Asking for a bonus agreement two months after hire?
August 31, 2015 12:05 AM Subscribe
I need to make more money. Not so many
snowflakes in this one. How do I get on target earnings in my job?
I work in construction and design, selling engineering for a small company. I have done about $800,000 in contract sales since starting two months ago, mostly just through contract negotiation and chasing leads. The owners played dumb about bonuses and I feel like an idiot for not getting a deal on this. Is there any way to revisit this topic in future wage discussion?
I have typically been duped out of earnings discussions on prior jobs due to chronic unemployment after college and want to say enough is enough. My boss is very nice, and the company is definitely on the up since I got there. They are giving me a car and I already have an expense account. Given this job had no sales goal, should I seek a goal and form the bonus request based on that number?
I work in construction and design, selling engineering for a small company. I have done about $800,000 in contract sales since starting two months ago, mostly just through contract negotiation and chasing leads. The owners played dumb about bonuses and I feel like an idiot for not getting a deal on this. Is there any way to revisit this topic in future wage discussion?
I have typically been duped out of earnings discussions on prior jobs due to chronic unemployment after college and want to say enough is enough. My boss is very nice, and the company is definitely on the up since I got there. They are giving me a car and I already have an expense account. Given this job had no sales goal, should I seek a goal and form the bonus request based on that number?
Has something changed since you were hired? It sucks, but the time to negotiate was before you signed the contract and accepted the stated salary.
If you have a six-month review, and if you are vastly exceeding expectations in your field (or, say, selling twice as much as your colleagues), bring it up then.
posted by third word on a random page at 3:50 AM on August 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you have a six-month review, and if you are vastly exceeding expectations in your field (or, say, selling twice as much as your colleagues), bring it up then.
posted by third word on a random page at 3:50 AM on August 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's a strange sales job where your commission schedule and target (if not quota) weren't the key aspects of your compensation.
IF you're outperforming, offer to go on 100% commission + car and expense account. Find out what commission % is customary for 100% commissioned salesmen in your industry first!
posted by MattD at 3:58 AM on August 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
IF you're outperforming, offer to go on 100% commission + car and expense account. Find out what commission % is customary for 100% commissioned salesmen in your industry first!
posted by MattD at 3:58 AM on August 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't have this conversation at two months, but it would be a normal thing to discuss at six months or at the end of the year. Small companies can be really weird about compensation, since there is no HR or other bureaucratic buffer between you and the owner/managers, making any conversation uncomfortably direct. Your best argument is a consistent track record of success, so continuing to sell work is the right approach while you look for the right moment to discuss things.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:43 AM on August 31, 2015
posted by Dip Flash at 4:43 AM on August 31, 2015
Echoing the others that this is not the right time to have this conversation. At your next scheduled review, you can ask for a baseline and bonus structure. Make sure you keep "I need to make more money" out of the argument - focus on why you deserve higher compensation, not the reasons you think you need it.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 5:35 AM on August 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by schroedingersgirl at 5:35 AM on August 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
There are typically two types of sales jobs, the rainmaker type where you find your own leads and close your own sales, and the account management type where you follow up with pre-existing leads (importantly this includes new leads that come through existing sales channels) and service sales through closing along with other people. If it is #1 then you are a rockstar and you can negotiate almost anything. If it is #2 then you are much more replaceable with less room to negotiate. None of us can tell for sure from your question which types of sales you are doing but I would speculate that it's #2, based both on the no-commission compensation structure and the fact that you were able to close $800k in just 2 months... it's just not that easy to get so much in sales that quickly without a pre-existing sales pipeline in place.
posted by rada at 7:00 AM on August 31, 2015
posted by rada at 7:00 AM on August 31, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Is 800k of sales in line with expectations, or beyond expectations? The way to get your bonus targets (not retrospective, forget about that, the ship has sailed), is establish a baseline, and then ask them that, if you meet a figure above that baseline, what kind of bonus could they offer?
Do you have targets? I assume you do in a sales role, how does the 800k fit into that? If you don't have sales targets, I would recommend you set some up. Find out what the previous person sold.
posted by smoke at 1:42 AM on August 31, 2015 [2 favorites]