Sales consultant here means a person who sets up or runs your business's sales system and team from the outside, not a sales associate working in a store. The best sales consultant is not a single name; it depends on your product, your scale and your sales model. To choose one, ask the 15 questions below and request the answers in writing.
What do we mean by “sales consultant”?
In Turkish, the term for “sales consultant” most often means a sales associate working in a store or showroom. When we looked at the Turkey results of six searches on this topic on 7 October 2026, most of Google's answers used that meaning too: the qualities, salary and duties of the person being hired.
This article answers a different question: what should a company look at when it is going to get outside support to build its sales system? If you are hiring a store sales associate or a sales manager, there is a short section below.
Why is there no single best sales consultant?
Searching for the “best sales consultant” mostly returns either the personal qualities of a sales associate or a directory of providers. Neither is enough for choosing an outside consultant. There are three reasons why there is no single “best”:
- The consultant alone does not decide the result. Your product, your price, your market, the quality of your team and seasonal demand affect sales at least as much as the consultant does.
- Needs differ. A company with no sales team and a company that wants to fix its existing team are not looking for the same expertise.
- There is no comparable independent data. Results are mostly told only through the consultant's own claims.
That is why we do not recommend names and we do not rank anyone. Instead, we give you 15 questions that let you build your own criteria, red flags, a method for reading price and commission, and contract clauses. We covered the same approach for the e-commerce side in the article on how to choose an e-commerce consultant.
What does a sales consultant do, and what do they not do?
An outside sales consultant is a person who listens to and analyzes your sales process, produces a written business plan, and often carries out the implementation together with you. The scope varies from person to person; it generally includes some of these tasks:
- Staff selection and hiring for the sales team.
- Product-based sales training and coaching.
- Setting up commission and risk management, or improving the existing structure.
- Sales processes such as quote templates and lead generation.
- Performance tracking, and choosing and setting up tools such as a CRM.
What they do not or cannot do should also be stated clearly:
- Guaranteeing sales results.
- Creating demand for your product, or fixing your price, quality and stock problems on its own.
- Replacing legal and financial advice. For hiring, commission and contract matters, you need a lawyer and an accountant.
- Taking on responsibility for the work in your place. The decisions are ultimately your business's.
Consultant, in-house manager, outsourced team or agency?
These four options answer different needs, and the boundaries between them are not sharp. So instead of asking “who are you”, ask “who will do what, and how”.
| Criterion | Outside sales consultant | In-house sales manager | Outsourced sales team | Agency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Building the system: team, process, commission, tools | Day-to-day management, knowing the team from the inside | Running the sales activity on your behalf | Finding leads and producing outreach (ads, calls, content) |
| Who does the work? | The person themselves or a small team; joins the implementation with you | Someone on your team | The provider firm's team | The person who sells and the team that does the work may be different |
| Cost structure | Monthly fixed fee, project-based or mixed | Salary, bonus and benefits; ongoing for the whole period | Usually a fixed fee and commission together | A monthly package, sometimes a share of the ad budget |
| Strength | An outside view, building the process in writing, a second pair of eyes in hiring | Continuity, knowledge staying in the business | Fast capacity, taking over the hiring load | Production volume, campaign speed |
| Watch out for | A capacity limit; whether the team can keep the process going after the work ends | One person cannot be expected to be an expert in every area; hiring takes time | Do the customer relationship and the data stay with you or with them? | It solves the lead flow, not the sales process |
| When is it suitable? | If you have no sales team or it has not settled in, or if a system needs to be built | When the work will be managed every day over a long period | If you would rather buy a service than build a team | If lead flow is not enough but the sales process works |
Conflict of interest note: We are close to the “outside sales consultant” column, so the table could be read in our favor. Test your own offer line by line.
How to choose a sales consultant: 15 questions
For each question: why it matters, what answer to expect, red flag. Put the questions to more than one candidate and request the answers in writing.
Evidence, experience and references
1. In a similar business, which sales work have you carried out, and can you show the results with the period and the source?
- Why it matters: The sentence “we increased sales” is not data on its own; evidence separates a claim from a measured result.
- What answer to expect: An example close to you in scale and sales model; the before and after values, the period, and which record (CRM, invoice, order) it was measured from.
- Red flag: Saying “we worked with big companies” without giving figures, period and source; only showing logos.
2. Can I speak with two or three references separately?
- Why it matters: A reference is the only moment you can step outside the consultant's own presentation.
- What answer to expect: People who gave their permission, are reachable and have really worked with the consultant; you being able to ask what was done and whether they would work together again.
- Red flag: Constantly postponing references, showing only written reviews, or a reference whose link to the company is unclear.
3. At which stages have you built and managed a sales team, and did you also do the work yourself?
- Why it matters: Selling and managing a sales team are different jobs.
- What answer to expect: A concrete account of which of hiring, training, commission, daily management and reporting they handled, and with how many people; also saying at which stage their experience is limited.
- Red flag: Saying “I am an expert” at every stage and in every sector; purely theoretical explanations.
Scope and way of working
4. What exactly will you do, what will you not do, and who will carry out the work?
- Why it matters: Sales consulting is not one single job; if the scope is not written down, expectation and delivery drift apart.
- What answer to expect: The scope item by item, who does what on your side, and whether the person in the meeting will do the work personally or someone else will.
- Red flag: An offer that leaves the scope open “depending on need”; not telling you the work will be handed to someone else.
5. What analysis do you do before starting, and do you turn the result into a written business plan?
- Why it matters: Building a team before the process is written down makes the problem bigger; a written plan prevents later disputes.
- What answer to expect: Listening first, then analysis, then a written business plan and the order of implementation; in the plan, the goal, roles, timeline and the tasks on your side.
- Red flag: Offering a ready-made package without listening; explaining the plan only verbally.
6. How do you run hiring for the sales team; who selects the candidate and who has the final say?
- Why it matters: When the wrong person is hired, the business pays for it; the criteria and decision authority must be clear from the start.
- What answer to expect: A role definition, an interview built on a real sales scenario, a reference check, and the final decision being yours.
- Red flag: Selecting a candidate in a process you never see and then presenting them to you; being unable to explain the hiring criteria.
7. How do you run sales training based on our product, and how does coaching continue?
- Why it matters: Generic training does not know your product's objections; training done once is forgotten quickly.
- What answer to expect: Training prepared with your product's real objections, written objection answers (a handbook) and regular short one-to-one coaching.
- Red flag: Offering generic training; having no follow-up plan after the training.
Commission, process, tools and data
8. How do you set up commission and risk management; do margin, collection and returns count?
- Why it matters: You get what you reward. Commission on revenue alone can grow low-margin sales; our article on commission system mistakes has the details.
- What answer to expect: How commission will be tied to profit or collection, written rules that fit on one page, and when they may change. For the legal side, working with a lawyer and an accountant.
- Red flag: Leaving the rules verbal; pushing all the collection risk onto the salesperson, or a complex formula that only the consultant can calculate.
9. Where will we find prospects (leads) and how will proposal templates be prepared?
- Why it matters: A team is not enough; you also need a flow of prospects and proposals that go out at the same quality.
- What answer to expect: An open list of lead sources (existing customers, referrals, ads, direct outreach), tracking of each source, and templates prepared with your approval.
- Red flag: Not naming the lead source; using a template without your approval, or sending the same generic proposal to everyone.
10. Where will sales data be kept and how will I get reports?
- Why it matters: If meetings, proposals and closings are not recorded in one place, you cannot see which step is waiting where. For choosing a tool, see our article before choosing a CRM.
- What answer to expect: The measures to be reported (meetings, proposals, closings, cycle time), the source and frequency of the report; the tool being opened in your own account.
- Red flag: Keeping the data in the consultant's own file or own account; giving only a summary slide and not the raw records.
11. Who will own the accounts, the customer list and the sales data?
- Why it matters: When the work ends, the CRM and customer records should stay with your business.
- What answer to expect: The accounts and customer data being in your name, the access level, who accesses what, and access being closed when the work ends.
- Red flag: Opening the account in the consultant's own name; refusing to hand over the data when leaving, or handing it over for a fee.
Results, fees and exit
12. Do you give a result guarantee, and when will we see the first result?
- Why it matters: Sales also depends on product, price, competition, team and season. By the standards in this article, no one can guarantee a sales result.
- What answer to expect: An answer like “No guarantee; we measure this, we do this, and on this date we check that” and a plan for the first 90 days.
- Red flag: A promise of a specific revenue, closing rate or team size; sentences like “we will multiply it in the first month”.
13. How is your fee calculated, what is included and what is not?
- Why it matters: The same figure can mean a different scope; if separate expenses are not written down, surprise costs appear.
- What answer to expect: Whether it is fixed, project-based, commission or mixed; that the team's salary and commission costs are separate and who pays them; how extra work will be priced.
- Red flag: Giving a single figure without writing the scope; not saying which sales will be credited to the consultant when there is a commission.
14. How do you protect our information and customer list, and would working with other companies create a conflict of interest?
- Why it matters: A consultant sees your pricing, your customers and your team; if they work with others in the same market, the boundary must be drawn from the start.
- What answer to expect: A written confidentiality clause, whether they work with another business in the same sector and how information is kept separate; for lists containing personal data, how responsibility is shared.
- Red flag: Saying “that does not happen with us anyway” and refusing to add a written clause.
15. What is handed over when the work ends and how does the exit work?
- Why it matters: Without a separation plan, when the consultant leaves, the team, the process and the knowledge leave too.
- What answer to expect: The reason for any minimum term, the termination notice period, what is delivered on handover (business plan, records, handbook, templates, access) and support during the transition.
- Red flag: A long commitment, a penalty clause, or not handing over records, templates and accounts at exit.
Checking references: whom do you ask, and what?
- Ask for: two or three references of different sizes.
- Call them separately: ask your own questions.
- Ask these: What work was done? How long did you work together? Did the consultant ever say “no, let's not do this”? Would you work with them again?
- Ask for the number with its source: to the extent it can be shared, the before and after values from the CRM or sales records.
For business reviews published on our page, see the case studies page.
A short list of red flags
- A guarantee of sales, revenue or closing rate.
- Saying “we worked with many companies” without giving a number, a period and a source.
- Avoiding giving references.
- Wanting to take ownership of the accounts, the customer list or the CRM data for themselves.
- Verbal explanations only, with no written plan or report.
- Setting a target without recording a baseline.
- Pressuring you to decide in a short time.
How to read price and commission
We do not give a “market price range” on this page. Many of the pages that came up in search results for “sales consulting prices” put employee salaries and consulting fees in the same place, or gave very wide ranges. Instead, we explain how to read a price.
What determines the price?
- Scope: only a plan, or also hiring and training, or day-to-day management too?
- Team size and sales model: field, phone and online sales do not require the same effort.
- Cost of the team: salaries, bonuses and vehicle expenses are separate from the consulting fee; offers that mix the two cannot be compared.
Which fee model carries which risk?
| Model | How does it work? | When is it suitable? | Risk to watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed monthly fee | The scope is written down, the same fee every month. | Work that needs ongoing management and has a clear scope. | The fee is not tied to results, which is why the report and the written plan are what count. Extra fees may apply for out-of-scope work. |
| Project-based (one-off) | A single fee for a specific job and deliverable: for example team setup, a bonus system or process design. | Work with a clear beginning and end. | After the job is finished, it may be unclear who will keep the process running. |
| Commission (share of sales) | The fee is measured as a percentage of the sales the consultant influences. | If which sale is credited to the consultant can be determined from records both sides accept. | It can push the consultant toward short-term sales, low margins or discounting. If it is not written down which sales count and how returns and cancellations are deducted, disputes follow. |
| Hybrid (low fixed fee + commission) | A combination of the two models. | For parties who want to share the risk. | If the formula is not written out clearly, the risks of both models come together. |
Bonuses for the sales team: options and risks
Separate from the consultant's fee, the bonus for the team being built is also a design decision. For the details of what goes wrong, see our article on bonus system mistakes.
| Bonus model | What does it reward? | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue bonus | Sales value. | It pushes people toward the easiest-to-sell product, which is often low-margin; revenue grows, but profit may not. |
| Rate based on gross profit or product group | Sales that leave a profit. | The calculation is more complex; if salespeople cannot work out their own bonus, trust wears away. |
| Collection bonus | Sales that are actually paid for. | If a rule for delays the salesperson does not control is not written down at the start, disputes follow. For the legal limit, see Art. 451 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (below). |
| Tiered bonus (rising with the target) | Exceeding the target. | If the target is too high, people give up in the first month; if it is too low, everyone gets a bonus. The target should be based on past data. |
| Team component | Shared goals and knowledge sharing. | If its weight is high it can dampen individual effort; a small component is usually enough. |
How do you compare quotes?
Write the same scope and ask at least three candidates for a quote; ask for a “what is not included” list too. Compare not a single number but the number divided by scope ratio.
Clauses a contract should include
Before signing, check whether every item is in writing.
| Item | What to write down? | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| Scope and deliverables | Work to be done and not to be done, delivery dates, the people who will do the work. | Prevents expectations and deliveries from drifting apart. |
| Written work plan and report | The plan, the target, how often reports come, which metric and which source (CRM, invoice, order record). | Closes the “what counts as success” debate from the start. |
| Hiring and decision authority | Who selects the candidate, that the final decision is yours, and whose employees the people hired will be. | It clarifies who is responsible for the employment relationship. |
| Bonus rules | Calculation method, payment date, conditions for change; written down and open to the salesperson. | It protects trust and reduces disputes. |
| Access, accounts and data ownership | Accounts being in your name, level of authority, ending of access, customer data. | Prevents dependency at exit. |
| Intellectual property | Who owns the training material, handbook, offer templates and process documents that are prepared. | Lets you keep using them after the work ends. |
| Confidentiality and competition | Confidentiality clause, personal data responsibility, limits on working with other businesses in the same market. | You know where your information goes. |
| Fee structure | Fixed fee or commission, which expenses are separate, price of extra work, payment dates, VAT status. | Prevents surprise costs. |
| Term, termination and handover | Minimum term, notice period, what is handed over at the end, transition support. | Makes parting ways smooth. |
This table is a general checklist and is not legal advice. We recommend having a lawyer read the contract before you sign it.
First 90 days: which reports, which KPIs to expect?
A good consultant does not promise a sales increase on day one; they tell you what they will show and when. We set no numeric thresholds; thresholds vary by business and season. We covered the first 90 days of building a team in a separate article.
| Period | What is expected to be done | Report and KPI expectation |
|---|---|---|
| Before starting | Access is granted; the current sales process and figures are recorded. | Baseline values for meetings, offers, closing and average sale amount are written down. The definition of the target is written down. |
| Days 1-30 | Listening, analysis and a written work plan; roles and goals made clear; a record-keeping routine. | “Current situation and priority task list” is written down. |
| Days 31-60 | Training, coaching, offer templates, first meetings and first sales. | A short weekly note: what was tried and the result. Number of meetings, conversion from meeting to offer. |
| Days 61-90 | Evaluation and decision. | Comparison against the baseline (same window, with a seasonality note), conversion from offer to close, length of the sales cycle, and a decision to continue, adjust or exit. The bonus system is set up after this data. |
If the baseline and the comparison window are not written down at the start, the effect of a season or a campaign can be credited to the consultant.
Official and legal framework: a short check
This section is not legal advice; it summarizes the text on mevzuat.gov.tr. Consult a lawyer and a certified accountant on hiring, bonuses, non-compete rules and the nature of the contract.
- Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Art. 393: Defines the employment contract as one in which the employee works in a dependent relationship with the employer and the employer undertakes to pay wages. Whether the relationship with an outside consultant is an employment contract or another type such as a mandate contract (Art. 502) is for a lawyer to determine.
- Turkish Code of Obligations Art. 448-452 (marketing agent contract): The law regulates, under a separate heading, the sales representative who visits customers outside the business premises and mediates transactions. The contract is expected to state the term, termination, powers, pay and how expenses are paid (Art. 449). Agreements that the marketing agent will be liable for customers' non-payment are, as a rule, absolutely void; a conditional and limited exception is regulated separately (Art. 451). For this reason, have a lawyer read any bonus design that shifts collection risk onto the salesperson.
- Turkish Code of Obligations (TBK) Art. 396 and Arts. 444-445: An employee must keep secrets to the extent needed to protect the employer's legitimate interests (Art. 396). A non-compete after the contract ends can only be undertaken in writing; it is valid if the employee is given access to the customer base or business secrets, and, except in special cases, it cannot exceed two years (Arts. 444-445).
- Labor Law No. 4857, Art. 32: As a rule, wages, commission, bonuses and every similar entitlement are paid in Turkish currency at the workplace or into a bank account; wages must be paid at least once a month.
- Google: The "Helpful content" page recommends making it clear who produced the content, how, and why.
If you are hiring a store sales associate or a sales manager
If you are hiring an employee, the selection criteria are different. The following is our opinion, not an official standard:
- Write down the role: field, phone, store or account management? Each role needs different skills.
- Play out a real sales scenario together: telling well and listening well enough to ask the right question are not the same thing.
- For a sales manager, also ask for the results of the team they managed.
- Reference: talk to their previous manager.
Ask a lawyer and a certified accountant about employment terms. If you want the team built by an outside party, see the scope of our Sales and Sales Team Management service.
Who should not hire an outside consultant yet?
- If your product, price or quality problem is unresolved: a sales team will not fix it; look at that first.
- If nobody can describe the sales process: first write down, in two sentences, what you sell, to whom and how.
- If time is the only thing missing and the work is repetitive: a salaried manager or a ready-made sales service may be a better fit.
- If your goal is only to find leads through ads: an agency or a digital consultant may be a better fit; see the e-commerce consultant guide.
Ask us these questions too
As Sales Professionals, we ask ourselves the same questions. Below is what is already published on our site; ask for the rest in writing during the call. All of it is our own statement.
- Experience (questions 1 and 3): Esad Akbulut has worked for 13+ years in almost every stage of sales, marketing and e-commerce management; he directed operations and managed teams.
- Proof (questions 1 and 2): The Case studies page carries the companies' own reviews.
- Scope (questions 4, 6, 7, 8, 9): The Sales and Sales Team Management page lists the scope in writing: staff selection, hiring, product-specific sales training, commission and risk management, quote templates and lead generation. For performance tracking, workflow and CRM, see Software Consulting; for target feasibility analysis and building a new team, see Operations Consulting.
- Way of working (question 5): First listen, analyze and write a business plan, then implement.
- Price (question 13): The price is not published on the site; it is discussed in the call once the scope has been written down.
- Guarantee (question 12): By the criteria in this guide, nobody can guarantee a sales result; that criterion applies to us as well.
If what you need is outside sales teams, process, commission, CRM or operations, we will say so in the call. You can book a call; the call carries no commitment.
How was this guide prepared?
Method. This guide was prepared on 7 October 2026. (1) Google Turkey results for six search queries were read once, without personalization; we found no page explaining how to choose an outside sales consultant. (2) The legislation texts in the "Sources" list and the Google page were opened and read. (3) The 15 questions were compiled from the author's work experience; they are not an official standard, they are our opinion. (4) No consultant, agency or company was ranked or named. (5) No price range was given.
Limits. The search observation was made on a single day, from a single location and a single device; Google's AI summary can change on every load. The legal section is only a summary of the statute texts and is not legal advice. The page date is updated only when the content actually changes.
Frequently asked questions
How do you choose a sales consultant?
Hiring an outside sales consultant? Ask about proof, scope, written plans, commission and fee models, data ownership, confidentiality and exit. 15 questions.
Who is the best sales consultant?
There is no independent, universally accepted ranking; "best" depends on your business. So we suggest criteria instead of names. The conflict of interest is disclosed at the top of the page.
What does a sales consultant do?
A sales consultant in a store greets customers and explains the product. An outside sales consultant analyzes the sales process and writes a plan, and manages part of the team, training, commission, quote and tooling work. They do not give guarantees.
How do you build a sales team?
First write down what you sell, to whom and how; then move on in this order: role, target, record keeping, hiring, training and commission.
How do you choose a sales manager?
Write down the role and the target; interview with a real sales scenario; ask about management experience and their team's results; talk to a reference. This is our opinion.
How much does sales consulting cost?
We do not give a market range; published figures can mix up salary and consulting fees. Scope, team size and model set the price; the team's salary and commission are separate.
A sales consultant or a salaried sales manager?
An outside consultant if a system needs to be built or the team has not settled in; a salaried manager may be a better fit if the work will be managed every day over a long period.
How do you set up a sales commission?
Look at what the commission rewards: revenue, gross profit, collection or a target. Rules should be in writing; get legal advice on setups that shift collection risk onto the salesperson.
Which clauses should a contract include?
Scope, plan and report, hiring authority, commission rules, account and data ownership, intellectual property, confidentiality, fee, term, and termination and handover. This is not legal advice; have a lawyer read it before you sign.
Does a sales consultant guarantee results?
By the criteria in this article, nobody can guarantee a sales result; sales also depends on product, price, team, competition and season. A better assurance is having it in writing what will be measured in the first 90 days.
Sources
- Google: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
- Turkish Code of Obligations, Law No. 6098 (Legislation Information System)
- Labor Law No. 4857 (Legislation Information System)
Sources were checked on 7 October 2026; official pages may change over time.
