Sales Person vs Average Joe

This is my first post, consider it testing the waters. I've wanted to reach out to a community to get feedback, suggestions, advice, and possibly a new perspective. I originally thought about posting on Linkedin, but feel there are folks here at my current company that might run across the post and feel I am taking a jab.


First off, to all the sales savages out there, I commend you. You chose this line of work because you have something in your DNA that sets you apart from the average joe. There is a confident conscientiousness about everything you do. You take ownership and personal responsibility not only for your own success but the success of your company and often times willing to die trying. This is what I love about sales, you are chosen to be on the front line hindering on success or failure.


I've been on the sales side of business for the majority of my 20 year career and recently took a position as the director of operations and sales for a company that owns and manages several lifestyle brands running as their own entities. Now, having the responsibility of managing the sales and non sales parts of the business and overseeing employees that are paid salary and hourly I see a clear division in the personality traits of these employees. This is my dilemma, and the reason I am reaching out to you as a community to get another perspective.


I feel there is a "good enough" complacent attitude that plagues most of the departments. What I am hoping to learn is what are the motivating factors for an hourly or salaried employee? How do we instill ownership and urgency within these departments?


One idea I have been mulling over is opening the door for commissions to all employees, a sort of brand ambassador program. Would this miss the mark for employees just punching in and out, or would this be a motivator that could possibly bleed over into taking more pride in their current role?


Thoughts???

๐Ÿง  Advice
๐ŸŽฏ Career Development
๐Ÿฅ‡ Teamwork
14
ADudeBeingAGuy
Politicker
10
Account Executive
Yes.

Incentivize everything with metrics associated to whatever "job" they do.

Cut their salary and half and make them earn half of it.

Work in enablement? Neat - you have a quota based on a pass/fail test that the people that go through your programs take at the end.

Work in marketing? Neat - you have a quota for.... actually just fuck you you're fired.

Work in sales ops? Neat - you have a quota for response time.

Work at the reception desk? Neat - you have a quota for how quickly you pick up the fucking phone.

Unfortunate side effect.... 99.99% unemployment across the entire US.
Other than that, I love this idea lets do it.
Filth
Politicker
7
Live Filthy or Die Clean
I love this @ADudeBeingAGuy BUT I say keep salary where it is, don't start a mutiny and the complacent workers do still have their uses but create bonuses, whether monthly, quarterly, annually and have them be based on those metrics assuming all of these things directly correlate to company profit.

You can also make it very clear that any promotions or raises would also be built on said metrics and accomplishments over seniority or favoritism. On top of that, have special bonuses in place like PTO days, cash, tickets to sports/theatre/concerts to give to those who go above and beyond or just save the day in random occurrences even if they aren't always a high end metric achiever.
ADudeBeingAGuy
Politicker
8
Account Executive
Congratulations we just invented m e r i t o c r a c y

This was a thing we used to value
Filth
Politicker
0
Live Filthy or Die Clean
It's a shame it's a crazy idea in most places.
jefe
Arsonist
1
๐Ÿ
Love this. Aside from the salary cut, that is.
ADudeBeingAGuy
Politicker
1
Account Executive
I was thinking more of the 50/50 split that most AE's are on. Not actually pay them 50% less.

That is.... assuming their new found quotas for phone pickups are attainable.
jefe
Arsonist
1
๐Ÿ
I still see an issue with their take-home - is their first salary payment after that's instituted half of what they usually get? Is there a draw? We budget based on base (and knowing about the ups and downs of commission), but if you're a salaryman/woman, it's a different ballgame.
LordOfWar
Tycoon
5
Blow it up
Profit sharing is the usual route that companies go to try and incentivize non-sales roles, but I find the issue with this is they forget that it exists for like 3/4 of the year and then might work super hard during the final quarter.

Having clear paths for internal promotions is another way to try and motivate people. Offering good morale programs and quality team-building events can also help people become emotionally invested in their coworkers which will make them want to help each other more.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Yeah, that was why I suggested quarterly bonuses, so there are always shorter term goals to look at. :)
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Tie quarterly bonuses to performance. Work out metrics for each department/division/team that will affect growth, customer satisfaction, etc., - whatever the best benefit will be to the company, and tie those to a meaningful bonus that is achievable (not impossible) but more challenging than just being complacent. Celebrate those bonuses and don't cap the % of employees who can achieve them. In fact, talk about how impactful the work has been to building your company, and that you strive for 100% attainment. Repeat.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
3
Sales Rep
Sales is notorious for having horrible turnover, I wouldnt want to put the same pressure on everyone else in the business.

I will say this, everyone in the organization does not need to be Rockstars and sometimes "good enough" is actually good enough. Having commission/tons of metrics can lead to more work being done, however the cost of hiring will go up. If you lower anyone's base to move towards a sales compensation like plan, I would assume people will leave and it will be hard to hire. People will be a lot more stressed out with constant metrics causing the quality of work to go down.

I would recommend a bonus structure in addition to everyone's base which can be a form of profit sharing.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
7
๐ŸฆŠ
Yeah I'd be out quick of my base was lowered, especially in this climate.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
2
Bravado's Resident Asshole
Same here
jefe
Arsonist
2
๐Ÿ
Reductions are NEVER a good look.
slsldr1986
Fire Starter
2
Regional Sales Manager
Not everyone is motivated by cash and not everyone can be a sales person. As a sales person, your likely more outgoing and willing to talk to customers. Some ops people are not. I like to โ€œwalk to shipโ€ and check in with people. Build trust and relationships then the real issues will come to head. Only if they trust you first they will tell you what you need. Takes time.

Buying lunch helps as well lol
NotCreativeEnough
Big Shot
1
Professional Day Ruiner
I think it would be a great way to increase productivity among a lot of employees. Motivate them with bonuses based on performance.

I think what sets sales people apart though is that we are all of the mindset of wanting our pay to be directly correlated with how smart/hard we work. So incentivizing us based on performance always works in the company's favor. When you're talking your average Joe however, not everyone has that same motivation. A lot of people would much rather have a consistent paycheck while they live their consistent life.

Many people take salary jobs because they want the consistency. They want to be able to be complacent and it not matter. Or they want to be able to do the bare minimum and still get paid the same as everyone else.

Making every single position tied to performance for compensation I think will yield a lot of turnover, at least initially, but long term will net having a company full of top performers in every department, assuming the comp plan is very aggressive in comparison to what salaried positions are offering. For example, if I work in HR making 80k a year as a salary, I'm not going to risk a metrics based comp plan that also pay's 80k over the guaranteed 80k. But if I'm making 80k, and that metrics based one gives me the potential to make 100? pretty good incentive to take a chance on it for the right person.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
1
Bravado's Resident Asshole
I like what you are putting out there. I think there could be two sides to the coin on this. good and bad coming out of it.
FranchiseSalesQB
Politicker
1
Franchise Sales QB
Who called me average?
nomdeguerre
Executive
2
Account executive
Your wife ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚
FranchiseSalesQB
Politicker
1
Franchise Sales QB
Iโ€™ve also thought about starting a co with no monetary hierarchy. Everyone is equal and makes the same and if the company wins, we all win. Or something like that.
dee27
Contributor
0
Sales and Ops Director
There is a CEO on linkedin that was always bragging about a setup like that. I haven't seen posts lately but I don't know how a Marxist company would go over. Definitely have to have a "woke" employee base. I started out my software career as an implementation and training specialist (salary). After busting my ass to prove myself I realized a salary position wasn't for me. I wanted to be more in control of my financial future.
dee27
Contributor
0
Sales and Ops Director
This is awesome, and totally what I was hoping for. I appreciate the different perspectives. I think one of the toughest things about this is being able to relate to those employees that maybe are not motivated by compensation, bonuses, or anything monetary. I know where sales motivation lies but after reading some of your comments I realized we have a few folks here that would take a 1/2 day on Fridays for a month over any type of commission or bonus. I started doing 1 on 1's yesterday with all the employees. I wanted to find out what they wanted out of the job, what does their life look like in 5 years. Most all of them feel "fine" with what they are doing but I was able to uncover some interesting things. Most felt they are capable of taking on more responsibility and shared parts of the business they would like to learn more about. I feel I might be on to something where I can define motivators that align with their personal goals. Definitely not something that is going to be hashed out after one, 1 on 1, but possibly I'm headed in the right direction. Thanks again for helping me see this from different angles.
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
All people act as how they are incentivised
Gasty
Notable Contributor
0
War Room Community Manager
or as how they fear
GDO
Politicker
1
BDM
Fear is an incentive ๐Ÿ˜…
TennisandSales
Politicker
0
Head Of Sales
for sure dude! incentive the outcome and behaviors you want to see!
AnchorPoint
Politicker
0
Business Coach
Incentives may work, however, remember that you are setting a precedent for the future. Make sure your plan is solid and clearly communicated.
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