Evaluating the Offer of Sales Employment

An Offer of Sales Employment is a letter which makes a written offer of employment to the prospective employee. While employment law does not mandate employers to communicate the specifics of employment in writing, it is nevertheless a binding legal agreement which provides the sales rep with a greater sense of security and finality.

In an offer for sales employment, the letter may be accompanied by other appended documents such as a Non-Compete or Non-Disclosure agreement and information about the benefits package offered by the company.

When is it used?
Generally, an Offer of Sales Employment is utilized by an employer who is extending a job offer to a full-time sales employee. A written Offer communicates to the prospective sales rep the most important aspects of the job offer, such as:

• Responsibilities and performance expectations
• The reporting structure
• Compensation description (base salary, commission schedule, pay periods etc.)
• Vehicle reimbursement allowance and expenses
• Special agreements (time off, vacation days, etc.)
• Location
• Starting date

It is not used when hiring independent sales agents or manufacturer’s representatives, nor with anyone retained from a temporary placement agency.

Assessing the Offer
How do I know if the Offer is right for me? When evaluating an Offer of Sales Employment from a prospective employer, ask yourself these four questions:

• Does the Offer match my career goal?
  Reflect upon the reasons why you started your job search.
• What was important to you?
• What were you looking for in terms of a sales position, company and/or work environment? Have they changed?
• Was your total target compensation an issue or the amount of compensation paid out? Are you looking for a better balance between you lifestyle/family and work?
• Do you want to spend less time travelling?
• Do you want to eventually move into management?
• Some of these considerations may be important to you and there may be other considerations not listed which are extremely important to your decision.

Major Factors for Consideration
Nature of the work
Organizational culture
Level of autonomy and decision-making authority
Level of responsibility with clients
Travel
Level of compensation and incentive
Lifestyle issues
Stability of organization
Quality of middle/executive management
Professional development and training opportunities
Location
Opportunities for advancement
Prestige of job or organization
Working hours
Stability of industry

What additional information about the Offer (or anything else) do I need in order to make a decision?
It is not unusual to discover, as you are weighing the different aspects of the offer and information you received in the interview process to discover that you have additional questions, require clarification or simply require a better sense of what the sales position entails and what the company is like.

If you answered YES to any of the above, STOP your deliberations right now. Until you obtain information from your company contact or the sales manager to address these issues, it’s pointless to move forward in the decision-making process. If you have more about the product line or customer base, phone one of the interviewers. If you need clarification about the commission structure, don’t hesitate to call. If you need a better understanding of what it would be like during a day on the job, call the employer and ask to spend an afternoon observing a salesperson who holds a position similar to the position you are considering.
Remember it’s the employer’s job to “sell” you on the sales position and most employers are willing to accommodate you.

Is the Offer competitive to what other industry sector companies are offering?
If you are leaving your present sales position due to compensation issues or you are unhappy with the way your compensation plan is structured, the onus is on you to your homework. Does your industry publish a compensation survey? Is compensation data available from other sources (e.g. consulting firms, Boards of Trade, recruitment agencies)? Is there a recruitment agency that specializes in placing people in your industry that you can call for information? Are there other industry salespeople you can call for information? What about your competitor’s compensation structure?

Are there compensation or other issues I want to negotiate, which would bring the Offer closer to my goal?
An Offer of Sales Employment is not etched in stone. Perhaps there are aspects to the Offer that can be changed or amended. If the sales position seems ideal except for the start date, perhaps it can be pushed back or adjusted by the prospective employer to accommodate you.

Don’t feel pressured to accept the Offer immediately.
The Offer of Sales Employment specifies an expiration date for the offer, but still allows the employer to cancel or modify the Offer before it expires. Likewise employers expect sales personnel to come back with counter-offers or “nibbles”—a negotiation tactic used to extract extra concessions from the other party.

Evaluate the non-financial aspects of the Offer.
It’s often been said that there’s more to life than money and in sales profession this is sometimes the case. While financial rewards figure high on the list of what salespeople desire, it’s important for you as a salesperson to evaluate the entire “package” not just the monetary aspects of it. Evaluate the non-financial aspects of the employment offer like the size of the company, advancement opportunities, size of client base, dress code, level/quality of experience gained, level of technology, personal tools supplied (e.g. palm pilots, pagers, laptop, cell phone), opportunities for professional development, incentive programs and contests.

Non-financial aspects are also known as “soft” benefits.” Weighing the “soft” benefits is especially important if you being offered an entry level sales position, the company is just starting out, the company is a dot.com startup and does not have an established track record or if the employer has never used full-time salespeople as a distribution channel. For example, you may be eager to upgrade your technical skills/knowledge in an emerging technology sector to better position yourself as a salesperson and are willing to forego the immediate rewards.

It is useful when dealing with startup companies or companies who have a commission-only type plan, to ask what they project their sales figures to be six to twelve months from now or to see their business model. You can use the information gleaned from these projections to make a counter-offer and negotiate more non-financial compensation and perquisites.

What happens if I see myself succeeding in the sales position but the money is not what I was expecting?
One of the key characteristics of successful salespeople is that they possess an extraordinary amount of ego-drive. They like to be challenged and recognized for achieving their results. If you have applied for a sales position with a startup company which is offering a unique product or concept in the marketplace, you may have to weighing the quality of the sales experience you will attain with the possibility that your compensation will increase with the company’s success. Another suggestion is to have written into the employment contract that you will be given a salary review after six months/one year and that your compensation level will rise to your level of expectations.

Decision Time
Once you’ve reached a decision based on all the facts and are comfortable with it, you can either sign the original Offer of Sales Employment (if none of the terms have changed) OR write a letter to your prospective employer outlining your interpretation of the Offer (also known as a counter-offer).

If you accept the Offer, an Offer of Sales Employment needs to be signed, dated and sent back to the employer before your starting date.

If the prospective employer decides not to grant any of your requests (they can decide not to amend the original Offer), you have two choices: you can accept the original offer, provided you have maintained a positive and professional relationship during the negotiations; or you can decline the Offer outright.

You can always request a salary review after you have demonstrated your worth to the organization, as larger companies that hold fast to base salaries often also have schedules for pay increases.

©Sales Resource Centre, Canadian Professional Sales Association, 2001.