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Oh, and another thing
December 13, 2007

In the middle of this whole "Fire the Successful Rep" thing, I get an email from a frustrated printer. His issue and subsequent question are on this exact same issue. I've contacted him and asked his permission to post his email in the hopes that the Readership (that would be you) will offer up suggestions for dealing with this very real issue:

<<Dear Bill: I am not comfortable with the compensation structure of a sales rep I inherited when I bought this company. Here is the situation: We are a small sheet fed operation ($2.5MM in sales).  My sales rep. has been with us for about 3 ½ years.  He will sell about $450M this year, about 5% over ’06.  My perception is that the previous owner set his base salary too high, didn’t tie his salary to sales, & based his commission off gross sales not profit or value added.  He currently has a base salary of $50M, car, expenses covered (approx. $400 per month) & commission of 5% on all in-house sales & 30% of the net profit on all out sourced jobs.  I have no problem paying him every cent he deserves but my perception is that his compensation should be more commission based.  His current structure appears to act as a disincentive to sell more. Bill, what do I do in this situation?">>

Well, I've given my two cents' worth. Now it is your turn....

Posted by Bill Farquharson on December 13, 2007 | Comments (1)