“Profit-positive sales people are desperately needed by every organization,” says Jeffery Fox in his book How to Be a Fierce Competitor. Fox defines a sales person as someone who generates more gross margin dollars than his or her total cost to the organization. The total cost might include hiring and retirement costs, salary, commissions, car, phone, insurance, office expenses, travel expenses, and training. Building product reps that cover their costs to a manufacturer are profit-positive sales people. Let’s review when a building product rep should be justifiably fired and when they should be given a second chance.

Reasons to Fire a Building Product Rep

Fox states that a sales person who doesn’t cover their costs after a reasonable amount of training should be terminated. In addition, he lays out several valid reasons for firing a sales person which we will apply to a manufacturer’s building product representative.

• The building product rep cheats on expense accounts.
• The building product rep steals from the company.
• The building product rep tarnishes the company’s reputation.
• The building product rep infects other employees with a negative attitude.

Building product reps that are “loved” by clients but don’t sell need to go. In a previous blog, we listed several mistakes that building product reps make. Lack of enthusiasm, ineffective closing, and poor AIA lunch and learn presentations should be cause for concern but not an outright firing offense.

Reasons Not to Fire a Building Product Rep

Fox states that there are many reasons that are often used but do not justify the firing of a profit positive sales person. Let’s apply six reasons to building product reps.

• The building product rep is a prima donna.
• Doesn’t know the product perfectly.
• Doesn’t get along with colleagues.
• Skips meetings.
• Submits sloppy reports.
• Difficult to manage and sometimes can be unlikable.

Some sales reps have big egos, but if they are closing deals for your company you should be grateful. Fox suggests not to fire true sales people who bring in the money unless they broke the key rules listed above. Building product reps that sell and keep the company running should be compensated and praised. What reasons does your company use to fire a building product rep? Why should a building product rep be given a second chance?