.”

Working with a team of sales people can be very lucrative as your business grows. Here’s how it works:

1. Find Candidates

The easiest way to find qualified candidates is to place an ad in the classifieds. Your classified ad should indicate you’re looking for an independent sales person and ask for a resume. Make sure you include your company name and the mailing address; it might be helpful to have candidates mail to “Human Resources” or another specific name that will help you quickly sort out the mail when hundreds of resumes come in.

2. Interview and Select

Schedule and conduct telephone interviews with each of the candidates whose resume matches your needs. Have your interview questions prepared before the call, and focus on finding out what kind of results they’ve achieved. Explain the work they would be responsible for and ensure they understand the position is 100% commission based. Ask for references, and check them! Don’t forget the importance of rapport in your selection; you want to be able to work with your sales staff for a long time to come.

3. Offer and Educate

Once you’ve selected the right sales person for you, make them an offer. Negotiate fairly and try to look at things from their perspective. Sign a contract with the terms of your affiliation clearly laid out. Commission, when and how they are paid, how they will get orders to you, and your rights concerning client contact must be clearly stated. Then educate your new sales person about your product and how it will benefit their clients.

4. Fulfill and Pay

As orders come in, be sure they are fulfilled quickly. When you’re just getting started, require payment with the order. That way you can use the clients money to pay the fulfillment and shipping costs. As you grow, you can decide whether or not you want to extend credit, to whom you would offer it, and what terms you would be willing to accept. In either case, pay your sales person immediately after the guarantee period expires.

5. Follow up

Stay in contact with your new clients, of course, but also stay in close contact with your sales person. Find out what challenges they’re facing in selling your material. If necessary, educate them further to help perfect the sales process. If you notice problems, such as an unusually high number of refund requests, work with your sales person to identify the cause and implement solutions. Take care of your sales team, and they will take care of you.

Most affiliates will use the basic tools you provide to them, but may or may not do the extra work of tailoring your marketing messages to their audience.  It’s imperative that you test the marketing tools you provide to your affiliates so they (and you) can still get excellent results, even if they only do the bare minimum in their promotions.  The more sales they make of your products, the more they will promote for you.
You should provide your affiliates with a variety of tools to give them the best chance of success.  Provide an easy-to-navigate affiliate area where they can get promotion tools such as:

•    Simple text link to the sales page
•    Email messages they can load into their autoresponder
•    Signature ads they can use in their email messages, forum posts and blog posts
•    Pop-up ads
•    Image ads
•    Classified ads
•    Ezine ads
•    Product reviews
•    Articles
•    Brandable reports

Brand each of the tools with the affiliate’s link so that all they have to do is copy the code and place it on their web pages.  Your affiliate management software should allow you to do this.  Give detailed instructions for each tool so your affiliate will know how to use it to promote your product.

You’ll need to set up promotion tools for every product in your affiliate program.  It can be time consuming, but it’s necessary if you want to have affiliates promote your products and services.  If you need help, there are several tools on the market that make this task easier.  You can also outsource the development of your promo tools by contacting a copywriter at elance.com.

Finally, provide your affiliates with a solid education in getting the most from their affiliate marketing efforts.  You can do this by autoresponder or in the affiliate area, but ideally you’ll do both.  Teach them step by step how to tap into their market and promote effectively.  Many affiliates don’t have a solid grounding in marketing, so it’s up to you to show them what they need to know.

To really gain benefit from affiliates, you need to set up a system that encourages them to promote. Let’s take a look at some of the key features of an effective affiliate program.

1. Have excellent products.

This should go without saying, but you must have products that offer real value to your clients. If your products aren’t appealing to their prospects, or if you get a lot of refunds, you will lose your affiliates. Not to mention, you will lose your clients and leave a negative impression in your target market.

2. Have a proven sales process.

If at all possible, test your sales copy and all of your promotion tools before asking affiliates to promote for you. A sales letter that’s known to convert is much more appealing to an affiliate than one that’s untested.

3. Sell the program.

Be sure the sign-up link for your affiliate program is active and easy to find. Set up an information page that tells the prospective affiliate what they can hope to gain by joining your program – and just like any other sales letter, focus on benefits.

4. Provide your affiliates with the tools they need.

Be sure to create and test promotion tools for your affiliates. Also take the time to develop a training program so that if they’re inexperienced they’ll be able to get started right away with your program.

5. Track and pay your affiliate commissions accurately and promptly.

Again, this should go without saying. Regularly check your affiliate tracking system to be sure sales are being credited as you expect. Set a regular time to process affiliate payments, and stick to that time.

6. Keep your affiliates informed.

Communicate regularly with your affiliates. Let them know what’s going on that they can promote, send them additional tips on how to promote, and give away free gifts when you can. Think of ways you can continuously build relationships with your affiliates.

7. Ask your affiliates what you can do to help them.

Developing an affiliate program is a lot like building a list. It takes time and regular interaction to build trust and rapport. At regular intervals, it’s very helpful to survey your affiliates and ask them what you can do to make their efforts really pay off. This not only helps build the relationship, it will also help you improve your affiliate program.

Remember that your relationship with your affiliates is a partnership that must benefit both you and them.