next »

[MaryG]

The thread dealing with customer service (or lack thereof) sparked something in my mind in regard to commission based sales. To put myself through college I had the experience of working in a retail store with a variety of different types of jobs. I was cross-trained (and eventually became management) which meant at times I worked many hours as a jewelry sales clerk. We worked for an hourly wage plus commission. I found this extremely stressful and I didn't think it was to the benefit of the customers because their best interests weren't top priority in a lot of situations. I think of that when I shop for large items, such as vehicles, and am of two minds. On  the one hand I am very annoyed when someone is pushy and won't let me be but on the other hand I feel badly that they are forced into an impossible "eat or be eaten" type of situation.

[Serious]

I can see that this is tough. It often comes down to skill and confidence. If you can take a longer view you would see that pushy and desperate selling is not going to pay off so you can pace yourself a bit.  But if you lack the skills and confidence and the threat of no pay at the end of the week is constantly there I imagine it quickly becomes a really vicious cycle.

[HRManager]

As an HR person I think that the best firms find a balance between incentivising sales and incentivising the 'right' behaviours.  Thus something that says you get more if you sell successfully in line with your selling values (customer first, not pushy etc).  But this requires a company to also take the long term view and unfortunately most places have targets and managers who are driven to achive these targets and alas when push comes to shove some managers can forget the mid term and focus on the short term

[MaryG]

I'm intrigued by the concept of providing incentives for not only sales but also sales behavior. I don't think I've ever been a part of a company that does this- incentives have been based on final numbers. It seems to me that if you reward employees for selling in a way that makes customers more comfortable than you will have more customers purchasing and thus having the sales figures and morale climb.