New Job?

Ok, not so much a new job, just a different version of the same one.

This morning we (everyone at my company who works in SLC, managers- district and regional, and the VP of the company) had a breakfast meeting at The Belgian Waffle. It was the last day to get all of our sales in for Salt Lake's next book, which will be coming out in August or September. Anyway, it was kind of a celebration mixed with some potentially good news for some and some crappy news for others.

They made a big announcement that next year, the Salt Lake canvass is going to be run a little differently than it ever has in the past. They are having one manager (instead of the 3 like they have right now) and will only be having 8 sales reps come back to work the market (instead of the 30 or so that currently work it). Those 8 reps will be responsible for ALL of the outside sales. That means that if you are not chosen to be one of those 8 reps, you will be giving up all your revenue from Salt Lake and moving to work other markets. At the same time, the 8 who stay in Salt Lake will have to give up their revenue in all their other markets and it will be redistrubuted to the people who will be working those areas.

For me, this sounds like a perfect thing. The thing that makes it so perfect is that it has a salary! And the salary is TWO TIMES what I made last year! You do not get commission until you sell $360,000 and after that commission will be 5% for renewal dollars and 25% for new business. I think I could sell $360,000 and to be honest, even if I didn't reach that, I'd still be plenty happy with making twice as much as I did last year and having a steady income at all times. Also, there is no travel involved. It would be sooo nice not to have to travel, especially considering that I am going to have a baby! Plus, the company does not reimburse for any travel expenses, so not going anywhere outside the valley would be awesome!

There are a couple drawbacks to this deal. The first is I have to actually be chosen for the position. I will have to have an interview with the vice president of the company (who also happens to be the owner's wife and is somewhat intimidating to me) and the regional sales manager. I think the RSM likes me so that is good and my manager has told me that if I want the job, it's practically mine. Who knows though until it's a done deal. The second drawback is that I will have to change managers. I really like my manager right now. Sure, he's kind of scatter-brained and is a compulsive exaggerator, but he's a good guy and he's helped me out a lot. Thirdly, I'm a little worried about the difference in workload this is going to pose. I don't want to work like a madwoman all the time; I like my freedom and flexibility with my job right now.

Overall, I think it would be an awesome opportunity for our family. Like I said, I don't want to work all the time and while I am fine with going to work after I have the baby, I don't want to work 40 hours a week. If I would still be able to make my own schedule and get my numbers without working Monday through Friday 8-5, it would be great.

Some people are really mad about it because they are not going to be chosen and will probably not want to change managers and travel to different markets all year long. Also, they're not keen on giving up the revenue they've worked hard to sell in Salt Lake. People sometimes just don't like change. Understandable. If I get chosen, I'm not in love with the idea of giving up all of my accounts in the different markets I work. However, the way I see it, the benefits are definitely in my favor if I am chosen.