The Ultimate Commission-Only B2B Sales Platform

Important Info Regarding Agent Retainer Fees & Due Diligence?

Important information for companies getting started

Welcome to CommissionCrowd! We're a thriving community of incredible companies and independent sales agents and are ecstatic to have you here as part of the family! Before you make your way through the course please take a couple of seconds to read the important points below:

Paying upfront or retainer fee's to sales agents:

On the very rare occasion that a sales agent asks to be paid an upfront fee or retainer - outside of the commission-only sales model - we strongly advise you not to start your relationship in this way.

As a rule of thumb please do not send upfront payment or fees for any consultation services and instead let us know by reporting the message or speaking with us in the live chat.

It is sometimes common-place for a sales agent you've been working with successfully for a while and has already proven themselves, to request a small retainer to maintain exclusivity with your company but we do not recommend starting your relationship this way.

You can instead let the agent know that you would prefer they prove themselves before discussing this further. CommissionCrowd is a commission-only sales networking platform and we want to keep it this way.

Another reason an agent might request a retainer:

Sometimes an agent may also feel inclined to request a retainer if the company's product/services have a very long sales cycle and many months/years worth of work have to be put in before the sale is closed.

While this is not out of the ordinary for the industry and if you consider this as an option down the line, you must ensure you carry out the highest standard of due diligence before doing so.

If your products/services have a very long sales cycle we would suggest working with an agent that already sells a number of non-competing products/services as part of their portfolio and is financially able to support themselves while working your longer leads.

Carrying out due diligence:

While we are always getting better at vetting our members, we strongly advise our members to ensure you carry out your own due diligence when contracting with agents.

Make sure you have a telephone interview or meet in person, ask for credible references, proof of ID and make sure you have a solid contract in place before partnering with a sales agent. Serious agents will have no problem in doing so. Please do not send product samples until you've taken the appropriate steps.

How long will it take you to find a sales agent?

Perhaps this is a slightly strange analogy however, finding the right self-employed sales partners is a lot like networking or dating.

It sometimes takes a little time to find the right partner(s). We are a networking and collaboration platform and our database is growing by 300+ new agents a month however, while some companies find the perfect sales partners on the very first day/week, others may take slightly longer. This is also the reason we give our members a minimum of one year with each membership.

That being said, it's time to get started! Please now make your way through the rest of the course and the team here at CommissionCrowd wish you every success!

That being said, it's time to get started! The team here at CommissionCrowd wish you every success!