Sales Representatives and Second Jobs
Dealing with Moonlighting Reps
Dealing with Moonlighting Reps -
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
Bruce Fenton, president of Atlantic Financial Inc.
September 2004
Moonlighting Reps how to deal with a salesperson selling for another company
Solution 1: Todd Carlson, national sales manager, Digipos Systems Inc.,
Jacksonville, Florida
First, I would approach him and ask, "Why are you moonlighting?" because in
sales, you make money based on productivity the more you put into selling in one
environment, the more you'll make out of it. Then I would start heavily
monitoring the number of calls and appointments he is setting up every day. It's
not just about the goal for the month or quarter, but daily productivity. I
would personally try to work with him to determine if he's having a difficult
time reaching goals, then I would focus on what we need him to do to be more
productive.
As long as numbers are in place, I would not have as much of a problem with
moonlighting. But I would make sure that he is putting in hours that I asked
for. After that, if he's meeting his numbers, I'll be flexible and not impose
any real restrictions.
Solution 2: Bruce Fenton, president, Atlantic Financial Inc., Westborough,
Massachusetts
In our business, we are governed by a code of ethics, and if someone violates
that she would be immediately terminated. The investment world is very complex,
and if a salesperson is tempted to offer something to clients, receive a
commission for it, and not tell the firm, she's breaking the law. Any
conversation we have would be to gather information to make sure we're covering
ourselves legally.
If she was selling something that didn't concern our industry, I'd still take a
hard line. Even if this salesperson was the most important revenue generator,
there are certain things you can't ignore. These days, financial services firms
are heavily regulated. If you don't keep up the best of ethical standards, you
run the risk of getting into trouble.