You're Going To Be Great At This!

In the previous post, I discussed how companies, and their management teams, react when sales drop. The numbers affect the bottom line, which affects the profitability of the company, which in turn can lower bonuses and other perks, like profit sharing. The company, not sure what to do, begins to institute a program of micromanagement, making everyone more accountable for their time, while at the same time, making all the sales people miserable. That's the macro perspective. On the other hand, what happens to the sales person is a bit different. Especially if they are dependent on commissions, which are a reflection of their sales numbers, to pay their bills. Yes, they are miserable because they are under a microscope from management. Suddenly the sales person has to copy their bosses on items like details of appointments, how many phone calls were made, why the customer didn't buy and so on. Along with getting pestered by management, the sales person is also having to figure o...

Growing up in North Carolina, we were like most kids on April 1, who would carry out mildly dumb jokes and pranks on our friends and teachers. "You're shoes are untied!" was a classic to use. The other person would naturally look down to see that their shoes were tied just fine, only to get "April Fools!" yelled at them. It was even funnier when the other person had shoes with no laces, like loafers.  In my opinion, the best jokes were simple and harmless, like the above example. No one got hurt and it was over in a few seconds, so we could move on with the rest of our day, or to the next victim. And the most important rule was that if you were going to dish out a joke, you better be prepared to take one as well.  However, there were those people who just couldn't take a joke very well. For instance, there was a tightly wound kid (I'll call him Bill) who lived in the dorm room next to me. I spoke to him rarely because I always sensed he had all the attri...