7 Things To Beware Of In A Sales Job Offer
In a separate article I mentioned that often it pays off handsomely if you accept a commission-only sales job.
Typically, if you’re willing to work hard and accept some risks, the rewards can be outstanding. I illustrate this point by referring to a fellow who earned a million dollar commission from a single sale.
But before you take a job that offers a pay for performance package, beware of seven tricks of the trade that employers use that can make what seemed like a sweetheart deal a bitter experience.
(1) Are the earnings claims justified? Often, they’re bogus. Recently, I checked out a situation where the owner asserted $2,500-5,500 could be earned each week. But no one had ever earned either amount because the job had never been done, except by a mystery rep that was no longer employed.
(2) Beware of hidden ceilings on performance. In the same circumstance, there were only 30 sales that the owner could fulfill each month, given his availability to tender the service, which depended on him. He was offering a $600 commission for each sale made. If you made all 30 sales, you would earn $18,000 per month, but no more was possible. (Remember, the $5500 per week that was quoted? That would amount to about $23,000 monthly. There’s a big difference between 18 and 23.)
(3) Watch
(4) Be aware of any after-sale cancellations by management. If they retain the right to arbitrarily refuse a deal, they’ll do just that.
(5) Evaluate their charge-back policies if customers later cancel or fail to pay. Also, the amount of “sales reserve” companies keep, typically 10-20% of your commissions against charge backs, is negotiable, as is the timing when withheld monies must be released to you.
(6) Is there an ongoing commission paid to you based on re-orders from the business you originally put on the books? Or, are you being hired merely to produce “fronts” or first-time buyers, while the house keeps the full value of reorders?
(7) Is this employer honest? You can try to talk to those who are currently selling to see if their pay is timely and accurate. You can also contact Dun & Bradstreet and the Better Business Bureau to determine if the firm pays its bills or elicits complaints.
They’ll check your references, so why not check theirs? Until they pay you, in effect you’ll become one of their creditors.
Tune into these and other clues that you can detect, and you’ll be more likely to affiliate with the kind of firm that will take its responsibility to reward you as seriously as you do.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books and more than a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is quoted in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. President of Clientrelations.com and Customersatisfaction.com, his seminars and training programs are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary brings over two decades of management and consulting experience to the table, with the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. A Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies and successful family owned and operated firms.
He can be seen on CNBC at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932# and reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com
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