Is Sales a Dirty Game or Are The Wrong People Trying to Do It?
With news media chomping at the bit to deliver sensationalism and support causes that will endear readers and thus get them engaged, a disgruntle employee can do a lot of damage to a company’s reputation.
Currently, Canadian banks are taking public lashings from news media across the country. Bank employees are claiming they are forced to pressure customers into services/products they don’t need so they can make sales targets. Sensing publicizing their gripe will garner readership, after all, who doesn’t like to read about the daily angst white-collar employees endure, news outlets across Canada have given these disgruntled bank employees plenty of news time.
Not surprising the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) is at the forefront of this public shaming; their latest jab being ‘We are all doing it’: Employees at Canada’s 5 big banks speak out about the pressure to dupe customers.
The gist is this: Employees from Canada’s 5 big banks (RBC, BMO, CIBC, TD, and Scotiabank) are coming forward claiming they feel pressured by management to up-sell, trick and sometimes lie to customers so they can meet unrealistic sales targets to keep their jobs.
Employees in sales positions being accountable for achieving sales targets… what a novel concept!
I don’t profess to have the sharpest of business acumen, however I do know a few truths when it comes to the ebbs and tides which keep a company afloat, two of them being; “Nothing happens until someone sells something.” (often attributed to Joe Girard the world’s greatest #1 retail salesperson according to The Guinness Book of World Records) and “Companies exist to make a profit.”
Here’s something else that’s fundamental for all employees; for an employee to get paid their company needs revenue from sales. No company ever went bankrupt because their sales were too high.
While the news media is beating the drums of these unhappy bank employees lost is the fact banks are in business to make money and like any business are constantly striving to stay solvent. In in my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with employees being asked to drum up business, which in turn creates their paycheck. For-profit companies are not social institutions designed to look out for society’s general good. Employees of for-profit companies need to realize they are not nanny state workers, but employees of large corporations they depend on for their paychecks. It would not be a stretch to state; employees helping their employer stay profitable is in their best interest. The formula is quite simple: No sales = No revenue = No business = No paycheck
Before I go further let me be clear, I am not taking sides. I have been banking with Scotiabank for most of my adult life and have never experienced high-pressure sales tactics. Actually, my experience has been the opposite. There have been occasions where I felt I wasn’t being sold to and had to point out products/services that would benefit me or my wife. This has been my experience at my bank’s branch, however, this does not mean that used car salesman tactics are not norm de rigueur elsewhere in Scotiabank. For all I know the unhappy bank employees may have a point, it’s just I have never experienced their point, though I admit I am a heavy ATM user.
The fact is sales is not for everyone, just like being a social media manager, plumber or cardiothoracic surgeon is not for everyone.
It’s a reasonable assumption that when an employee is not making their sales target they will look for an excuse and “my sales targets are unrealistic” is the lowest hanging fruit, thus the first one they grab at. Is this the case with the peeved bank employees? I also question the validity of claims they are being told to lie to customers. Would it be a stretch that when an employee is not meeting their sales targets some will lie to make sales?
From my experience employees in a sales position flounder because of either lack of selling skills or unrealistic sales targets. If an employee does not have a passion for sales or see sales as being dirty and disruptive to the customer then any sales target will be unrealistic and they will not endeavor to develop sales skills, a skill that when mastered can catapult your career to great heights. As much as it may offend some we are all selling something, whether it’s ourselves in an interview, an idea in a meeting, a product, a vision or why you are a perfect love and they should not let you get away.
Question: What’s stopping these unhappy employees from looking for another job, a job without sales goals?
Unless you’re an indoor cat you have repeatedly experienced up-selling as you go about being a consumer. Few retailers abstain for up-selling… “Do you want fries with that?”, “Would you like a 3 year extended warranty on your toaster?” In case you missed the memo; banks, with all their product/service offerings, have morphed into being a retail store.
Back in the day sales used to be strictly the art of relationships. This was especially true for banks. Today, in the era of the CRM, sales has evolved into a data-driven science. However after all the analytics is done someone still needs to pull the trigger, “I see Mr. Kossovan you have $XXXXX in you money master account. You would earn more interest in a tax-free savings account, plus your savings growth would be tax free.”
I have always thrived in a sales environment. I get comfort knowing where I stand at the end of the day and having a number I can point to, a number that has a direct impact on the organization’s bottom-line, but that’s me. Sales are one of the very few jobs where success can be measured (sales to target, revenue generated, etc.) and this gives me a sense of accomplishment. Does an accountant, architect, receptionist, etc. get the same feeling? I doubt it, though their sense of accomplishment would come from elsewhere.
Back to the Canadian news media spreading the bank employees discontent like hot butter on burnt toast; is the complaint legitimate or just employees who do not want to sell? I am on the fence. Being held accountable scares many people and that may be the case here… what do you think? Has sales become a dirty game or are the wrong people trying to do it?
