[Rojola]

I've only been on here a short time but those of you who frequent this Work and Careers section know the battles I've been through in my sales career at the company I work for. From an insufferable jackass office manager; to abusive, psychotic clients, it sometimes gets to be too much.

I work strictly on commission, with residual income if clients stay every year with our products. No base salary though. The potential to make a six-figure income is there, however they make it tough to get even close.

My commission structure in a nut shell is this -- We have our main product A,B to sell primarily with product C as an option to suggest to our clients.

There are many conditions we have to adhere to in order to make the higher commissions on products A & B. The criteria is - Sell high dollar amount, Selling both product A & B with the same client, Maintaining at least 3 products per client (which is touch since A & B is really all most of our clients need).

Now the company has made it mandatory that we sell product C, and has given us a yearly quota. Keep in mind that product C is much harder to sell and closing deals take much longer.

if we don't sell our quota of product C per year, they will take new business and residual business commissions percentage away from our product A & B sales. So for example, if we make 10% commissions on product A & B, it will go down to 5% commissions if we don't sell our quota of product C. Obviously it's their tactic to motivate us into selling more product C.

I just think it's wrong to take away the hard-earned money that we make from selling our mainstay product A & B, just because we don't sell the harder to sell product C.

To top it off the local sales agents have discovered the company has put in place CSR's to take incoming phone sales - Sales that should go to the field agents.

The company also claims that website sales leads are no good, so they gave those all away to the CSR's. Well, we found out after they revamped the company website, that the web lead sales are closing at a 90% ratio! But do they give those leads back to the field agents? NO! The CSR's get them.

So this leads me to...

The Road Ahead ...

I'm not happy where I'm at but I really don't know where to go next in my career. Do I stay in sales, do something else?.

When one comes to a cross roads like this in their career, what is the best way to figure out what one is good at, or enjoys? How does one figure out where to go next?

I need something that will produce a good income because I really need to start saving heavily for retirement, as I don't want to work all my life. I am a good sales person, that's for sure.

Any suggestions, tips regarding how to evaluate your next career move?

What do you think of the job I have now?

Thanks for your insight.

[Little Lulu]

If accepting where you are and what you are doing isn't the answer, here is a link to a good TED talk about how to find work you love:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...22448493,d.cWw

[Finniky]

Yeah I've seen some of your posts Rojola, about your work and how stressful it is! Sales would be impossible for me. It takes a certain kind of person to do that. But if you are good at it, there are good businesses to work for as a sales rep. I mean, I don't know any... but they have to exists, right?!

Maybe it's time to start researching on local businesses and such that do sales and see if any are the right fit for you? Websites like glassdoor and indeed have people that report their experiences, which can be helpful but also should be taken with a grain of salt since everyone's experience and perception of a business they worked for is different. And you can always get interviews and learn about the practices and pay structure they have, and decide if it's right for you before taking anything that's offered.

And if there is something else you want to do, you can also begin researching the possibilities in your area for that field too.