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Ricoh – Prepare for a talent exodus

AP Art Post (Guest)
Vince is the man! Love it!


Ricoh – Prepare for a talent exodus

I received a call from a Ricoh sales guy in another state who read a 2009 post on my blog.

http://theconnectedcopier.word...-the-ikon-aquistion/

We spoke for about a half an hour. He said that Ricoh just adopted the IKON comp plan for their Sales Force. He had submitted his monthly comp plan work sheet before they made the change, then had to rework it based on the new comp plan and he said it cut his commission in half! He was not happy. His manager, trying to be a good manager, and a good corporate citizen, tried to show him how to best work the comp plan to maximize his earnings. The action plan was something like if you can rub your belly while patting your head riding a unicycle up hill, whistling Dixie with a mouth full of marbles you can make an “OK” commission. The sales guy showed his manager the what the same activity would have generated under the previous plan, and that was the end of the conversation.

Don’t get me wrong, Ricoh has to do something because they are hemorrhaging cash. But there is one thing I know about sales people, they didn’t go into sales to make an OK living. Most of them have a life style that requires them to really earn! They do a very difficult job, under tremendous pressure, but are willing to do it IF THEY CAN EARN! Take that away and Katie bar the door! Ricoh should also....read more here
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AP Art Post (Guest)
Vince:

I heard the same thing a few weeks ago from a dealer that is trying to lure me away into greener pastures! You are absoluty right, I put up with all of the BS because I can earn what I want to when I want to....lower the commissions and it's see you later time, increase quota, add a quota for some other BS like MSP and well..... see ya!

Art
T toddlanJunior P4P'er
I think a lot of these reps should have been gone a long time ago. Ask any dealer out there and they will tell you that RBS did not know how to sell unless it was based on who was the lowest bidder. At least IKON keeps their pricing up when we go against them. As a dealer principal I think it is about time they are finally purging reps that made money to sell strictly on price and not have to worry about GP.
VinceMcHughVinceMcHughMaven VIP
This was definitely an RBS branch that had adopted an IKON commission plan.

What IKON was always able to do successfully was to sell customers what you didn't have. They carried Canon, Ricoh, Re branded Konica Minolta, Kyrocera Mita, HP, Oce. Now the IKON sales people who did sell for decent margin have only Ricoh. Will they have to asapt their style of selling?

Good sales people will ALWAYS find a company that wants to hire them, even in bad times. The problem is starting over again to build your base. That takes 3 - 5 years to really get back to where you were. If you do jump ship negotiate how much real MIF (Machines in field) you will have in your territory. But do it before you sign on the dotted line.
J JrlzDocusultant P4P'er
I would be interested to know if the sales rep who complained about thier new comp plan was at quota for last year. My experience has been that the reps who complain the loudest about comp plans are the underperforming reps. They look for a reason to justify being way below quota. The performers amongst us will figure out a way to make the money we want or move on. Sitting around complaining does not generate sales or income. An underperforming rep, no matter how good the comp plan, will not make a lot of money. You need to sell something in order to make something. Sorry if this is harsh, but I have seen way too many reps over the years complain about comp plans, equipment capabilities, territories, etc... Not that every rep who complains is an underperformer, but I contend that the majority of chronic complainers are under performers.
J JrlzDocusultant P4P'er
I bet you are in the minority of compaliners Art. I would also bet that your complaining is more constructive and you look for solutions to problems, not just complain. My comments were about the chronic complainers who do nothing but complain. They never look for a way to make things work. I have see a lot of reps who complain every year about something. If it's not the comp plan it is somethign else. They always have a reason that they can not be at plan.
AP Art Post (Guest)
Jrlz:

I agree with you, I've seen it heard it and "used" to complain about things that were my fault. I learned along time ago that you need to put in the effort and if you do evereything else will fall into place. My fav saying is "the harder you work the luckier you get"!

Art
G GMANDocusultant Elite P4P'er VIP
This talent exodus already occurred at Ricoh Corporate in NJ, wherein legacy Ricoh / Savin / Lanier employees and executives were pushed out as IKON came in...the new Sheriff in town. Now, with a fractured Direct Sales organization that they put all their money on for the future, as they maligned the Dealer channel, the Ricoh slide continues...
Old GloryOld GloryMaven VIP
Whether you are a producer or non-producer, half the commission at any level is still half commission. It sounds to me like it is not so much an issue of production as it is an issue of what the compensation is based on. If a rep is paid on revenue rather than profit, he is going to learn to sell on price and will make less commission if changed to a profit based model. That doesn't make a profit based model unfair...quite the opposite. In my opinion, the fairest compensation model is one based largely (if not completely) on profit. If a rep has been on a revenue plan, chances are pretty good that their compensation would have been less on a profit plan because there probably wasn't any profit in their sales.
ChuckChuckElite P4P'er
Old Glory has hit the issue on the head. If RBS reps were compensated based on revenues rather then the total profit then a savvy rep sold to maximize the revenue - profit being a concern of stockholders and their stakeholders.
When a company wants to increase their marketshare to benefit from the economies of scale (greater production=lower unit cost) and compensates salestypes for succeeding in this effort their customers benefit UNTIL its time to renew/update that equipment; if the salesman's comp is now based on a profit incentive then . . . well, ever try to turn a battleship?

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