IBM UK Ltd is looking for freelance salespeople to push the low-end E02 AS/400 with Plug & Go application software. The UK is the only country to adopt this approach so far, and it acknowledges that it is both an attempt to overcome agents’ reluctance to sell the cheaper machines, and an example of its new-found focus on the diverse AS/400 market. The company placed two advertisements in the Sunday Times and solicited some 12,500 responses, many from IBMers. After interviewing 300 applicants, IBM shortlisted 65, of which only a handful were former employees. The idea is not only to establish a cheaper sales channel, but to hire freelancers whose skills don’t match the classic IBM profile. But primarily, it is an attempt to increase the IBM UK’s 10% to 15% market share of the segment significantly lower than the rest of Europe, although growing more rapidly since the begining of this year. The Local Business Consultants are to sell systems and software at anywhere between UKP15,000 and UKP20,000, and they are expected to win around 10 clients each in the first year. IBM will invoice customers and pay commission according to the system and software sold. It doesn’t say what the commission will be but it’s hard to imagine that many people would be keen to embark on such a career in the expectation of anything less than UKP40,000 a year, which would need commission of between 20% and 30%. IBM acknowledges that its agents have gravitated away from small businesses, and that small system marketplace is not economically viable for companies targeting the corporate sector. AS/400 agents seem to welcome the move, saying they had little incentive initially to sell the E02, eventhough IBM eventually came up with generous terms. Nonetheless the new sales channel does mean agents are free to concentrate on more lucrative high-end systems. If it’s successful, IBM says it would apply the same model to PS/2 and to niche Unix systems.
