Salespeople call me every day about getting a better job. When I ask them what base they are earning they usually say anything from $24,000 to $60,000. There are a few who say $100,000 or $250,000.
I always ask salespeople how much they want to have as their base salary in their new job.
The ones at the bottom of the heap focus on the base salary. They have to have $50,000 to survive. They might take a $40,000 base if they can be sure of earning an additional $20,000 their first year.
The folks at the top always say, “I don’t care. I want a great opportunity. I want to realistically be able to earn $200,000 or $500,000.” When I press them they admit they do need a base salary. But then they immediately switch to talking about opportunities, industries, markets, and companies. The big dogs look at a market and size it up quickly. They want to know if they can really blow the doors off of their quota.
The guys at the bottom and middle focus on their base salary, their inability to travel, the competition – they focus on limitations. They want to be comfortable. They work very hard. But they would rather have a well defined market that is penetrable. They want a proven chance to earn what they are comfortable earning.
Do you see a huge difference in attitudes, desires and goals? The big dogs refuse to talk seriously about a limited opportunity. They have to know their company can support them in earning $500,000. The rest of the pack is looking for a company that can prove they can earn $70,000 a year, or $100,000 if they blow the doors off their quota.
Is that the only difference? No. But it is a huge one.
————
Tuesday December 8th I will be doing free seminars on
1. Make strategic change Stick
2. Get salespeople to kick their own…
3. MasterStream – Sell boatloads more in half the time
These are the full keynote classes that clients fly me in to teach.
You can click on the class name above for more details.
