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First Salespeople, Then Buyers, Now Managers

One of the interesting things about running a company that advocates absolute honesty in sales is people who have been wronged reach out to me and let me know.

I always take things with a grain of salt -- there are two sides to every story, after all -- but when patterns emerge I take notice.

There is a bad-behavior pattern emerging in sales management these days, and I'd like to give the honest salespeople of the world a heads-up.

More and more I'm hearing about managers who are:

• Changing their salespeople's compensation plans immediately before lucrative deals close. If your sales manager suddenly takes an intrusive interest in the status of your biggest deals -- meaning he or she never paid that close attention in the past -- consider it a possible red flag. Especially if he or she starts talking about commission changes after learning that good deals are about to finalize.
• Making changes to compensation plans retroactive -- all the business you previously closed now pays less in commission -- but avoiding that fact during conversation and hiding it in the fine print of employee agreements.
• Attempting to have their cake and eat it too by using one set of compensation rules for deals that closed and have already been collected, one set for deals that closed but have yet to be collected and one set for deals that will close in the future.
• Stealing prospects from salespeople without their knowledge and closing those deals themselves.
• Cutting base pay -- as much as in half -- without a requisite increase in commission or decrease in administration-type task requirements.

What astounds me is how otherwise honest and ethical people can rationalize their way out of this behavior. I've actually heard some of these stories from managers themselves -- and the "rational lies" they use to justify it.

And, by the way, this behavior extends to business owners who pay 1099 (non-employee) salespeople as well. Although in this case the power often lies with the salespeople rather than the owners -- of course the owners usually learn this the hard way. (Trust me, the last thing you want is your 1099 salesperson who knows all your failings taking your prospects to your competition, because pissed-off salespeople are some of the most passionate sellers alive, and passion combined with knowledge of your weakness is an unstoppable force.)

So my advice to you is this. If your manager starts talking change, turn on your radar for nuances that may indicate less-than-honorable intentions. He or she may be totally above board, or you could be getting set up for a shafting.

And never agree to any changes without a detailed description of how all deals -- past, closed-but-not-collected and future -- will be affected. Plus, have a good attorney look over anything before you sign it.

The income you save could be your own.

Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

The Age of the Team

The economy sucks.

The hope of the recent elections is waning as republicans and democrats alike fall back on tired "get elected" habits, instead of working to solve our country's our states' our cities' and our communities' problems.

Headlines starting with "After [82] Years In Business ..." and ending with "... Closes Its Doors" are the rule rather than the exception.

Bankruptcies are on the rise. Jobs are on the decline. Rampant prosperity is over.

The world is out of control.

Sound familiar?

Feel familiar?

Here's one that may not sound or feel quite as familiar, yet is just as true:

The age of the individual is over. The age of the team has begun.

Who Is Your Team?

In the late '70's I was a teenager working in residential remodeling with my father. For almost 20 years, Dad had purchased the vast majority of our building materials from Reis-Moran Lumber -- a small lumber company in our neighborhood.

For almost 20 years, Dad never failed to pay a Reis-Moran bill. But the economy had taken a downturn, the country was in a recession and two of our most recent customers -- very large projects, I might add -- lost their jobs and refused to pay us what they owed.

Faced with the dilemma of either paying a huge lumber bill or feeding his family, Dad did the only thing he felt was fair.

He paid the bill.

While I can recall a great many small lessons about ethics, morals and life -- all of them taught by example rather than words -- I think Dad's decision to pay that bill was pivotal in transforming the boy into a man.

"The men who run Reis-Moran have always treated me fairly," Dad said. "They aren't just suppliers of lumber ... they're part of the Wagner Remodeling team. If we're going to survive this recession we have to protect the team, not just ourselves."

"Besides," he added, "they have families to feed too."

The Only Leverage You Need

The economy may suck. Hope may have waned. The world may feel out of control. The news may seem like it's moving from bad to worse on a daily basis.

And the easiest and surest way to thrive while others fail is to leverage the power of your team.

Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

Taking On Bad Buyers

I write about salesdrip behavior all the time -- some say too much. But my mission is to bring honesty back to the sales profession, and exposing the bad behavior so people can avoid being manipulated by it is a key component of that effort.

Today, however, I'm giving the salesdrips of the world a break and taking on the buyers instead. After all, when you track the creation of manipulative tactics in sales, much of the manipulation can be linked to bad buyer behavior.

The Sandler Sales Institute's entire selling system, for example, is based on David Sandler's experiences of being lied to by prospects. In fact, the first thing in his book that he felt was important enough to put in bold print is the numbered statement: "1. The prospect lies to you." Unfortunately, Sandler took a "win the war" approach to resolving the problem, which is why the system he created is so manipulative -- and why he advises that salespeople "get over their negative view of the word manipulation" to be successful.

But today, I'm writing an opinion piece on what I believe is horrid buying behavior, not bad selling behavior. And this particular instance is close to home, because it involves a billion-dollar company screwing over a one-person company, and that one person just happens to be my wife.

Two things you should know about me before I continue:

• There is nothing that makes my blood boil faster than a bully.
• Except when someone messes with my wife.

Let's get down to the facts:

On January 26, 2009, Smurfit-Stone (the entire company including all its business units worldwide) filled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Any unpaid invoice was, from that moment, included in the proceeding. And according to what I read about federal bankruptcy law, creditors are severely limited as to what they can attempt to do to collect. Thank goodness Editing Ink (Cindy's company) is a sole proprietorship and my name is not to be found anywhere on it. So while her hands are tied (I'm not even asking her to copyedit this post), there is nothing whatsoever to keep me from voicing my opinion on the matter.

What is interesting about the January 26 filing date is that on December 2, 2008, (exactly 55 days earlier) Mike Mullin, Director of Media Relations  & Public Affairs at Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation in Creve Coeur, Mo., authorized Cindy to copyedit the online biographies of the company's 27 top corporate officers.

And the twist that makes this a story about dishonest buying is that Smurfit-Stone is well-known for having a 66-day net invoice requirement. (All vendors know they will not get paid for 66 days from date of invoice.)

A first-grader could do the math and see that Mullin hired my wife to improve the image of his company's entire corporate officer team in preparation for bankruptcy, while knowing full well her invoice would not get paid before that very bankruptcy was filed.

But even that isn't the whole story.

In November of 2008, two different Smurfit-Stone employees -- one of whom answers directly to Mullin -- hired Cindy to copyedit the company's Investor Fact Book and it's corporate newsletter. And while those invoices were due prior to the January 26 filing, both payments were delayed and the invoices were thereby incorporated into the Chapter 11.

And as if that wasn't enough, Cindy was informed via an e-mail from a Smurfit-Stone employee that her invoices totaling $1,788.75 were the smallest in the entire list, and she should therefore stop complaining about it.

1. Did Mullin make a bad-faith purchase during preparation for bankruptcy?
2. Was there a conspiracy to defraud vendors perpetrated by the communications department at Smurfit-Stone?
3. Did the accounting department purposely withhold payment of over-due invoices specifically to move even the smallest of debts into the Chapter 11 proceedings?
4. Did Smurfit-Stone violate federal guidelines for filing Chapter 11?

When will corporate officers at billion-dollar companies stop screwing the little guy?

While only Smurfit-Stone and the federal government can answer the first four questions, I can answer the last.

Corporate officers will stop screwing the little guy when the little guys of the world ban together and make it more advantageous for them to be honest than dishonest.

Will you join me in my fight with the Smurfit-Stone Goliath?

• If you're on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social media sites, please voice your opinion openly.
• If you blog, feel free to post your own thoughts and reference this article.
• If you know of a business reporter for a newspaper or TV show, please download and forward this press release on our behalf.
• If you care to voice your opinion to Mike Mullin directly, feel free to e-mail him yourself. 
• If you know one of these 27 corporate officers whose professional images Cindy improved, contact him or her and speak up (they may not be aware of Mike's actions yet):
• • Patrick J. Moore, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
  • Steven J. Klinger, President and Chief Operating Officer
  • Paul K. Kaufmann, Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller
  • Douglas M. Keim, Vice President of Innovation and Chief Marketing Officer
  • Matthew J. Blanchard, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Board Sales
  • Joseph V. LeBlanc, Vice President of Research and Development
  • John Haudrich (LinkedIn), Vice President of Investor Relations
  • Steven C. Strickland, Senior Vice President of Sales, Container Division
  • John L. Knudsen (LinkedIn), Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, Container Division
  • Paul W. McCann, Vice President and General Manager of Asia
  • Regina G. Wyse, Vice President and Controller, Container Division
  • Charles A Hinrich, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
  • Edmund L. Quatmann, Vice President of Internal Audit
  • Ronald J. Megna, Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary
  • Nina E. Butler, Vice President of Environmental Affairs
  • Susan M. Neumann, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
  • Mark R. O'Bryan (LinkedIn), Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Chief Information Officer
  • Mack C. Jackson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mill Division
  • Craig A. Hunt, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
  • Ronald D. Hackney, Senior Vice President of Human Resources
  • Matt Denton, Vice President of Business Planning and Analysis
  • James S. Chou, Vice President and Controller, Mill Division
  • Christopher J. Brescia, Vice President of Government Affairs
  • Peter F. Burke (LinkedIn), Vice President of Global Logistics
  • Michael R. Oswald, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Recycling Division
  • David P. Harrison, Vice President of Strategic Sourcing

The executives that run major corporations will never stop this behavior until it stops working. We can make that happen starting today.

Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association