By 
When you think about the risks your sales force may be creating, the main thing to keep in mind is that salespeople often work alone and away from the supervision, support, and kind of controls that reduce risks in other parts of the business. Let us consider what these risks are.
- damage to your reputation. This could be due to over-enthusiasm or a lack of respect for the prospect.
- compliance issues. The misleading sale is the obvious one, but data protection is another. In some industries there are still more.
- too promising. Usually about availability or delivery. Possibly about quality or performance.
- Giving away money! Allowing too many discounts or making special offers without proper approval.
- working solo. Sellers often work from home or travel a lot. This makes supervision difficult and can leave them vulnerable to all sorts of risks that would not apply to workers in an office or factory.
- Stress. The pressure to achieve goals, especially when combined with working alone, can lead to stress-related health problems.
- The risk of the “gray fleet”. If salespeople travel extensively, even using their own vehicles, there are elements of motor risk that may fall on the employer. These include vicarious liability for third-party accidents and the risk that they themselves have inadequate or inappropriate auto insurance.
Here are some tips to minimize risks without reducing your sales.
1. Have clear anti-sell policies and procedures and be sure to provide training so your salespeople are aware of them. Frequent updates and reviews will pay off.
2. Have clear rules about authority levels for negotiating discounts or other benefits, otherwise your sales people could be selling your products at a loss out of a desire to make a sale at all costs—for you!
3. Check the driver’s licenses and insurance certificates of all people who use their own vehicles in your business or could be responsible for accidents they may cause.
4. Set realistic goals and schedules so that you are not considered the cause of any accidents due to drivers being too tired or driving for a long time.
5. Issue appropriate health and safety advice for people who work alone.
6. Issue rules and guidelines for the use of IT and social networks, whether provided by the business or not.
7. Have procedures for handling complaints that involve independent review to ensure fairness for both customers and employees.
8. Make sure sales force members don’t handle money or invoices to guard against fraud and protect the innocent from false accusations.
9. Try to go out and see what is happening in reality, don’t just rely on paper or online reports. Meet customers and vendors from time to time on the front line.
Remember that in all of these things rules are useless unless they are taught and enforced.