"There is no way I could take a position selling for your company without at least a $40,000 base salary. If I took a 100 percent commission position, I couldn't go home and face my wife! There are lots of companies willing to take care of their sales employees, and I will find the right one to join."
That was how a typical conversation between potential employer and salesperson candidate would have ended just a couple of years ago. It might have been the case even last year, but not anymore. With layoffs and cutbacks more commonplace than fast food burgers, there are multitudes of out-of-work salespeople who are coming to the realization that they must find employment anywhere they can get it, and that probably means relying on their own sales ability to make an income.
In good times, there were two kinds of sales positions: The salary-plus-commission type, and the 100 percent commission type. For the former, there were two kinds of salespeople in those jobs: The professionals who strove to high levels of performance, and the moochers who really wanted the salary and benefits, and might make a sales call or two in between lunch and quitting time.
You could recognize these people, because they would stay at one company for a couple of years before management realized they were mooching and not a serious, professional salesperson. They have four or five different jobs on their resume in just 10 or 12 years of being in the business world.
The 100 percent commissioned salesperson, in good times, was probably compensated that way by choice. They are recognizable by their quiet confidence in their ability to sell, and they make a lot of money! Even in tougher economic times, these pros find a way to get by, because they know that they can sell, and they don't blame the economy, they don't blame their prospects, they just keep going out and making things happen.
Sales guru David H. Sandler says that salespeople "make exactly what (they) are worth right now," meaning it is one of the few occupations where it is easy to keep score, and when the compensation is variable, the skill level determines the income.
The problem for potential employers has always been to identify and hire those "A" players who have that confidence and who prefer to work for 100 percent commission so as not to put a ceiling on their own income. To get one, you usually had to steal one from your competitor, and offer a huge commission percentage to entice the "A" player to come on board.
The kind of applicant who would make a statement like the one at the beginning of this article would immediately be identified as less than an "A" player and maybe even a moocher. (A moocher is defined here as a salesperson-wannabe who really just wants a paycheck and benefits, but has no real passion or skill to truly be a long-term asset to his/her employer. You know, someone who is, for all practical purposes, stealing from his/her employer).
Fast forwarding to the spring of 2009, and we find ourselves in a brave new world of selling. Jeremie Kubicek, President of Giant Impact, a Gwinnett-based leadership organization with a worldwide influence, says that "in today's economy, there are a lot more quality salespeople available who are willing to take a position that offers 100 percent commission and no salary."
This is good news for those executives who understand that this is the time to invest in sales and marketing efforts, even if cutbacks in other areas are warranted. This is the time to be more aggressive in the market, take advantage of wounded competitors, and gain market share.
Hiring sales pros who love the idea of making exactly what they are worth has never been easier than right now. Go get 'em!
Al Simon is president of Simon, Inc., an authorized licensee of Sandler Training. He can be contacted through www.SimonSaysSell.net.
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