Bad Days With Commission Job

Hello World,

If you have been ever been part of a commission paying job you know the pain and misery that comes with it. You have to have a salesperson/entrepreneur personality to be successful in this line of work. It’s a high stress career path with a ton of uncertainty and therefore not everyone can handle it. This work can have a lot of health implication although the money might pay out to be sweet at the end.

You didn’t Close today! 

What do you feel when you don’t close? I mean you made no sales that day. You have to keep a mental math of all your finances and expenses each day till the time you get paid. Let me tell you, the people who are paid a salary have it easy! They often forget about their finances because it’s the same every month. However, our fellow commission workers have a mental financial plan in the back of their mind. Every time there is a sale there also a commission pay out which is always a different number.

What if one day there is no sale, and the second day there is no sale, and then the whole week no sale? How does that mental finance plan look to you at this point? That’s added pressure every day because each day you feel as if you have to perform and give it your all. You have to go in with positive energy but come home with anxiety to perform better and better the next day. We have to realize something when we see this kind of pressure, your pay is not based on your performance. You might give it your 100% every day but that does not guarantee a sale.

Customer View

There are different conditions that influence a sale, one of which is your customers intent.  A customer might be just shopping around and not looking to buy, which can be a huge draw back for someone working in commission. A customer can spend a whole day with a commission salesperson and gain all the product knowledge but then decide to shop around to catch a better deal somewhere else. You know you can relate if you ever worked commission! How does that feel?! You feel like you performed your level best however there wasn’t a recognition. You feel almost cheated by the customer. Yet, you have to go back and put a smile on to perform like the same way the next day. Eats a bit of your soul, I know!

Added Pressure    

Ah, if the pressure didn’t end at how you will pay bills on time, let’s make your life more challenging! You need to meet a weekly or monthly quota. You have to meet your sales target. You have to sell insurance policies, other add-on features and keep upselling. You are given many numeric goals to maintain along with keeping your sales number high. Any drop in your target may cost your position.

Plus the competitions is brutal! Let’s not forget that you are not the only salesperson trying to get your hand on that commission. Every single one of your coworkers are on the same mission an open floor. You have to save your sales from your fellow coworkers. In a work environment as such every person develops a personality of a hawk! They are hungry the sale which leads to the commission. What about the managers?! They are on their own quota. They constantly push your performance to drive your numbers in order to meet their daily target.

Keep in mind

If you are a great sales person and you have adapted a work flow then skip this part! But if you are new in a commission based job then research! Know your competition, and gain thorough knowledge on the product. Let the customer see and feel your confidence when you share the product knowledge. When a customer walks in don’t be pushy, let them look around. If there are paper work involved, save time! Complete what you can on your end early. Important: Always let the customer know you work for commission and then next time they come they should ask for you because you spent time on them (don’t be direct, find your way of conveying this message). Always hand them your business card, this will help them remember your name. To push even a bit more for this line of work, you need to create your on customer base. Go out to different events and network. Get involved and distribute your card.

At the end know this is a high stress level job. If this work isn’t for you and you had to take it due to circumstances then upgrade your skills and look for something else.

Health before anything!

Thanks,

DLA