Big Win, Rules Changed

Stop letting one loss compound into a career of quiet defeat

Dear Leader,

Yesterday, you came into the conference room a different person from last month. The easy glide had been replaced by a sullen walk. You flopped into the seat across from me. You explained how the commission structure had changed only days after you landed the company's largest sale. What started as a motivational high, ended abruptly just after the agreement was signed. When I asked why, you snapped "They said the school district sale was too much commission."

Sadly, I have heard this story before. A great incentive plan encourages risks and bold innovative outreach, until it produces an outsized result. Then ownership revises the plan to the detriment of the sales team and inversely to owner benefit. Employees conclude that they are resources to be exploited rather than valued team players.

You should have been protected from this. This is precisely what made you so eager to leave your last position. Your desperation blinded you to the risks. This company told you what you wanted to hear, but you knew there was no contract or agreement regarding commissions. What they had described was a commissions policy. A policy that could change at any time. There were no boundaries to protect your value.

You betrayed the one person counting on you ... you.

It's obvious to me that this is registering as a defeat. Your demeanor is portraying a loss in confidence and enthusiasm. It won't be long before the team is modeling you with lackluster effort thinking "If he doesn't care, why should I?" And, if you let this go, the boss will notice the lack of performance. A condition that will justify the commission schedule change.

The worst effect is to you personally when a loss compounds into a series of losses.

Breaking free of this cycle takes a strong will and opportunistic perspective. You must reject the temptation to give up or give in. Take the most from this defining moment.

One opportunity is to address upper management with regard to changing rules. How lowering employee commissions when they win is perceived as an integrity problem. A problem that translates to lower performance. A conversation that will require accuracy, finesse and firmness. But, to start this series of conversations and presentations you will need to do some research into the revenue numbers and create some compelling projections. Projections that show the good that will come from a bold incentive program and the bad that will come from continuing with the current one. The biggest challenge will be adeptly tying your success to their success.

Another, and perhaps the biggest opportunity for you to prevent a repeat of this scenario. Consider this. Would you sell a car at a variable price chosen by the buyer? Selling your service to an employer should be similar. You have agency to set your limits, price and the terms upon which you are willing to operate.

It's time to set boundaries in the form of written contracts and agreements that describe how your commission schedule works. And while you are developing this, include your team. Show them by example how to maintain their sovereignty and how to negotiate fairly with employers.

This opening doesn't stop with negotiating a more attractive and stable commission schedule for you and your team. It's the opportunity to find that bold and confident leader in you. The leader that brings everyone along with him for wins all around.

But most important is the reinforcement to yourself that you set boundaries because you deserve boundaries. You have earned this.

Park Wiker

P.S. For it is you who know yourself, and what value you set upon yourself, and at what rate you sell yourself. Epictetus