Question – How much would you pay someone who is so special that they rip up the rule book in your Sales Department ?
I’d like to think you know what I’m referring to, if not then just picture it someone who makes such a positive impact that you’d walk over hot coals to keep them happy and on board. The customers and your staff love them and they bring in so much money and business that it enables you to fund other growth activities that you’d otherwise have to finance in other ways.
So the next question is – what are they worth and how much would you pay them ?
The reason I ask is that I was recently talking to one of our Sales Directors who, a few years ago, had a big argument with the owner of a business that had experienced 50% year on year growth for the last 3 years. Not only that but it was evidently clear that the main contribution to this growth came from a single ‘special’ individual.
Apparently the main gripe of the owner of the business was that he paid this person (in his eyes) ‘Way too much money for just a salesperson’. Apparently the conversation even progressed to ‘I’m actually considering letting him go because he earns more than me’.
So what was ‘Way too much money’?
‘A hundred and sixty grand on sales of one and a half million’, my Sales Director was told in what was apparently a very aggressive and begrudging response.
I’ll throw it out for comments but my opinion on the subject (despite being biased and also not much of a football fan) is that the chap sounded like a snip at £160k a year.
Rumour has it, only a few days after the discussion I’m referring to, the sales person in question handed in a transfer request.
