What do I do when my goals don’t match the company’s goals for me?

by Dave Kahle

Question:

What do I do when my goals don’t match the company’s goals for me?

Answer:

I can look at this is in two ways – expressing two different situations.  In the first, there is a legitimate difference in the expectations for a sales person, but a basic agreement on the issues on which to be focused, as well as the values of the organization.  In the second, there is a deeper and more significant difference of opinion.

          Let’s consider each separately.

In the first scenario, the sales person and the company differ on the degree of what is possible.  The sales person expects a 10% increase, while the company thinks 15% is reasonable.  Both agree that sales growth is reasonable, but the amount of growth is the issue.  What do you, the sales person, do in this case?

          Persuade and negotiate.  Try to convince your boss that your perspective is more accurate than his/hers.  Don’t just assert that, be convincing.  Back up your beliefs with substance.  Describe specific situations and accounts, and explain why you think about them the way you do.  Prove your point.

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          At some point in this process, there is going to be a resolution.  There will be a quota or a goal.  Whether it is your idea of what it should be, or your manager’s version, or some compromise, it doesn’t matter.  At that point, when the issue is resolved and the number is set, your job is to give all of your best efforts to doing what your company wants you to do. 

          You are, after all, an employee of the company.  Your job is to do what your company wants you to do.  That’s what they pay you for.

          Sometimes sales people can get a little too convinced of their own importance.  I succumbed to that temptation more than once when I was selling full time.  We think that we really are in business for ourselves, that we own our customers, and that we know what is best for the company and the customer.  So, therefore, we become agitated and upset when the company asks for a 15% increase and we think 5% is reasonable.  We are tempted to go off mumbling under our breath about the screwy management, and we decide we are going to do what we want to do instead.

          A little reality check is in order under these circumstances.  If you worked in the warehouse, would you be able to decide what you wanted to do today?  If you were a customer service rep, would you get to determine how best to spend your day, and which parts of your job you’d really do?  If you were in the purchasing department, if you didn’t like the company’s direction, would you have the freedom to ignore it?

          So what makes you think you are so special?  Answer — nothing.  Let’s put the freedom that we enjoy and the money that we make in perspective.  We are, when all is said and done, employees of the company.  And, I believe, we have a... CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE