----- Original Message -----
From: "John Mullan"
Subject: Re: Myopic Bulls**t Artists
Actually the timing is a bit different. Circuit City eliminated the
commission plan in 2002, along with those salespeople who were the highest
earners, and made everybody that was left hourly. In 2006 they shot
themselves in the other foot by eliminating those who were earning above a
certain figure and then offered to rehire them at a lower wage. The
chapter 11 filing came in Nov 2008, the decision to liquidate in Jan 2009
and the doors closed for the last time on March 8, 2009. I was there for
all of this.
When CC was commissioned there was a salesman in my store that never
worked more than 30 hours in a week, yet earned more than the store
manager. I never figured out their logic in letting someone like that go,
he wasn't costing the company money, he was making it for the company and
they were only paying him a very small percentage of what he sold. I can't
remember the exact percentages but they had three rates for products,
accessories, and extended warranties. Warranties had the highest
commission rate.
I worked for a cmpany like that for a few years. In typical MBA fashion, he
had his ledger book with three columns.
Money in, money out and total money.
Anything in the money out column was bad, and he was alwasy striving to keep
the numbers in that column small to non existent.
Unfortunately, he put the wages he paid out into that column, the
consequence being that he saw his employees as a liability.
After a while, no one would work for him and the company closed. The last I
heard, he was running a bong shop in a local low rent mall.
I wonder how long B&H would stay viable if, every year, they fired the top
10% of their wage earners and replaced them with high school kids?
William Robb
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