According to Wikipedia, Sales are the activities involved in selling products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity. Sales also has an accounting sense which is defined as gross sales, gross revenue, sales -- (income at invoice values received for goods and services over some given period of time).
Many sales professionals that I have spoken to over the years, got into sales for many reasons, they had an entrepreneurial background through a family run business, they went to business school and went to a Wall Street firm to work as a stockbroker and or in some other broker capacity and or they had street skills and smarts and became a stockbroker as a way to earn a substantial income. Some went into sales as a base component in order to launch their own firms. Still others fell into sales for various reasons personal lifestyle freedoms, no cap on income potential, the ability to sell more than one product or service.
According to recent labor statistics and sales association data there are well over a few hundred thousand professionals in the United States alone in sales and business development. On the flip side, there are others who have entered the profession of sales and brought with them bad habits and code of ethics and a degradation to the public and to others who unfortunately had to cross their path.
The HR Chally Group a talent management firm states that more college graduates will become salespeople than all other careers combined. Yet only a few dozen of the more than four thousand colleges and universities in the United States have established a formal sales program. As business needs become more globalized, so do the assurances of professionally trained agents and of timely payments to companies, small firms, independent contractors and sales staff. American business depends on better process, best of breed business models and sustainable growth in order to remain competitive in the global economy and continue the pace of job growth and asset building through company ownership for today and future generations.
Helping Sales and Business Professionals Recover Unpaid Commissions and Resolve Other Disputes :fostering positive entrepreneurial relationships, through commissions recovery, contract negotiation, education and sales.
Are you a sales, business development professional or reseller that has not been paid commissions? Are you having a dispute with a company over a contract or other dispute? Are you feeling overwhelmed and don't know where to turn. We can assist in locating resources and helping to get some questions answered in addition to getting you help to recover unpaid and or underpaid commissions from employer, client or vendor partner.
Lu'na is a paralegal with many years of sales and business development experience. After working with various client firms and doing projects for both start-up and corporate clients, she noticed a common thread; companies want to take all that they can from sales professionals, provide hyped projections on compensation plans whether a base salary and or from straight commissions and have very little to offer the sales professional vis a vis a qualified lead system. This often means that a sales professional may have a challenging time meeting their income goals with continued support and a workable system in place.
Aside from real estate, mortgage and insurance industries for which a commissioned compensation plan is standard, some positions offer a draw vs. commission. Unfortunately, there are more companies in the market without a proven track record who are offering their sales professionals a 100% commissioned base compensation plan. Sales professionals that are new to the field and even some that have been in the field for some time may fall prey to these high risk situations often with a manager and or business owner not knowing the market or revenue cycle and when clients are likely to pay. Often these companies construct sales agreements, if at all that leaves the sales person waiting 30, 60 and even 90 days or more after the client pays before they see any money. The sales professionals time and money is leveraged; basically the sales personnel is helping to offset credit vis a vis time and money to the company not really knowing when they will see a check.
This is crazy and the only way to bring about change in the way business is done this way is for sales professionals to demand so. Most companies cannot operate nor achieve any level of success without an effective sales team, yet many companies lack a system that cultivates sales and their sales teams success. The perspective is that sales professionals no matter how much business they may bring to a company are dispensible should be revisited. This is no consolation to a sales professional that has spent a number of years at a company, has built a book of business with a solid client base and when it is time to move on and or if the sales person is forced out of the company leaves money on the table and often times starts from square one at another company and or industry. Some may be able to bring their book of business with them but often times this is not the case. This can create a devastating effect on a sales professionals lifestyle especially whe they have a family to support.
In many industries, a sales professionals entry into the field and profession is that you are brought into an office and shown a desk and a phone and are expected to perform miracles for managers who have'nt sold themselves for sometime and may not have a pulse for what is going on in the marketplace. Often times, companies do not have a system in place between marketing and sales " a synergy if you will" in order to make things happen. Pure cold calling is becoming less and less attractive in this economic environment and will have certain sales professionals starving if they are working on 100% commission. These days sales professionals need to do their research before accepting an assignment and or position with a company at 100% commission. It would also be wise to have a strong sales agreement in place; one that you are apart of drafting if at all possible.
Heads up and be aware of some red flags of companies that seek to hire sales professionals are 100% commission without any lead source flow. Executive search firms may provide an alternative source to more attractive job opportunities and assignments depending on your skill level and the industry that you are interested in.
Lu'na and her affiliate partners seek to assist and educate sales professionals and helping them recover unpaid and or underpaid commissions. There are many professions that have its risks and rewards but in many cases, sales professionals end up on the losing side of things, especially if you do not control your own book of business. Ironically, sales is an integral part of the movement of products and services in the world economy. Most companies depend on its sales force and sales team to educate and build an awareness to the customer or client base about a particular product or service and to drive revenue forward.
At the same time, some companies treat their sales force either with disdain or praise and many times " sales managers" believe that they can dismiss their sales people on a whim due to personality conflicts rather than focusing on the business process at hand. As a sales professional, if you find a company that truly cares about and invests in their sales force and has a system of success in place that has been designed with a long term vision, viable product or service in the market place and a progressive compensation plan then you are fortunate.
UnPaid Sales Commissions May Continue to Be a Growing Problem Especially With a Virtual Workforce Unless There Are Provisions Put in Place- Lu’na Hernandez
A couple of years ago, at the time that I started to write this article, I began putting together another web site which will re-launch in June 2010 that is focused on commissions recovery for sales professionals providing information and resources to sales and business development professionals that have not been paid their commissions checks and or are dealing with contract and other disputes. My initial research and conversations with sales professional’s details that this is issue is very common. Whether it be an inside sales or outside sales position, an affiliate marketing relationship and or independent contractor or virtual sales based relationship at some point or another a sales representative has not received their full commission and or compensation for their services.
At the time that I began to write this article and develop the previous site, I had been attempting to collect my commissions and compensation from a publishing company in Northern California. It was a company that complimented the current portfolio of products and services that I offered to my clients, a niche information publication geared towards attorneys, venture capitalists and investors in the Hedge Fund and Venture Capital arena.
Though I live in New York, I was comfortable adding this publication to my service and sales portfolio and as I was comfortable beginning a relationship with this firm as I lived in Northern California for 9 (nine) years and still frequent and do business the Bay area often. Also, as a paralegal with a sales and business development background I liked the service and saw it as a unique opportunity to serve a niche information market in the Hedge Fund and Venture Capital arena. For me it is important to work with companies in locals and or cities that I am familiar with and or travel to often enough so that if there is ever an issue I can get to that place and or may know someone in the area who may be able to assist.
Prior to beginning the project, I had extensive phone conversations with the sales manager, owner and publisher and also spoke with another sales representative who had been with the company for a few months on his experience with the company as far as leads, customer interest, sales cycle, etc. The conversations that I had and the responses that I got all the way around were positive. In fact, the sales manager knew the CEO of another company whose service that I promoted through an affiliate relationship in my sales portfolio.
After those communications, doing some research and reviewing the owner’s resume and credentials, I felt comfortable and began the relationship of selling for the company, big mistake on my part that I did not do further ‘due diligence’. The owner had previously built out a technology firm with employees in both the United States and abroad. A background check on the owner and or asking for sound references would have been in order since this was a start-up operation. Having worked in the dot com industry I was familiar with and met CEO’s and other business owners who were able to cash out of their companies and begin new ones often with sizeable cash cushions, stock and lines of credit so knowing that the owner of this particular company lived and worked in the heart of Silicon Valley I had less apprehension to working with and assist in building the firm.
The sales manager and I had numerous discussions about the goal of building the company over the next year or so from start-up mode, at that time to owner had been pulling together the publication for a few months or so with a few key employees. The sales manager explained that “his” management style was pretty much “hands off” all he cares about is sales coming in the door. His approach, the standard line that sales managers and owners give you 100-200 calls per day, just dial and those hits that will get you the appointments and interested prospects. The good “ole” dial and smile with a script not necessarily verbatim and you will get those hits “at some point”. Some companies will purchase a list of cold leads of target markets that may not have been scrubbed of who they believe may be interested in the product or service and on the other hand. Sales professionals will also farm for their own leads and these should certainly be worth more of a bounty and controlled as their own book of business.
As a “seasoned” sales and business development professional, I felt fairly confident about achieving sales and building out a client base because the service, the litigation publication was a quality publication that serviced a market that was desperately needed to be informed about ongoing litigation, settlement agreements and troubled management of hedge funds and venture firms. Fast forward over a period of several months, I had back and forth calls with the sales manager and the owner with respect to my commission checks for the sales and clients that I brought in. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the sales manager turned out not to be a stand up guy, with the owner on my every call to him promising to send out a certified check that never arrived.
I have been in the business of sales and business development for many years and though I have experienced many unpleasant instances and scenarios not getting paid for bringing in clients and sales into a company is just not acceptable. Unpaid sales commissions may continue to be a growing problem especially with a virtual workforce. In fact, after further research it is astonishing that unpaid sales commissions account for millions of dollars. This is actually monies that sales professionals just give up on collecting because they either don’t know how and or they do not have a clear process in which to do so.
I am really cautious in believing that if the process of paying a virtual workforce is not centralized and or not a high priority it is going to have an adverse effect on professionals who work virtually from a home or virtual office and or in the field. Believe it or not, established companies have been known to stiff their sales professionals
On any given day, you can review many sales positions and opportunities online with some of the major job sites ( for example Craigslist, CareerBuilder, Hotjobs.com etc.) in which the company may be based in and or headquartered in one part of the country and solicits a virtual sales team in other parts of the country offering 100% commission and or other bloated compensation claims. If there is a base offer the company will have an organized system in place in which the sales agent will need to chime in or log on at specific times and or at specific set hours.
In some cases, these are start-up companies that “woo or lure” sales professionals with Ad’s and outrageous claims without having any track record including systems set up, adequate operations and billing, not knowing the sales and or customer buying cycle and not knowing if the market will be receptive to the product and or service..
Before accepting a position or sales opportunity with a company especially if it is 100% commission it is important for the sales professional to find out as much about a company as they can. Are there complaints against the company, does the owner or does the corporation pay their bills on time? Has a lawsuit been filed against the owner and or the company? These are important considerations. Remember this is your livelihood and many of us who have been in sales, have had and built companies know that it takes time to build out relationships and process.
You want to make sure to minimize your losses and invest time and money in opportunities that will bring fruit and food to you and your families. Finding opportunities from reputable headhunters may minimize the risk of working with less established companies, though these companies may offer less aggressive payment plans, less stock options, the peace of mind of a steady and timely source of income for some is a better consolation.
