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One more thing from the designer/sales person's perspective.
When I took that job, it never occured to me what would acyually happen if I was very successful at it. My assumption was that the more I sold the better for everybody. Well, I started in March and sold several design jobs early. Then I landed 100% of those design jobs as installs for the first three months that I was there (a ssurprise to my employer). Then the crew was booked for the rest of the year with some wiggle room for a very good job should it come along. These jobs ran from about $50k upward.
What happened next was that he had to yank me out of design/sales and use me in the field. I had a background that came out of working in the field, so it was not too unexpected or difficult. The problem was that I not only had a background of working in the field, but also a BACK that worked in the field with a lot of hard miles on it. After tearing a disc my second year, I could not see how I could remain doing that full time and had too many alternatives, so I moved on.
The point is that you have to understand that you have to think not only what is good for the company, but what is going to keep your designer/salesperson wanting to work for you. There is a reason why they set themselves up to do specialized work within the industry. More than likely, it is because they don't want to do some of the other parts. Think about it, if they can do design/sales/estimates what else do they need to do to be strong competition? It is working in the field, managing the help, and dealing with the help. If you are going to have them do that, they may as well quit and become your competition.
You are going to have a hard time finding the right person with all the skills to do this type of work at a high level. If you find him, make sure you know what it is going to take to keep him around.
You really do have to be big enough to sustain such a person. You are no longer dealing with laborers who you can pick up, discard, layoff, and replace as needed. More likely you are dealing with an older person who has a family and a career that needs to be stable and secure. That is a big responsibility for the company that should not be taken lightly.
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