Business Opportunities with the Progressive Global

Welcome to the Business Opportunities section of the Progressive Global website.

If you are interested in business opportunities within the Progressive Global network of Marketing Companies and Field Representatives, or you are already a Field Representative, this section is designed to answer any questions you may have about operating your own business as a self-employed Field Representative ("FR").

The Progressive Global has a variety of clients spanning many industries, many of which are household names. As a FR you will promote and sell products and services for and on behalf of Progressive Global's clients and will be contracted to one of the Marketing Companies (MC) within our network.

To assist you in promoting and selling our clients' products and services you will be provided with client product training, and all the materials and support you need based on the clients' marketing requirements.

As a successful FR, unique opportunities exist to enter the Progressive Global Business Development Programme.

The Business Development Programme provides an opportunity to mentor, guide and product train other FRs with a view to moving through the Programme and running your own Marketing Company within the Progressive Global network.

As a FR you are an independent contractor engaged on a self-employed basis and contracted to a Marketing Company. You are authorised to act for Progressive Global’s clients and are able to choose how you approach your sales business within client assigned territories. This means you can determine the level of your business and the income you can generate, and determine your own progression and advancement within the network.

Your payments and earnings are based on commission for each confirmed and active sale generated or a fee per fundraising donor acquired.

This payment arrangement enables the Progressive Global to provide genuine return on investment for its clients, as clients only pay for active customers or donors acquired.

Progressive Global's clients have the ability to have a very measurable and cost-effective alternative route to market – more measurable than many other forms of marketing and advertising and is one of the reasons why Progressive Global’s client list is so extensive and includes some of the world’s leading brands.

As a FR, you are required to register as self-employed, if you are not already registered it is required that you register within three months of commencing trading either by calling the Newly Self-employed Helpline or by submitting a completed application form, which may be downloaded from the HM Revenue & Customs website at www.hmrc.com/selfemployed.

To commence trading as a FR, you can contact any of our network Marketing Companies directly through recruitment advertisements or you may be personally recruited.

In the initial meeting, the FR role is explained and your CV and personal qualities will be discussed. You may then be invited back to spend more time with the MC, which could involve observing the sales process and seeing exactly what happens on a day-to-day basis.

After this you may be invited to a final review where any further questions on progression and business advancement can also be discussed.

Following successful meetings and assessments, you will be offered the opportunity to contract as a FR with the Marketing Company.

Comprehensive product and service training on each specific client campaign is provided to ensure that the client’s requirements and expectations are fully explained.

The training comprises both classroom and field-based training and this is conducted by our network Marketing Companies as well as the client and Progressive Global team on a regular and often daily basis.

After over 20 years in this industry we firmly believe that the most effective training is provided on an ongoing basis, and the environment of each Marketing Company is collaborative and interactive to ensure that you are fully informed as clients’ products, services, requirements and expectations change.

The structure enables you to develop your skills and tap into sales best-practice and techniques as well as to benefit from coaching and collaboration from others on the Business Development Programme.

The Progressive Global requires all FRs to comply with the highest standards of personal conduct and best sales practice, with a prime focus on the fair and reasonable treatment of prospective customers and on obtaining high quality customers for Progressive Global’s clients. There is, for this purpose, a generic Progressive Global Code of Conduct and Practice to compliment specific regulatory requirements and codes applicable to each sector and client.

Relevant codes of conduct and practice include:

• Fundraising: Institute of Fundraising Code of Practice
• Retail Energy: Ofgem Code of Practice
• Telecommunications: Ofcom Code of Practice
• PayTV: Ofcom Code of Practice
• Insurance: FSA Code of Conduct

As an FR you will be provided with the relevant information and product training in order to comply with the above codes of practice and guidelines, and relevant regulatory requirements.

As a business Progressive Global relies on high quality customer acquisition as we are only paid on results by our clients. As such we have a process in place to ensure that we safeguard our clients, our business and at the same time that we constantly reward and recognise good quality.

As a FR, you will be contracted to seek and obtain committed customers, and your customer or donor cancellation rate will be an indication of whether you have approached and signed up the right customers. The lower your customer cancellation rate, the better for you, your commission earnings and for Progressive Global's clients. A high customer cancellation rate, will indicate that you have not signed up the right customers for Progressive Global’s clients.

To protect your commission earnings and our clients against customer cancellations which can happen after you have conducted a sale, we operate a Security Bond payment system as a practical safeguard.

If the client cancels during this period, which is referred to as the "Clawback Period" then Progressive Global has to repay the total value of the commission or fee (from you, the Marketing Company and Progressive Global) to the client.

Instead of you and the Marketing Companies waiting until the Clawback Period has passed before receiving commissions or fees (which could be several months in some client campaigns), Progressive Global pays a percentage of the money 'upfront' to the Marketing Company and then on to you once the customer has been signed for a service. The remaining percentage of your commission or fee is held back in your Security Bond in case the customer cancels the service. However if the Clawback Period passes and the client is still happy with the service and active in the client’s systems, then the money held is returned to you.

The percentage of commission or fee held in a Security Bond can differ on each client campaign, depending on the applicable customer cancellation profile.

The Clawback Period is also variable and is usually determined by the client. It will differ according to how the client will process the customer’s order and how long it takes for the client to report back on the customer’s order.

Weekly Process

There is a separate Security Bond account for each FR, and the fund is held in trust by the Marketing Company subject to clawback. At any time you can review the position of your Security Bond.

Each week, you will earn the upfront percentage of the commissions or fees for all customers signed up to the client's services. The remaining percentage of commissions or fees is held in your Security Bond account.

Customer cancellations or rejected orders are reported on a weekly basis to Progressive Global and, in turn, to the Marketing Company and to you, together with customers’ cancellation reasons. Any refunds for cancelled or rejected orders will be clawed back and deducted from your Security Bond at the same value as the original commission or fee payment made to you for the rejected order.

A report will be provided to you each week showing all transactions on your Security Bond account, any commissions or fees held in the account and any refunds being clawed back.

Monthly Security Bond returns

Whilst you are trading with the Marketing Company as a FR, you may receive monthly bond returns after the agreed Clawback Period has passed.

This happens where few customers cancel their services and the value of any commissions or fees to be clawed back from your earnings is less than the value of commissions or fees held in your Security Bond for a particular month. The positive security bond balance is then returned to you.

However, if the value of commissions or fees to be deducted from your Security Bond is high, due to high customer order cancellations/rejections and this exceeds the amount of money held in your Security Bond, you will need to cover the shortfall.

If the rate of customer order cancellations/rejections for any consecutive month is higher than the amount held in your Security Bond, your Security Bond may be held to cover refunds for future months.

Termination of Trading Agreement & Returning Security Bonds

You and the Marketing Company can stop trading with each other at any time with no obligation. Should you stop trading with the Marketing Company, then the Security Bond fund is held in trust for the required Clawback Period to cover any further customer order rejections or cancellations for your sales and orders.

Within 15 working days after the end of the agreed Clawback Period any positive balance of money is returned to you directly into your bank account, and reports detailing any transactions made on the Security Bond will be sent directly to you as long as you have provided an email address to the Marketing Company.

If any part of this section is unclear, please contact your MC so that all your questions can be answered.

In 2010 the Progressive Global launched a new initiative, whereby in certain areas across England and Wales our contracted Marketing Companies can introduce you to a qualification assessment provider to offer you the opportunity to obtain a nationally recognised Diploma qualification.

This provides an excellent opportunity for FRs within the Progressive Global marketing network to up-skill and gain national qualifications whilst developing their business through the network.

The current qualifications that are available are:

• Level 2/3 Diploma in Team Leadership
• Level 2/3 Diploma in Customer Service

This has proved to be enormously successful in the group. All funding is sourced and managed by the qualification assessment provider with no financial investment or cost to you as the FR.

We take your development and quality very seriously at Progressive Global and within your first week the following will take place:

• Vetting process

Specific to each client campaign, you will be vetted to ensure that you have the suitable skills, experience, ability and rights to work in the UK and the right personal attributes to represent Progressive Global's clients.

• Trading Agreement

You will have your trading agreement with the Marketing Company explained. This will include all information regarding your commission or fee earnings and Security Bond.

• Client Product Training

The Marketing Company, Progressive Global and the client can offer access to generic sales and specific product training and assessments which you may be required to undertake in order to be authorised to represent the client and be issued with an ID badge.

Q: As an FR, who do I work for to earn commissions?

A: You work for yourself on a self-employed basis, and you are contracted to a Marketing Company under a Trading Agreement to promote the products and services of the Progressive Global clients and to sign up and secure committed, high quality customers for those clients.

Q: How does my commission work?

A: Commissions or fees on your sales are paid to you on a weekly basis. The calculation of this is dependent on the particular client’s product or service, the number of new active customers you have secured and the degree to which such customers remain committed.

Q: What happens with registering as self employed?

A: If you are not already registered as self-employed then you must register within three months of trading as a sole trader either by calling the Newly Self-employed Helpline on 0845 915 4515 or by submitting an application form which can be downloaded from the HM Revenue & Customs website at www.hmrc.com/selfemployed.

Q: What happens when I leave?

A: You are entitled to terminate your Trading Agreement with the relevant Marketing Company at any time without any notice either verbally or in writing. If you decide to cease trading with a Marketing Company you must also return any client materials to the Marketing Company, including your identity badge. You will need to review your Security Bond arrangements with the Marketing Company on a monthly basis until the last Clawback Period has passed. Any customer cancellations or rejections will continue to be deducted from your Security Bond until the last Clawback Period is complete.

Q: How and when do I receive my bond return?

A: You will receive the final balance of your Security Bond in relation to a client campaign after the relevant Clawback Period has passed; this can vary on each client campaign but will be detailed under your Trading Agreement. Your Security Bond will be automatically paid into your notified bank account within 15 working days of the Clawback Period passing. Alternatively you can contact the Marketing Company for your Security Bond return or contact a member of the Progressive Global team at frqueries@appcogroup.com

Q: Who do I contact if I have a query or feedback?

A: Please feel free to contact the Marketing Company or Progressive Global directly on frqueries@appcogroup.com.