I know how much money many sales reps earned at the companies I’ve worked for during the last few years. That’s the “information” part of IT. Provided this knowledge I wonder if some of these sales folks know I can correlate the amount of time they spend on Facebook verses doing actual work (some are even crazy enough to befriend me without putting me in a “block” group). Yesterday one of them, who’s making pretty good money, started her day on FB by posting all about reading in the tub and making brunch for friends….on a Tuesday morning.
I’ve always thought sales reps are over paid. I understand that management has to determine a base salary that motivates without discouraging. I find there is a lot more motivation pay than actual results in many cases. Our retailer reps work a lot. These are the guys in contact with the Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart buyers etc. It’s the other reps that are suppose to attend these conferences and expos to generate new business who seem like they spend three or four days on the road and then three or four days at home relaxing or playing golf for “business purposes”.
If the owners of any company had a look into how much business relation time sales reps spend working with customers verses personal time socializing my guess is base salaries would be much lower and commissions would be higher. Hell, if it were me the base for any sales rep would be near minimum wage plus travel and expenses. If the sales rep can’t earn enough to equal the difference, given a good commission, they need to find another career path. College graduates should look into enterprise software or technology sales. There’s a shortage in the market and it’s a cushy living.