Never Say Sell

CHAPTER 15Discipline 4: Incent Good Work

“I don't know why I expect it to change,” Jacob tells Tom. “Every time I see the cartoon where Charlie Brown is running to kick the football and Lucy pulls it away at the last moment, I hope she won't do it. Call me an eternal optimist.”

Just as it is important to cultivate trust and credibility with a client, we must do the same thing with our internal teams around incentive pay as well. Reneging on a commission agreement is the easiest way to destroy trust with your employees.

Jacob is in charge of the incentive compensation distribution at PIE, and the conversations can be awkward or difficult for people because money is involved. Jacob says the same thing every time he awards a commission to set the proper tone for how PIE views incentives. He says, “Paying you a commission is the best part of my job, because it means we are growing the business. We set the system to drive certain behaviors and you have excelled in those – thank you.”

The opposite is also true. If we start moving the goalposts or go back on our word on even one commission, the entire organization will know about it, and trust is the first casualty. The specific circumstance is unimportant. If we feel like we are paying a commission that shouldn't be paid, we should fix the incentive system. If not, our employees will be sending around GIFs of Lucy pulling the football away as a metaphor for our leadership style.

Don't be a Lucy.

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