Date: July 14, 1999
To: moving@avatar-moving.com
From: "Joe Mover" <JoeMover@aol.com>
Subject: AMS-Forum Commission vs salary
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[ Return To The Hall of Fame ]I have been in the moving business for 25 years. I have been a general manager, a sales manager, a driver, a dispatcher and for the last 15 years I have been a salesman. For most of the last 15 years I have been a salaried salesman.
I believe that determining what motivates a person is a very difficult task. I know people that are motivated by pride in a job well done. I know people that are motivated by their ability to drive the right car. Some want to be the largest booker for their agency or van line. Some want to live in a bigger and better house and some just want to pay their bills and send their kids to college. For some the money is just a way of keeping score.
My personal motivation has changed from time to time over the years. Today I want what is best for my family. This usually means that I perform in the manner that is best for the agency family that pays my salary.
To say that a sales professional cannot be motivated by a salary goes against my personal experience. I am employed by one of the largest agency families in the country. We are the largest booker and hauler in our van line system. We are a profitable company and yes, our owner makes good money and drives a Mercedes.
As far as I know, every sales professional in our organization is on salary. I do not worry about having to pay back a draw. I can count on taking home a predictable paycheck every two weeks. I have good benefits (great benefits by industry standards) and I take great pride in knowing that I work for an industry leader and a company that will be in business for a very long time.
We receive incentives above our base pay that require a strong performance each quarter. We have aggressive goals and the incentives are based on reaching these goals. I could survive on my salary alone and I know that if I have a bad quarter or even a bad year I will still feed my family and won't be out on the street. The motivation comes from knowing that I can drive a better car and live in a better home and send my daughter to a better school only when I reach my goals.
I am also well aware that poor performance for an extended length of time will cost me my job, or at least will cause an adjustment to my salary to bring it in line with my sales performance.
I do not drive a Mercedes but I wish I could. I'm glad that our owner does. This means that the company is profitable and stable. I know few people that work as hard or puts in as many hours as my employer. I am grateful to him for the opportunity his hard work has allowed me.
Joe Mover
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