TAKE A STAND

I don’t know if you can remember the old TV show COMBAT. It was very popular back in the 60’s and I am lucky to be able to record episodes on my DVR today. (I need to record them because it comes on at 3 AM weeknights)

I was watching an episode in which the lead in the show, Vic Marrow playing Sergeant Saunders is with a German soldier who wants to surrender but can’t make up his mind if he is more against killing or more an enemy.

I won’t go into the entire episode plot but it comes down to the German being forced into making a decision. He decides to surrender and helps the Sergeant and himself get away.

At the end as Saunders and the German are laying next to each other on cots in the field hospital the German asks Saunders if he thought he was a coward for surrendering. The Sergeant tells him no. He says, you took a stand for something and now you will need to live with it, but at least you took a stand.

I thought about this for a few minutes and started to think about how many reps I know that don’t ever take a stand. Reps that will allow themselves to be manipulated by customers because they are too weak to draw the line and hold their ground.

As reps, I understand that we need to make sales and that our income and jobs depend on this fact. I also know that every company I have talked to over the past several years are becoming more focused on PROFITABILITY of orders as much as getting the orders. A rep that keeps giving in and refuses to take a stand is usually the rep with the least profitable sales.

This is a tight rope that we need to walk several times a day. We as reps need to make sure that we are giving the customer the best value we can while at the same time giving our companies the maximum profits we can. One without the other doesn’t help YOU as the rep. You need to take a stand.

There are times that we need to take the stand with our customers and realize that we have gone as far as we can with price, product, and services. This stand is for us (commissions) and our companies (profits).

However there are other times we need to take the stand with our companies. We are out in the field and know the territory better than anyone else. If our product or service isn’t bringing the value to the customer it should be WE need to give that feedback to our managers and the company. I am not talking about WHINING about the price being too high or the service being less than someone else’s. I am talking about a professional business report to your manager or company with the facts as you know them to be true.

In some cases the company will ignore you, I have seen this happen more than once, don’t get discouraged. Your job is to do the best you possibly can based on what your company expects of you. If you and the company can’t see eye to eye then it is your job to find another opportunity. Don’t ever give anything less than 100% to any company you work for.

I know that this sounds like I am telling you to quit, I am not. I know many reps that are making a lot of money with companies that they disagree with on a daily basis. The fact that they are making the amount of commissions they are tells us they have figured out how to work within the companies guidelines, however screwy they may be. If you are in this boat, keep giving it your best and making the commissions. If the company is hindering you from making a living than you owe it to yourself and the people that depend on you to TAKE A STAND and move on.

Lorin