I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I read this. Sales incentives are one thing, but taking money away from you based on renegotiating a deal? Appalling! This is why I didn't last in sales, even though I loved and 100% believed in the product. I didn't like what the incentives did to me, or what the company required of me to chase after them.
This story is powerful. You were playing a game that didn't serve your values. It reminds me of when I play almost any sport. I am bad at it, go through a phase of feeling bad at it and letting others down (if it's a team sport), then move to not caring. Wrong game for me. I need a game that thrives on collaboration, not competition. I need a game that rewards generosity, creativity, and ingenuity.
You have so much to offer--glad you got out of that shitty hellhole of a game!
What I like about this article the most is that it's an example of your commitment to integrity. You could use this space to "sell" us on a version of your character that doesn't have challenges, failures, or struggle with the temptation for short-term gain over longer term success. Instead, you're selling us the product we really need, which is the example of a self-honest, authentic, and growing human being who is willing to trust that truth and transparency will deliver the highest benefit to one and all in the end. It's funny that we're wired to think we can shortcut our way to the kind of success we really want by strategically withholding truth from others. What you've shared here is a recipe for relationship and trust.
I loved reading this. My takeaway was how important it is for us to work in alignment to our values. I once had a job at a startup PR agency. To get the phone numbers of CEOs that might take us on retainer the owner used to ask us PR reps to call the companies and invite them to fake events so we could get their email addresses. That type of work made me feel so horrible as honesty is a core value for me.
A shame that they chose to fire you but that’s worked out well for you now hasnt it 🙃
I have friends who were sales people. Whether it was selling insurance, cars, even vacuum cleaners, I am amazed how good they are at their jobs. I, myself, never even considered going into that business. Mainly because I felt I would never be good at it. Plus, living off commissions, to me, can be a scary thing. I had to have a job that says, you get paid this much per hour or this is your annual salary. Bonuses come in many shapes and sizes when you work for a corporation. I enjoyed reading your essay because you obviously cared about the people to whom you were selling. Many sales people lack that quality. I understand it's important to make the sale because you have to survive as well, but to force something on someone just because you need the money isn't really the best way to do business. I'm sure there's remorse with some of the transactions you did in the past, but you learned from that and are now a better person for it. This was a good read. Well done. Hang in there.
I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I read this. Sales incentives are one thing, but taking money away from you based on renegotiating a deal? Appalling! This is why I didn't last in sales, even though I loved and 100% believed in the product. I didn't like what the incentives did to me, or what the company required of me to chase after them.
This story is powerful. You were playing a game that didn't serve your values. It reminds me of when I play almost any sport. I am bad at it, go through a phase of feeling bad at it and letting others down (if it's a team sport), then move to not caring. Wrong game for me. I need a game that thrives on collaboration, not competition. I need a game that rewards generosity, creativity, and ingenuity.
You have so much to offer--glad you got out of that shitty hellhole of a game!
What I like about this article the most is that it's an example of your commitment to integrity. You could use this space to "sell" us on a version of your character that doesn't have challenges, failures, or struggle with the temptation for short-term gain over longer term success. Instead, you're selling us the product we really need, which is the example of a self-honest, authentic, and growing human being who is willing to trust that truth and transparency will deliver the highest benefit to one and all in the end. It's funny that we're wired to think we can shortcut our way to the kind of success we really want by strategically withholding truth from others. What you've shared here is a recipe for relationship and trust.
I loved reading this. My takeaway was how important it is for us to work in alignment to our values. I once had a job at a startup PR agency. To get the phone numbers of CEOs that might take us on retainer the owner used to ask us PR reps to call the companies and invite them to fake events so we could get their email addresses. That type of work made me feel so horrible as honesty is a core value for me.
A shame that they chose to fire you but that’s worked out well for you now hasnt it 🙃
"I was strict on discounts (as in, no discounts) because I believed in the quality of the products that I sold to my clients. " Damn, I love that.
Always a happy day to see a Michelle Varghoose newsletter in my inbox💃🏻
Love this Michelle!
I work in sales too and this post was a warm hug
I have friends who were sales people. Whether it was selling insurance, cars, even vacuum cleaners, I am amazed how good they are at their jobs. I, myself, never even considered going into that business. Mainly because I felt I would never be good at it. Plus, living off commissions, to me, can be a scary thing. I had to have a job that says, you get paid this much per hour or this is your annual salary. Bonuses come in many shapes and sizes when you work for a corporation. I enjoyed reading your essay because you obviously cared about the people to whom you were selling. Many sales people lack that quality. I understand it's important to make the sale because you have to survive as well, but to force something on someone just because you need the money isn't really the best way to do business. I'm sure there's remorse with some of the transactions you did in the past, but you learned from that and are now a better person for it. This was a good read. Well done. Hang in there.