Are your commissions in crisis? Are you concerned even a little bit about shrinking margins, competition and technology that could result in lower commission or sales people being eliminated from commissions?
If you said no, think again. There are a lot of things going on that are impacting your commissions. I recently met with three different businesses and the discussion focused on commissions, pay plans and profits. The idea of sales commissions going away is in almost every vertical that exists. It happened at the big box retailers and now is being investigated in automotive, real estate, insurance industries and more. In a recent Edmunds article Matt Jones talked about the “growing number of car dealerships moving away form paying their sales people profit-based commission.”
A recent article at Inc. magazine said, “Changes are happening that make a commission-free world more likely. One is that salespeople who stay at their desks all day are replacing field sales. The number of people selling from their desk has grown almost 300% versus sales people in the field.”
Like it or not the environment is changing. Whether you agree with these changes or not I can assure you of one thing – if you aren’t great at sales, your commissions are going away. They already have gone away. If you aren’t willing to do Whatever It Takes on every deal, you will not get a commission.
No offense if you are in sales but it’s hard to find great salespeople anymore. Where are they hiding? Look at the influence of Amazon, True Car, Zillow and the likes of companies offering fast flow of data to consumers altering the influence of the salesperson’s input. It doesn’t mean the sales person is not necessary; it means the salesperson that isn’t willing to go above and beyond and do Whatever It Takes will lose out. Then, you have companies like Best Buy and Sears paying salaries instead of commissions where everyone suffers from consumers, brands, employees, even investors.
So you know where I stand. I love commissions. I don’t think anyone can even take away a commission. It’s the free market. A Whatever It Takes attitude will be rewarded by the market, or they will migrate to those opportunities. If the car dealer doesn’t pay a commission, talent will then move to real estate or Wall Street. I know I would.
The only way to protect yourself against those who may want to eliminate commissions is to do Whatever It Takes.
No matter what, you must remember that:
- Everything in life is a commission. Anything above poverty level, $23,000 a year for family of four is commission.
- Your pay will go down if you don’t get better. You must fill your mind with information that helps you improve the way you think and sell. Invest in yourself!
- You better be fast. The faster you go the more valuable you are to the customer and the more you can get done. Be fast, not sloppy.
- You better follow up. Persist when others give up after two attempts. Follow up and get creative about it and do Whatever It Takes to get your commission.
- You better be the best. Average doesn’t cut it. It doesn’t pay. If you aren’t going to be the best, you will pay the price.
is the theme you must adapt to regardless of your position in life. It’s time to take no prisoners, and literally be willing and pushed to do Whatever It Takes. If you go home unable to say, “I did whatever it takes today,” then know you are at risk.
I am so certain of this that I created Whatever It Takes Network for those of you that have that Whatever It Takes mentality and want to reinforce it everyday. We provide mentors, leaders, examples and success stories of people who have been average, or even way below it, yet managed to create greatness for themselves and their families. If you haven’t subscribed to the network yet, do so.
Be great. Nothing else pays.
-GC
