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A problem every business faces is where to find good salespeople. Some companies use a \"profile of successful salespeople\" approach. Some look for people with a personality that fits a format: that is, \"A\" types, \"B\" types, etc. Without access to sophisticated internal company systems, the Home Business may look at the traditional methods of advertising or using an agency.

Fitting a salesperson into a mould seldom works. There is not one personality type that insures great selling. Nor is there one resource for finding good salespeople. Every resource has its Positive and Negative aspects. In this article we look at the following nine resources that could be a lot more cost effective for the home business and the positive and negative aspects of using them:

1. WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS:
Look right under your own nose. They might be working in the warehouse, stockroom, or on the administrative staff. The great news is they will have fantastic product or service knowledge and company knowledge. The concern would be their adaptation to the sales role - just because they know your business inside and out doesn\'t mean they will be the ideal sales person.

2. THE COMPETITION:
either locally or from another area. You know they will have strong competitor knowledge - strengths and weaknesses. However adapting to a new way of doing business and your style of business that sets you apart from your competitors, could be a concern.

3. SUPPLIERS:
this person will have strong industry knowledge - problems and customers. Retraining in new business practices and product or service knowledge may be the only concern.

4. OTHER INDUSTRIES:
great news, they are already trained in selling! However they may need to be un-trained and retrained in their new employers methods of selling. Also, the time taken for product and service familiarity could be lengthy.

5. NON-SALES PEOPLE:
Great - you get to train them the way you want. Ah but ... you have to ensure you invest time and money in training!

6. YOUR CUSTOMERS:
current or past. They understand your business\'s products and services from the customer\'s points of view and are familiar with the competition\'s products and services. The trick could be to gain confidence of their former competitors -- your business\'s current and prospective customers.

7.STAFF\'S RELATIVES AND FRIENDS:
people like the idea that they will be working with people they know and trust. Many people enjoy the concept of working for a family business so keeping the relationship professional may be the only drawback.

8.FAMILY AND FRIENDS:
working with people you know and love often forms an ongoing rapport that often energises the working relationship. However, I\'ve seen it before - friendships and families have broken up due to strife in the workplace.

9. CURRENT SALES STAFF: people you have a lot of money tied up in already. It costs a lot less to retrain and reassign job responsibilities than it does to try to train new people. However, you may need to look at your systems to support and guide your sales staff.