How to Make a Commission Only Job Work for You

Time to face a harsh reality. If you aren't making your company money, you should be fired. If you've lost a job, in most cases, the cost of having you outweighed the benefit of having you. Go ahead, take it personally.

Now get over it. It's time to move on with your life.

There is one type of job that a lot of people are afraid of, but has great job security and is often readily available. It's the commission only job. The job that only pays you only if you make the company money. (Sound familiar?)

Here are some no non-sense tips to help you succeed in this type of job.

1) Don't be afraid of it.

Some of the highest paid people in the country have commission based positions. You can make it work.

2) Identify your target customer.

Who will you feel comfortable selling to? Who do you "get"?

3) Find a good product.

Don't sell -20 degree mummy sleeping bags in the Yucatan. Make sure you represent a product that will provide a value to your target customer.

4) Track your numbers.

You will have more contacts than presentations and more presentations than sales. You need to know exactly with those ratios are for you. Be realistic. If you know that ratio and how much you make per sale, you know how much work you have to do to make the amount of money you need to make. (Your trainer should be able to give you averages when you first start to help you establish a target. These are starting numbers. You will need to substitute your own as soon as you possibly can.)

5) Plan your work, work your plan.

This is where most people fail in commission work. They either don't plan at all, or don't work the plan they have. Get your butt to work making the calls necessary to hit the numbers you identified in step 4. If you don't, you are hurting yourself. Honestly, that not a big deal. You are being lazy, so you deserve to get hurt. Problem is, most of the time you are also hurting your spouse, your kids, the people you are constantly hounding for money, et cetera. They are counting on you, and that is a big deal.

This is life. It's the big game, everyday. This isn't practice. Go after it. Don't procrastinate.

6) Throw out your emotions.

You will be rejected. Some people will look down on you. You will have tough times. So what??? Next!!! If you know your numbers, have faith in them and press on.

7) Find an accountability partner.

Tell them what your daily activity goals are. Tell them what allowable excuses are (hospitalization and death come to mind). Tell them what you are working for and why. Now tell them to get in your face every day you don't accomplish your daily activity goals.

8) Re-evaluate at least quarterly.

You are a commission based professional. You need to recheck the accuracy of your ratios at least once a quarter. This means you must always track your numbers. This is where you decide if you're ready to give yourself a raise. This is where you figure out how to make that happen either through more activity or better skills.

You don't have to be scared of commission based jobs. But you do have to be tough. You can handle it. Now go do it.