More products, more complexity
As your business grows, you likely develop multiple products or service lines. Managing sales agents across a multi product portfolio introduces complexity: which products should agents prioritise? How do you prevent agents from defaulting to the easiest sell? How do you ensure every product gets fair representation?
Product prioritisation
Not every product in your portfolio needs the same sales effort. Categorise your products by strategic importance and commission attractiveness.
Flagship products. Your primary offerings that drive the most revenue and define your brand. These should be the focus of most agent activity.
Growth products. Newer offerings you want to gain traction. These may need additional incentives to motivate agents to sell them.
Maintenance products. Established products that sell steadily without much active selling. These can be cross sold alongside flagship products.
Sunset products. Products being phased out. Agents should not be actively selling these unless existing customers specifically request them.
Commission structure by product
Use commission rates to steer agent behaviour. Higher commissions on growth products motivate agents to invest time in selling them. Standard commissions on flagship products maintain attention. Lower or no commissions on sunset products signal where not to focus.
Be transparent about why different products have different commission rates. When agents understand the strategic rationale, they are more likely to align their efforts with your priorities.
Product specialisation vs generalisation
Some agents sell everything in your portfolio. Others specialise in specific products. Both approaches have merit.
Generalists offer the full portfolio to every prospect and can identify cross selling opportunities. They work well when your products serve the same customer and complement each other.
Specialists go deeper on specific products and become genuine experts. They work well when products are complex, target different customers, or require different selling approaches.
You might assign generalists to smaller accounts and specialists to larger, more complex opportunities where deep product knowledge is essential.
Training across the portfolio
When agents sell multiple products, training becomes critical. Each product needs its own overview, objection handling guide, and competitive positioning. But you also need to train agents on when to recommend which product.
Decision trees help: "If the customer has this need, start with Product A. If they mention this pain point, Product B is a better fit." These tools help agents match the right product to the right customer quickly.
Tracking and reporting
Your reporting needs to show performance at both the agent level and the product level. You need to see which agents are selling which products, whether certain products are being neglected, and where cross selling opportunities are being missed.
Platforms like Zepys support multi product management, giving you visibility into how each product is performing across your agent network. This data helps you make informed decisions about commission adjustments, training needs, and product strategy.
Avoiding the easy sell trap
Agents naturally gravitate toward the product that is easiest to sell or earns the highest commission. If this does not align with your business priorities, you need to actively manage the balance.
Set product specific targets alongside overall revenue targets. An agent who is crushing their revenue number but selling none of your growth products may need coaching or incentive adjustments.
Portfolio communication
Keep agents informed about product updates, new features, and changes across the entire portfolio. A monthly product newsletter or update call ensures agents have current information about every product they represent.
When you launch a new product, provide dedicated training and sales materials. Give agents the tools and confidence to sell it alongside established products. A new product without proper launch support will be ignored in favour of familiar, proven sellers.