A few months ago I posted about comp here (https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/comp-review-question/) and I got a ton of great feedback from the community.

It's one of the toughest times in the economy to not only sell, but justify any raise. While most companies are cutting budgets, headcount, etc.... I was able to finally secure the raise I felt I earned.

Key word being earned.

After a dismal merit cycle increase, I was substantially lower than other reps who weren't performing at the same level and it was terribly frustrating. Not only that, but I was culturally putting in extra work helping newer reps, and offering up time and access to my customers to the business for marketing material, and broader revenue-supporting activities. I still struggle to understand why competitors will offer a 20-40% increase and internal teams can't seem to capitalize on retaining their top-ranked talent.

After several months in the dark, my boss gave me a call a few hours ago notifying me that he, and his boss, made the case to upper management why I need to be retained at a higher base/OTE in line with other reps and it was officially approved. My boss said I earned it and that feels better than any monetary value associated. To be recognized and validated. That's the win here.

A few things I took away from this:

Loyalty and hard work pay off
Numbers aren't always enough, you need to build your brand
Know when to ask, how to ask, and how often to ask
Don't be afraid to build your business case, the same way you would in your sales cycles
Good leadership will make you feel worthy and will show that by actions they take on your behalf

Needless to say, my direct leadership just bought my loyalty for life.

I hope this inspires you to get yours. You earned it!

I just closed a $2,000,000 sale so that’s pretty cool.

Ask for that raise! UPDATE