Editor’s note: This article was first published in October 2015; its phrase “so far in 2015” refers to the year of publication, and its description of commission-only sales jobs in Spain reflects the labour market around 2015.
If sales work has always been somewhat “debased” in Spain, the number of companies looking for young people with no experience to work on a commercial agency contract (with no Social Security registration) and no base salary, that is, paid purely on commission, has risen considerably in recent years.
And as we explained in a previous article, a salesperson working under an agency contract is neither good nor bad in itself. It depends on the terms, the company, the product, the salesperson’s expectations and professionalism, and how reputable the company is.
That said, we also explained how many companies have lived for decades off a constant stream of sales reps who come and go. Since the sales force costs the company nothing, it makes money from the very first contract a rep signs.
The problem lies in the deceptions some companies use to create false expectations among new salespeople. They tell some of them that if they exceed a certain number of contracts or policies, at the end of a trial period of about three to six months they will be put on the payroll with Social Security, and some of these companies even promise a company car and high pay to the survivors of these trial periods.
Needless to say, in most cases it’s a lie. A company offering such terms rarely intends to formally hire anyone. In fact, they don’t even expect anyone to beat the targets for three months in a row, and even if someone did, as I have personally analysed in some companies of this kind, given the profit margin on each policy, it isn’t usually profitable to hire a salesperson with Social Security and a fixed salary. Mathematically, it doesn’t work for the company.
See also: Learn how to look for a job with a comic: the story of Leo and 5 million people in Spain
That’s why they tend to hire young people who still live with their families, since no adult with bills to pay could afford to go three months earning next to nothing. Let alone six.
These sales job offers are open to anyone willing to accept them, regardless of experience, although, as I said, in this case they are looking for young people or desperate adults, the only ones willing to accept a job that, in my view, borders on deception and is in very poor taste, sullying a profession I once loved.
In short: if a company is looking for salespeople and anyone will do, that company isn’t looking for salespeople. It’s looking for a bunch of suckers to exploit.
The mistake most of these young salespeople make
There’s nothing wrong with taking a sales job with lousy pay, as long as you’re clear that you’re treating it as a sales university: gaining experience and applying sales techniques, losing your fear of talking to prospects, and getting used to doors slammed in your face and every kind of refusal.
The problem is that many of these companies take advantage of the naivety of these young would-be professional salespeople, assuring them they can build a future career in the company (even though nobody there has lasted more than 12 months).
So the new rep, to hit the monthly sales target and compete for a permanent position with fantastic terms, will first turn to friends and family to buy whatever it is they’re selling. And while friends can come up with all sorts of excuses to tell you to get lost, family is family, and to do the salesperson a favour, they’ll end up signing up for your service or buying your product.
(See: 14 secrets and truths about selling)
Why is it such a huge mistake?
Precisely because of this innocent act, these unethical companies exist. Most of them are counting on you selling to your family and friends. They know that with your experience, and probably the dreadful product you’re selling, you won’t get much further than family and friends. Once you leave the company a few months later (which is the most likely outcome), they’ll have made money on the policies, few or many, that you got from your family and close friends.
At some point the company’s smooth-talking sales pitchman will drop a comment along the lines of: “If you can’t even convince your own parents and friends to buy what you’re selling, how do you expect to convince anyone else?”
If you hear those words, run from that company immediately, because you won’t learn anything there.
There’s nothing wrong with selling to your family, but when should you do it?
If you really want to make sales a career rather than a pastime, and if you genuinely believe you can build a career in that company, never sell to family and friends first.
Find your own prospects, people and businesses you don’t know. If you can’t close sales with people you don’t know, you have no future as a salesperson in that company, or you still have a lot of sales experience to gain.
Take it as a given that if you have to rely on family and friends to sell, once you’ve run through them, you won’t have any more sales.
(See: 3 books that aren’t about sales but every salesperson should read)
Your reputation as a salesperson
It may seem trivial, but I still remember a neighbour and friend of mine who worked in sales, and I don’t remember him fondly. In two years he worked for five different companies. How do I know? Because in those two years he offered me five different products: life insurance, switching my phone provider, a better deal on my electricity bill, solar panels to cut my energy consumption, and then another insurance policy.
He was enthusiastic, but someone who every three or four months was working for the best company in the industry struck me as odd, especially since at every single one of them he was doing brilliantly and earning a fortune. So why leave those companies?
It reminds me of those people who joined a multi-level marketing business seven days ago and are already selling you the wonderful system that changed their lives. “For heaven’s sake! You’ve been there seven days and you haven’t even sold a single pack of products yet.”
Turning to people you know is the perfect way to wreck your credibility as a sales professional. I always told this person the same thing: “If you’re still at that great company in five months, I promise I’ll buy whatever you’re selling.” I always keep my promises, and I never had to buy anything from him.
In short: if you want to become a professional in sales, leave family and friends aside, because they’ll come to you on their own once they see you’ve been selling that product or service for a while. There’s nothing wrong with trying your hand at selling certain products, and nothing wrong with changing companies every three months as soon as you see something that doesn’t add up or realise you’re wasting your time there. Every experience helps you sharpen your sales skills.
So far in 2015 I have refused to train the sales teams of three companies whose credibility was doubtful, both for their salespeople and for their end customers. Never forget what Warren Buffett said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
Featured image: EraserGirl, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
