What causes you the most stress?

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

"Perhaps I could have done this better"

I like this too. In this case I would say I will be more complete with my notes; perhaps even provide my team manager with a list of accounts that have asked not to be called.

I have no control over the collateral that I send out in my script. I don't even know what it looks like, unless a customer replies to it.

[Bungleau]

That is an excellent point in your favor. Since you have clients who request not to be called, isn't a canned piece of collateral that assumes you've called incorrect? Shouldn't there be another option that allows you to indicate whether you've called or not?

I'd definitely put together that list of clients who don't want to be called... along with their sales volume. What that says, behind the scenes, is that here are X thousand dollars that may go away if you call them against their wishes.

Avoiding a "make-wrong" in this will go a long way towards cleaning it up peacefully.

[Bungleau]

Originally Posted by Variol (Farseer) Elmwood My team manager has only been so for a month now, so I don't think that will work. My former manager is retiring in the Summer, so she won't get involved.

Do you *know* that she won't get involved? Have you asked her? Remember the Wayne Gretzky rule... 100% of the shots you *don't* take *don't* go in the net.

She may decline... and she may also have advice for you on how to handle things. She may even intercede behind the scenes, possibly finding a way for your current manager to clean things up without losing face (there's *that* thing again).

One of the rules of sales... people *NEVER* change their decision once it's made. The only way to get change to happen is to make a new decision happen.

Another line of reasoning popped into my brain... You're supposed to make X calls a day. Some clients request that you not call them, but email... and buy anyway. What would be the best way to record a contact for someone who doesn't want a call? Or should you just give up that business because it doesn't help you make your call metrics?

I definitely urge you to find someone to role-play with. You will be *MUCH* better suited for this conversation on Thursday. You'll be able to find your weak points and arguments and either replace them or be able to acknowledge them and move on quickly to something you can win.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Kim is having a few friends over tonight for a potluck. Maybe I'll use them for the role play.

Depending on how steadfast the department manager is, I think I should ask why she is so determined to give me a written warning and take my commission away. I feel a little like there's some other agenda here.
Given that HR will be there and that they know about the person that was fired a few weeks ago and other that was given a final warning in December for something frightfully petty, it could help to clear things up a bit.

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Variol (Farseer) Elmwood Kim is having a few friends over tonight for a potluck. Maybe I'll use them for the role play. Depending on how steadfast the department manager is, I think I should ask why she is so determined to give me a written warning and take my commission away. I feel a little like there's some other agenda here. Given that HR will be there and that they know about the person that was fired a few weeks ago and other that was given a final warning in December for something frightfully petty, it could help to clear things up a bit.

Those are points to keep in mind as you prepare your defense, but it's probably not something you want to address directly in the meeting. Claiming "She's being mean to everybody" isn't much above "Everybody else does it, why did I get in trouble?" Directly addressing other firings made by the dept mgr will more than likely just result in HR circling the wagons around her and saying something like "you are not privy to all the circumstances involved in those incidents and they are irrelevant to this case anyway". It's a fine line between standing your ground and shooting yourself in the foot. The best approach (if you can find a way to do it), is to very discreetly or indirectly reference the other firings. Unfortunately, I don't have any good suggestions on how to do that.

Some questions still come to my mind about this incident.
1) Is the dept mgr fairly new in her position? It sounds like she might be trying to "mark her territory" somewhat by letting the sales force know you had better not mess with her.
2) I'm still a little fuzzy about the amount of discipline they want to impose. If this incident occurred over an email to a client, then I suppose it's reasonable for them to penalize you for the commissions you earned on sales to that client. But the reprimand made it sound like they were gonna dock ALL the commissions you earned during an unspecified amount of time centered loosely around the email incident. That is not reasonable, that is punitive. If they question your sales to 1 customer, I can see penalizing you for the commissions to that account, but I do NOT agree with them penalizing your commissions from ALL accounts. That may not be the case, but that's kinda how I interpreted the memo you got.
I especially like Bung's suggestion of making a list of all clients that request to be contacted by email rather than phone. If you can show documented proof that the customer wants to buy from you and DOES buy from you, but just does not want to be called every month, that should help justify the email in question that went out. This is what I meant yesterday by "sometimes you have to work around the rules". The company says "You MUST call each client" but the client says "I'll buy from you AS LONG AS you DON"T constantly bother me with phone calls. Just contact me by email instead".
4) Another good point is to ASK your team manager if she will go to bat for you. Even if you're convinced she won't, it can't hurt to ask. The very worst thing that will happen is she will confirm what you thought and say "No".

The main thing you want to focus on to HR is your recorded level of productivity, documentation that you DO follow SOP contact rules for all clients (unless one specifically requests email contact only) and documentation of the accounts that have made such a request. Show HR that you are being a "company man" and this complaint is simply an incident where you could have done things differently.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

As per you first paragraph, I would not bring up the other situations. It's more about finding out why she's being overly harsh. She is not new. I'd say somewhere around 3.5 years. Maybe she's trying to stay relevant.
I'll try to make a list of these customers I'm going through today, that don't want to be called.

..and yes, they do want to take my entire commission away for Feb. If it was only that one customer, it would probably be less than a dollar and a huge bookkeeping headache.

I know my former manager well enough "not" ask her. I did make her look good last year, but ultimately, she will side with the company and I don't need 3 of 'em ganging up on me.

[Bungleau]

Based on the policy manual, they don't have grounds to take away February's commission, from what I currently understand.

It states that they can take away commission during the fraudulent period. How long is a "period"?

At this point, that appears to be one contact. Do they have evidence / proof of anything more than that? If so, then they could make a case for the "period" between those two contacts. If not, the "fraudulent period" is either that one sale, or perhaps that one day (since your goal is X contact per day). They'd be hard-pressed to justify extending it to cover the full month IMHO. Not that they wouldn't... but they'd need to clarify things.

If you've got a lawyer friend who could review things, it would probably be worth your while to do so. Policy manuals aren't often reviewed by lawyers... my company's manual specifically states that nothing in it is legally binding Great way to say it is just a suggestion

Even if you have to pay the lawyer, I suspect it will only an hour or two. That's probably a lot less than the commission amount at risk.

Hmmm... as I think about this here, let me state a couple of things that *you* could state that put you in a good light.

• You have to make X phone contacts / day
• Some clients insist on email, not phone
• The confirmation collateral is system-generated and you cannot change it
• It assumes that all contacts will be by phone, and doesn't consider email
• One email customer received one of those and brought it to someone's attention
• You logged that email contact as a contact
• When the policy was crafted, were email contacts a normal part of business? Or was it crafted before email was a common part of everyday business life?
• Policy dictates it's not a contact, but it's what the buying customer wants. What's right? Policy or the customer?
• Policy indicates that commissions can be withheld for fraudulent activity.
• Is "fraudulent" defined anywhere? Here is one legal interpretation that addresses the fact that "fraudulent" is often not well defined, leading to use of commonly accepted standards for fraud, which he explains.
• The definition of the fraudulent period is also unclear. That sale? That customer? That day? That month? Where does it state what the period is?
• This leads you to a good question to ask them... why is it fraudulent? You consider it an honest mistake, and one that you certainly won't repeat.
• When all is said and done, the purpose behind things like call targets is to ensure a rep is making enough calls to be able to hit their numbers. You're not only hitting, you're exceeding. Consistently. Where are the damages to the company?
• At the end of the day, there are a couple of issues. The company's systems don't apparently address those clients who don't want to be contacted by phone. You are finding ways to take care of your customers that walk within and around the existing policy. And as you do so, you're exceeding the targets the company sets for you.
• Is it better to target you, or to target someone who's *not* meeting the sales targets being assigned by the company?

As for your former manager, you could still drop her a line asking for any suggestions on how to handle things. She may side with the company, but she can also be a valuable resource for you as you navigate this. She may be able to tell you how to end up with a general win across the board. Or she may run straight to HR and let them know she's been contacted. You'd know her better than anyone here... your call. Personally, I figure any possible ally is better than none.

BTW, I wouldn't be inclined to role-play during a dinner party. I think this is more important than that... you need to put some really focused efforts into it, and with someone who can play the company heavy as well as giving you constructive feedback about it. I don't think I'd be able to do that between the main course and dessert....

Good luck. You've got a lot of stuff to do between now and tomorrow's meeting.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Thanks for all those points!
I will mention again though, that when I asked what the "policy" was, HR said there's nothing in the commission plan.

Our year works in periods; eight 4 week periods and four 5 week periods. So it does not always go by beginning to end of month. I think they will use this as their "period".

The best way to fudge, or be fraudulent with contacts is to work hard for half the day, try to get 18-20 contacts and take the afternoon off. Then, they'll double your day to 36-40. And this happens all the time. The thing is, they can't prove anything.
One girl on the team worked for 2 hours on Monday, took the rest of the day off and went from 10 contacts to 40. So, if you're a little behind, that's the way to do it. I think if Framingham saw this going on, they'd freak out.
The junk that is their coaching tool is their pride and joy. It's a most a fright full piece of junk. But, they'll understand when I tell them that I achieve greater sales by calling someone than not. They can't argue this of course.
Maybe the time she has had to think about will help as well.

Edit: ..wonder if this would have happened, if I had not started this thread..

[Bungleau]

Ya never know what coulda/shoulda/woulda happened...

That being said, the policy states that any commission during the fraudulent *activity* will be forfeited... not during the *period*. That would be another point in your favor.... just that measly dollar or so. They'll have spent more than a thousand times that getting this cleared up.

Now, I haven't seen all your procedures, policies, and documentation, so there may be something more that changes all this. But from what I see, they don't have anything concrete if you choose to push back. Just one incident... with less than a dollar commission... do the words "mountain" and "molehill" mean anything?

I would be prepared to look for your next position. Unfortunately, an incident like this poisons the atmosphere... and even when it's resolved, there will still be underlying issues going on.

Fortunately, there's great demand for a sales person who regularly exceeds his or her quota... just ask OfficeMax and Office Depot, among others.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

I really don't think it will come to that. I hope to gently move her in a direction where she just feels it's right to change the decision.

There's a chance it may not happen tomorrow either. My manager was out sick again today. If we don't have the team meeting, I doubt we'll have this one.

I've been reading a little about the fraudulent stuff too..