Job Dilemma

[sandbill]

It sounds like you have a good gig now. Start-ups are risky to all involved. Good luck.

[Mike]

Lots of good information here and I will add my own to it. I have been in commissioned sales since '92. I have seen good plans, bad plans, quotas, no quotas, high base salary, low base salary and that is over the course of 4 jobs.

I will start with this from a very good friend and successful salesman, "Potential doesn't pay my mortgage." Lots of bosses that are salary say this to prospective employees and I have heard it myself more than once.

If a commission plan can't be written on a napkin, plain and simple, it's not worth it. I have a very complex pay plan now with a quota, commission entry point and bonus if you exceed your monthly quota. I also have a decent base, 3x more than my last position so that makes it worth it. I have been entertained by a few companies during this mess but I am staying put and I would suggest you do the same.

One thing I have learned from "start ups" is you'd better find a good one, with plenty of $$, resources and dedication to the customer. I have only seen a few that will pay what they say they will pay to a salesman. Like the above post, "he pays right on "normal sales" but not on big sales", that bothers me. I know a female that settled out of court for her commission. All was well, landing $100-500K jobs at 1% and then in 8 months won a $125M job and they denied her pay of $1.25M. It did not end well for the company.

Anyhow, I think sanitation is a tight market. Keep the sure thing for a while until this shakes out with the economy.

[Black Ice]

Have you ever had a commission sales job before that you did good at, if not, I would probably pass. Another thought would be to see if you could do it part time during your free time from your oil field job and see if it's right for you before you quit your job.

The good at it part is what gets so many people. I’ve seen so many people come and go in sales over the 18 years I’ve been with my company. The good ones go on to do great things and better themselves. The other ones change jobs about every 12 to 18 months.


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[TexasDixie]

I wouldn't change jobs now either unless they have a south Texas lease

The owner owns a 2k acre ranch in South Texas

It really comes down to the commission plan. It needs to be easy to understand how you make the commission and needs to align with the companies and your goals. It also needs to be written, not just verbal. If it is really built to drive new business and compensate for that, you should make a lot of money. Sales jobs (with commission) are all I will ever do. I own then what I make.

Another question to ask: Is the commission the same whether you land a whale or a crappie? My wife worked as a 100% commission sales person for awhile. Owner of the company was happy to pay her full commission on "normal" sales. Not so much on big sales.

Know what you're getting into, and who you're getting in bed with.

The commission is easy. it is 3% of gross. So it would be 3% of one new trash can in rural service and 3% of one 40yard roll off. And would be 3% every month for the monthly plans or everytime it gets dumped and they get charged again.

Lots of good information here and I will add my own to it. I have been in commissioned sales since '92. I have seen good plans, bad plans, quotas, no quotas, high base salary, low base salary and that is over the course of 4 jobs.

I will start with this from a very good friend and successful salesman, "Potential doesn't pay my mortgage." Lots of bosses that are salary say this to prospective employees and I have heard it myself more than once.

If a commission plan can't be written on a napkin, plain and simple, it's not worth it. I have a very complex pay plan now with a quota, commission entry point and bonus if you exceed your monthly quota. I also have a decent base, 3x more than my last position so that makes it worth it. I have been entertained by a few companies during this mess but I am staying put and I would suggest you do the same.

One thing I have learned from "start ups" is you'd better find a good one, with plenty of $$, resources and dedication to the customer. I have only seen a few that will pay what they say they will pay to a salesman. Like the above post, "he pays right on "normal sales" but not on big sales", that bothers me. I know a female that settled out of court for her commission. All was well, landing $100-500K jobs at 1% and then in 8 months won a $125M job and they denied her pay of $1.25M. It did not end well for the company.

Anyhow, I think sanitation is a tight market. Keep the sure thing for a while until this shakes out with the economy.

Great post and a lot of good points. Also why I am even entertaining the salary cut and career move. They want to give back to the community. They want to have someone local doing the selling and building the relationships and they want to give back to those that help them.Iif that's fair animals or little league teams etc. The owners also own an oilfield company and this other company is them wanting to diversify so they aren't all based on the oilfield. They have this trash company going in another area already also and it seems to be doing very well.

[TexasDixie]

I appreciate all of the responses. This is a really tough decision for me. My wife said she will support whatever I decide, I just don't want to add that stress of the lower income on her and the kids. But at the same time I feel like I want to be doing something different. I know its not the best time to be making a change but I have been looking for a little while and this one came to me. So not sure if that was a sign of what I should do or not but I am surprised I am even considering the paycut but I feel like I could make it up. Going to think and pray about it some more and see how I feel about it when I wake up Monday morning. Thanks again

[Mike]

They want to have someone local doing the selling and building the relationships and they want to give back to those that help them. If that's fair animals or little league teams etc. The owners also own an oilfield company and this other company is them wanting to diversify so they aren't all based on the oilfield. They have this trash company going in another area already also and it seems to be doing very well.

That sounds good on the surface but I would still do some more research. I would guess their notion of diversifying was pre-pandemic? If not, I would be more cautious. I will add this on the above bold type and I think I can speak from a good perspective as the buddy I referenced is living this right now, same scenario but still industrial work. He works for a new start up, been there a year, family owned and he now has ownership. The oilfield - energy mentality/model does not always transpose into other businesses as easy as one expects. They are making some $$ but it is a circus every day.

[Mary]

College Station and surrounding counties

If you are good at sales, do it! College Station offers a lot of opportunities for sales in that field.

[TexasAg2002]

What service do you sell in the oilfield?

[Roy]

Leaving a secure job to get into a 'sales' job during a time when a ton of small businesses and millions of people are out of work makes perfect sense. Who are you going to sell to??

If you are serious about the change, put yourself in a potential customer's situation- would you actually buy the product/service you will be selling? I was offered a sales position (won't go into detail about for 'what') that I knew there was no darn way I was going to make it, regardless of the commission percentage. That service is already tapped out in my area and I was promised a very nice commission, but 10 percent of nothing is NOTHING.

My suggestion, stick with the sure thing for now and make the switch when things begin (hopefully) to get back to normal.

[TexasDixie]

That sounds good on the surface but I would still do some more research. I would guess their notion of diversifying was pre-pandemic? If not, I would be more cautious. I will add this on the above bold type and I think I can speak from a good perspective as the buddy I referenced is living this right now, same scenario but still industrial work. He works for a new start up, been there a year, family owned and he now has ownership. The oilfield - energy mentality/model does not always transpose into other businesses as easy as one expects. They are making some $$ but it is a circus every day.

This is something they have been working on before this rona crap. Trash truck coming next week and already have hundreds of cans and dumpsters ready to roll. Just think with the way things are going they have pushed it into high gear to get this one going now.

If you are good at sales, do it! College Station offers a lot of opportunities for sales in that field.

That's my thoughts. For rural service outside of college station there is just one major competitor.

Leaving a secure job to get into a 'sales' job during a time when a ton of small businesses and millions of people are out of work makes perfect sense. Who are you going to sell to??

If you are serious about the change, put yourself in a potential customer's situation- would you actually buy the product/service you will be selling? I was offered a sales position (won't go into detail about for 'what') that I knew there was no darn way I was going to make it, regardless of the commission percentage. That service is already tapped out in my area and I was promised a very nice commission, but 10 percent of nothing is NOTHING.

My suggestion, stick with the sure thing for now and make the switch when things begin (hopefully) to get back to normal.

I am currently in sales, just a straight salary job, but to be honest, not having commission I think can make salesman lazy because there is no incentive to pick up more work because all it does it add to your workload without more money.

[GWilly]

Interesting combination as I work for an oilfield services company and actually just got done having lunch with a buddy who does sales for Waste Management in the Houston area. Seems like OFS companies have laid off 50%+ of their workforce, mine has and we are one of the guys with no debt so I imagine its even worse at a lot of other places. That said, if you still have a job in this market, then it looks like you have a good situation going and are identified by your company as one of the good ones and there is security in that. Especially as things improve which they will (we estimate in a few months). On the flip side of the coin, my buddy at Waste Management was just telling me how their business is being impacted by the market and so is his pay as he is commission. If the biggest player in waste/trash is feeling it, I am sure the smaller operation is feeling pain from the market as well.

[dfkoon]

My advice has always been that there are no bad decision, only letting someone else make the decision for you - that is bad. I would find a quiet place outside. And just ask God for guidance.

[TexasDixie]

Interesting combination as I work for an oilfield services company and actually just got done having lunch with a buddy who does sales for Waste Management in the Houston area. Seems like OFS companies have laid off 50%+ of their workforce, mine has and we are one of the guys with no debt so I imagine its even worse at a lot of other places. That said, if you still have a job in this market, then it looks like you have a good situation going and are identified by your company as one of the good ones and there is security in that. Especially as things improve which they will (we estimate in a few months). On the flip side of the coin, my buddy at Waste Management was just telling me how their business is being impacted by the market and so is his pay as he is commission. If the biggest player in waste/trash is feeling it, I am sure the smaller operation is feeling pain from the market as well.

I can see that with a market like Houston. College station and surrounding areas don't have as much competition. And for the rural area there isn't much at all. mainly one company. But I appreciate the input as its something I have thought about.

My advice has always been that there are no bad decision, only letting someone else make the decision for you - that is bad. I would find a quiet place outside. And just ask God for guidance.

This is what I am trying to do the most. Just wanted to bounce it off some others to get some feedback different that what me or my wife think.

Still no decision yet. Talked back and forth with the owner and talked about the pay being my biggest hurdle. Said he wanted to try to get creative to try to make it work. Should be getting me some different pay breakdowns and see if we can get closer. Did say something that made me feel good however "Nothing worse than having an employee who isn't getting paid what they want or are used to causing them to be unhappy as well as their wife. Then that leads to a bad partnership. We are looking for a partnership. Everyone we hire we expect it to be their last job." This made me feel pretty good. Now to see what they come back with.

[Bill]

Wrong time to leave a secure, salary job and go on a commissioned sales position. I’ve retired from commissioned sales positions and it’s completely different than a salaried job.

My 2 cents.


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[Bill]

What did you do?
Just curious here.


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