Need advice for negotiating job offer in sales

[mamica]

DH just received a job offer for a position in sales. It is a shift from what his career has been so far, but still in the same industry. The offer seems very vague...including only base+commission figures and vacation time. Seems like there should be more detail, no?

It's a great company, but smaller and more regional, so a little less formal maybe (?). The offer did not come from HR, but in an email from the sales manager, so he thinks they may be trying to feel him out in terms of salary. He's following up with some questions about other specifics (eg, insurance, $ of mileage reimbursement, etc) that he has discussed in interviews, so he knows it's all there. But, for those of you in sales, what else should he get confirmation of in writing before accepting the job?

Based on my own work experiences, I imagine a formal offer would/should eventually come from HR detailing an overall package, but neither of us can remember what all that would entail. Any other advice would be much appreciated!!!

[Momof3Labs]

Don't sales jobs often start with a higher base to give you time to ramp up your sales (and thus commissions)? Maybe not such that his salary would be at the same level once he's selling like crazy, but to offer financial support while he ramps up his network.

And definitely get clarification on benefits, relocation package (if applicable), travel expense policy (e.g. is food per diem or reimbursed on receipts). I'd also expect info on his territory or however the market is broken up - perhaps even an idea of what the last person made?? Not sure if that is reasonable, but he doesn't want to take on a group of clients who refuse to buy from this company, kwim?

[maylips]

Would he have a quota? And if he does, he should find out the history of the previous people in that position - their high and low sales. Some companies have an unrealistic expectation in terms of how much a person can sell and your DH needs to know what will he will be pressured to bring in each month.

Also - how long will he be on "probation" in terms of building relationships? At a company I worked for, they hired the sweetest man for a territory, then only gave him a couple of months to build his base, when the sales cycle for that industry was fairly long. He was doomed to fail before he started, poor guy. By the time contracts started coming in that he had actually initiated, he had been fired.