In Order to Form a More Perfect Union

After 15 years as the leading authority is sales force evaluations, what else was there to unearth? This is worse than mediocrity, more evil than a salesperson violating his non-compete, more horrible than complete failure, more disturbing than complacency, more serious than ambivalence and more disastrous than excuse-making.

What can you say when you learn that a company overwhelmed with mediocrity can’t take advantage of a tool to eliminate the problem because their sales organization is included in the Union and the Union won’t allow the company to assess sales candidates? We know the Union doesn’t want drug testing but not to allow the testing of sales candidates? Can it get any worse than that? Try this: Anyone can apply for and expect to be hired for this company’s sales positions – even if they are totally unqualified. Just when you thought Unions couldn’t possibly cost companies any more money with their benefit, protection and overtime demands, they cost the company an even larger fortune by preventing it from going outside to attract, hire and develop A-Caliber salespeople.

How can the Union dictate such unrealistic terms? How can management allow this to occur? How can I be writing about something this ridiculous? How can you be reading it? One thing is for certain. It makes reading about the issues facing typical sales organizations much easier to relate to and stomach.