A career in sales is attractive to many – offering increased autonomy, the ability to manage your own schedule and, of course, the freeing capacity to control and boost your income. No cap, no restraints, just the power of your work ethic and the potential to hone a craft, guiding you into the good life.
The compensation packages offered to salespeople can be impressive, but before signing the dotted line and accepting a job offer, it pays to take a closer look at the fine print and exact wording of a compensation package. There is a chance that there is more to it than meets the eye.
In most cases, salespeople, in their role and working structure, operate almost as small-business entities. Granted the freedom to manage time and resources, salespeople generate leads, submit proposals and seal deals independently. Many are able to operate autonomously and outside the nine-to-five constraints of the regular office world.
I often counsel my sales candidates to use business parallels to assist them in protecting themselves professionally. After all, a successful business owner would never sign a major contract at first glance but, rather, carefully consider all options, investigate legitimacy and ensure that every stipulation within it will suit the needs and goals of his or her business.
When it comes to compensation packages, salespeople should mirror such attention to detail. Ensuring that employers are providing the best salary and working arrangement possible will help to avoid unfulfilling work or prevent failure in achieving goals.
I recommend asking yourself the following questions when considering a sales position:
Do the responsibilities listed in the job description actually describe a sales role?
If the job you’re interested in requires an overlap of customer service or administrative tasks, such tasks could function as a barrier to making additional income or commission. If you’re too busy being bogged down with paperwork or are chained to your desk with phone duties, then you probably will not be able to reach desired sales targets. Ensure that the job description and duties align with your expectations and experience.
Do the responsibilities of the job match the pay?
Quite a bit of heavy lifting is required to make a sale. In many firms there are multiple layers within a sales team to ensure support of the sales executive and to help increase closing ratios. If you are expected to network, prospect, cold call, conduct presentations and close all deals on your own, versus having members of a sales team support your efforts, then your pay should reflect this.
What are the limits of your territory?
Understanding the boundaries of your sales territory (geographical measures, postal codes, street addresses, business numbers, etc.) will give you a rough idea of the volume of success you can achieve. It is important to be aware and comfortable with the area you must cover relative to how you will be compensated.
How often will you receive performance reviews and will compensation be considered during each review?
If performance reviews will only occur every two years, and your compensation will not be reviewed until that time, you need to be sure that you can survive for the duration under your current compensation plan.
Is there a cap on the total amount that you can earn and are the quotas achievable given recent history?
When moving from one industry to another, it’s common for new employees to be indifferent to the stated sales quota numbers as they will have no knowledge of what is and what is not realistic.
Asking for some real -time/recent examples of execution levels by current sales team members will put this issue at ease. In some cases, caps on earnings will exist. But you must ensure that they are acceptable for you.
Is the company behind the times?
Look for dated language in the description of processes and how the organization operates. This can be a sign that the company is not set up to facilitate sales success, especially if it requires you to work on selling old stock and outdated product, it runs using dated and time-consuming processes or it does not use new technologies or invest in research and development.
Asking these six questions prior to signing a contract, in my experience, can help prevent sales reps from taking positions that may limit their potential. Even if a compensation package sounds promising – a strong commission structure, base pay, etc. – there is a chance that hidden obstacles will make it difficult to achieve career and income goals. Essentially, it pays to read the fine print. The good news is that simply asking the right questions can ensure that such fine print will read in support of your career growth.