Are Sales Reps Your Office Clerks?

One of my clients reached out to me complaining about a Sales Rep I placed at his company a while ago. The conversation was interesting. My client was very happy with his Employee’s performance, claiming that “She is very driven, a real go-getter” and is bringing in more profit than expected!

“So, what’s the problem?” I asked.

“Well, I like to have Employees who are happy, but she is never satisfied. We have a clear commission structure with her, but she keeps on asking for more and more. Now she wants extra compensation for doing work that is not part of a Sales Rep’s job…”

So, what is actually happening here? Let’s break it down.

The Employer feels that his Sales Rep should be happy with the set commission structure offered by the company, and all the extras that she brings to the table, like calling suppliers to make sure that items are in stock for orders, or invoicing the customers, should be done as a part of her job.

On the other hand, the Sales Rep is not interested in doing the company any great favors while she could’ve used that time to land more sales and earn commission, so she wants compensation for her wasted time.

This particular issue, and similar ones like it, are very common if Employers hire Employees without providing job descriptions with clear details of exactly what the job entails and what the employee is expected to do. Like, is it only a sales job, or is it a sales job which also includes doing the back-end or administrative work related to each sale?

As Recruiters, we encourage Employers to have clear job descriptions. In this particular case, it was the Sales Rep herself who started doing more work, because she wanted to drive sales through quickly and gain her commission as soon as possible. Later on, she started requesting compensation for doing “extra work”.

In such a scenario, the solution is different for every company. The Employer must evaluate how much compensation they can afford based on the profit margins. But, in terms of my client’s core complaint, that he “doesn’t like unhappy employees”, I told him that I disagree. Usually, the real sales-driven personalities will never be comfortable with their compensation, and that mindset is usually beneficial. Sales Reps should always be eager and hungry for more. This will drive up everyone’s bottom line and both the Employer and the Employee will reap the rewards.