Tuesday, February 22, 2011

2/22/2011

The situations in Wisconsin and Ohio really have me at a loss, because I simply can't understand them. And that's because my business experience has been polar to the issues in dispute.

Very early in my career, and sheerly by chance, I was given an opportunity to try my hand at sales. That had never been my plan or experience, I'd always worked in factories or plants, but nonetheless I accepted the challenge.

Once I began to grasp what selling was all about, and truly focused on the task, I stayed in sales and marketing for the rest of my business life and still do both today. And it's because of what selling entails that the labor issues confuse me.

The first thing about selling, and the one most important to salespeople themselves is there is no job security whatsoever, never will be and never was. The only thing that matters is: How much you produce at an acceptable profit. And, there aren't any warnings, negotiations or discussions about your job or performance. If results aren't satisfactory...you're gone.

Now, those are the rules and the way it works, and the premise is cast in stone. Because businesses aren't charities, they gain nothing from dead weight, and their mission is simple: income, survival and growth. Consequently, for salespeople especially, businesses neither have the time or resources to be patient when it comes to earning money, and the ones generally tasked with that responsibility are sales folks.

For many successful folks in sales, as time is spent, experience gained and performance noticed, opportunities arise to "manage." But, here again, not only are there no safety nets in case of failure...the employment risks increase significantly. Because now salespeople aren't only measured by their own production, they're also responsible for the results of all those on their staff. So, with every promotion, the risks and probabilities of personal failure go up.

Now, naturally, due to the risks involved in sales as a profession and the constant, never-ending need to outperform competition, successful salespeople are generally compensated quite well. But, regardless of the possibilities for greater reward, as the old saying about salespeople goes -they're as good as their last deal. Meaning that if they don't produce, they're over, regardless.

And lastly, there's this issue of tenure. Because other than relatives, or perhaps those who have some kind of hold or threat over their employer, I can think of no one who can survive in business whom isn't measurably productive. All employees have to justify their existence somehow or other. But tenure overrides that premise. Simply putting in time is enough to insure job survival.

And that reminds me of a question I was asked in a job interview many years ago when the interviewer asked me how much experience I had. When I replied that I had five years experience, he wanted clarification and inquired if I actually had five years of experience, or simply one year of experience five times. There's quite a difference.

And that's how I look at tenure. Because a typical teacher spouts the same stuff to students at the same grade level year after year, and hasn't changed an iota from day one...so what's the increase in their value? The answer's simple: None.

That's it for today folks.

Adios

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