Tonight one of the salespeople in my department was making his exit for the day. I asked him if he had cleaned any of the department prior to his departure. Nonchalantly, he said no. This is protocol so I asked him if he would spend some time cleaning. The gentleman acquiesced and began to straighten our area of the floor containing socks, pajamas and the ever-popular luggage and bags.
I want to note it is the expectation in our department that once you begin cleaning you are to hand-off any customers that approach you or stay and straighten even longer. This is a professional courtesy and equalizer as the salespeople who are working later shifts then have the same time-opportunity to sell as the early shift. Be reminded, successful high-volume selling in a clothing/accessory department can and does have a lot to do with being in the right place at the right time.
The exiting salesperson proceeded to engage a trio of customers that suddenly appeared in the area he was straightening, rather than hand them off. The customers ended up purchasing a number of high-end items including an extremely expensive messenger bag. Rather than feel happy for the good luck this person had having these customers fall into his lap, I and others in the department were frustrated. We were resentful and vindictive. These are nothing new, nor are the feelings unique to this salesperson. Yes, he built the sale himself (conjecture, based on observation) but the customers should have been passed, according to our structure. If we didn’t all work purely on commission this would be a non-issue.
Supposedly you can tell the true character of a person in an emergency. An apoplectic George Costanza comes to mind, literally shoving women and children out of the way to escape a small apartment fire. The same can be said about commission-based salespeople. If you don’t move fast enough someone else will make the sale instead. Their stats will look better and they’ll make more money than you, even if you possess similar selling skills, work ethic, team-playerness, etc. All with the same opportunity. There is the emergency. Out-sell or be out-sold. Fight for the money or go broke.
Some individuals might thrive in such a competitive environment to make a living. It can be an emotional roller-coaster, exaggerated at either end by the idea that qualitative (or even quantitative) strengths and solid work ethic may or may not ultimately produce success.
In an emergency, people find ways to make their own rules within the established rules. In an emergency people do whatever is necessary to survive, to look out for number one. Some people may compromise common ethical behavior in this pursuit, and many are just as quick to assume and quietly accuse others of compromising of ethical behavior.
Within the same company I have worked in three different stores and four different departments selling a variety of merchandise. Despite “team-based” department structuring I’ve consistently noticed most individuals on each staff are resentful of one another’s success. I am not immune. If you believe luck and chance make up a good part of volume selling than the good luck of others will doubtless be frustrating, especially without much of your own.
How natural is this occurrence? Clearly it is normative to feel resentful of others in this world of commissioned retail. Does this make us bad people, or just people?