The lie about commission

When I checked the mail today, I found an envelope from Belltower Books. They had hired me to do campus buybacks at the end of the fall semester and between the lethargy of winter break and the stress of being back at school, it had slipped my mind to look out for the spoils of the two weeks that I went around trying to fill my sack with books. So I was surprised, then pleased to find that Belltower had not forgotten about me as I had them and took the time to relay my commission. The grand total of my payment for the books I bought: $0.42.

This on this surface was not too upsetting. I hadn't bought many books,so I wasn't expecting and significant amount of money, and considering the check was worth less than the stamp it had cost them to mail it, I would've been thoroughly amused had I gotten the check alone. Unfortunately, the head of the company saw fit to enclose a letter praising neither my results nor my efforts but the company's policy to pay solely based on commission. He lauded that fact that the company had managed to buy more books than ever and were proud to enforce a philosophy of paying "based on work put in". I could practically hear the smugness in his voice and see him sneering over his signature. I knew that he didn't write this letter specifically to me and he probably had no idea who was paid what for their work besides the top few numbers he could quote as evidence of how wonderful the company was but, seeing the CEO's letter alongside my worthless check was the equivalent of saying "Congratulations. The value of everything you did in the course of those weeks to acquire books amounts to forty-two cents." And that just killed the punchline for me.

I first got caught up in the commission cult when CUTCO came calling with its promises that we would make more money than our friends' financial aid gave out and we would always have promotions to look forward to and all of the accolades that come with knowing that, because you sold something, you made some money and you could be proud of your income because you'd earned it. But what I learned from CUTCO, and knew before working for Belltower attempted to make me forget, was how little the effort that you make actually goes into closing a sale (or in Belltower's case, a buy). The truth is, a commission is no more a determination of how hard you've worked than casting is a determination of how good an actor you are. If the customer simply doesn't want what you have to offer, there is simply no persuasion in the world that will change his/her mind. Of course, anyone who has done sales can tell you that not choosing to buy doesn't have to be the final answer. As one of my managers told me, "An objection is not a no". Of course, if there are specific concerns that need to be addressed, a salesperson may be able to push for that commission by addressing the concerns efficiently to the point that the customer comes around. However, skill with persuasion, even with manipulation, is not the only determining factor in closing a deal. I don't see the best salesman in the world convincing a struggling college student to sell a book that cost over a hundred dollars for a quarter. And even if I did, I couldn't in good conscience try to use those tactics knowing as I do that this customer is getting the short end of the stick.

This isn't to say that I think salespeople are dishonest simply by making sales. I think it's great to have a product you stand behind and believe in the value of, but at the same time, your belief alone is not enough to make me stand with you. There are people who say no and while "Don't take no for an answer" may be an admirable quality for activists and students whose financial aid hasn't come, when it comes to an unwilling customer, the philosophy just qualifies the salesperson as a bully. Who am I, a complete stranger with my own baggage that I can choose to keep to myself, to tell you what you want; what you need; what would be of value to you? Who am I to determine whether you can afford it or, if you can, how much you'll appreciate it once you have it? There are some for whom "no" means NO. It doesn't mean "try harder", or "you should've made more phone calls" or "I'm not convinced because you aren't smiling big enough". And these "no"s don't care how hard you tried, how many calls you made, or how badly your cheeks are aching. All they care about is that you are of no use to them anymore and they want you to go away.

Employers won't tell you that when they hire you. They'll be thrilled to see evidence of work you've done when your results are good, but when they aren't, your effort doesn't make any more difference to them than it did to those customers you couldn't satisfy. In truth, they have no need to concern themselves with how much work you've done because they never have to worry about paying you more than you've earned. These are the ones to whom the commission-based job is truly advantageous; the ones who have nothing to lose from a system that depends so much on factors beyond a determined individual's control. These are the salespeople who truly believe in their product, however useless it proves to the rest of us.

I'm thinking as I write this that I'll probably be buying books again at the end of this semester. If I end up going to summer school, I may pick up my knife set and resume polishing off my CUTCO chops. They aren't ideal, but they're available, and I sincerely hope that, whatever my return is, I don't measure the value of my work with the numbers on my paychecks. I hope I can do better than that.