This is direct marketing, door to door sales. That's fine, but the problem starts with the interview. The owner lies to the prospects and tries to pretend like this isn't door to door sales. Lets just be honest, ok?
The owner is only 29 years old, he is very immature and has no leadership and management experience. He has no idea what he is doing. To be honest, if he weren't the owner, this would have been a good place to work.
You sell direct tv, door to door. However, you have to go to the office, dressed in a suite, from 9:30 am to 1 pm every day for meetings and rah rah, games, practice pitch etc. That stuff is important, but you don't need to pretend here, you don't need to wear a suit. That is just added expenses for the employees. Also, the morning meeting and training could be done in 60-90 minutes. It doesn't have to take 3+ hours. Remember, this is straight commission so you don't get paid for these hours. Then, before you go to the field you change to shorts and a polo.
Finally around 3 pm you can start knocking on doors but you have to stay out until well past dark which is just shady. Then, at 8:30 when you are done selling the owner wants you to go and hang out and drink with the people you spent all day with. If you don't, then he tells you that you're not serious, and starts in with the passive aggressive abuse. He will change policy every day to suit his needs of who he wants to "punish". (more on this later)
So you get some sales, the commission rate is good. You've added up all your sales for the week, plus your bonus, you are expecting about $1200. However, wait, when you get your check it's only for $600. Where did the rest go?
More lies:
We withhold 10% each week and pay it to you next week in case of cancellations
You had customers cancel
Its in there, it's in there!!!
Also if you ask about your check being short you just might be totally ignored as well. Or labeled as a negative nancy.
But, where did the rest of the money go? If there were cancellations, how come you didn't hear about it when it happened? The customer is supposed to call into the office where the owner's wife has a chance to save the sale. But why not have the rep contact this cancelling customer? They are the ones who had built a good rapport with the customer.
Theory here is the owner is telling you your customers canceled and he is keeping the commissions.
Otherwise, why not be upfront and transparent. You have no idea what is in your check. There should be an itemized print out with your check each week so you can see exactly what you are paid on. However, this doesn't exist. Nor is there any website where you can check on your customers, sales, commissions. SHADY.
The next thing he does is constantly put up promotions, incentives, rewards. Win cash, gas cards, lunches, trips etc. However, if you win the $150 cash bonus today, don't ever expect it. And weeks later when you get the nerve to ask, he will tell you it was in your check. Yeah Yeah. So where are the gas cards and vacations? Were those in our checks too?
The owner has a huge issue with family. He wants you to work 9 am to 9 pm, 5 days a week, then 9 am to 5 pm every saturday. He doesn't care that you have a family, or a life. He doesn't think that this should be a job, he wants you making him money to be your whole life. He even wants you to hang out with only work people during the few off hours each week. He will work you 70 hours per week and not allow days off, vacations, sick days etc.
He sends out messages to the employees at all hours of the day and night expecting you to be right on it. Eat, sleep and breath RMI.....and make him money.
But can he, does he, do what he asks of you? A great leader will get their hands dirty too and go out in the field and show you how it's done. He doesn't ever ever do that. That's below him. He lies from time to time and says he went out, but he wasn't with another rep, he didn't tell anyone he went out, he doesn't have any paperwork from these sales, etc, etc. He just tells you I went out and did 3 sales for $400 in 3 hours yesterday, so you should be able to do it too! However, he doesn't really go out, those are just more lies.
So about that changing policy daily. The rules of how to be in the leadership meetings, and how to be in the core leadership meetings change every day depending on who he wants in those meetings. So it doesn't matter if you've earned the level "leadership" before. Today he might not like you, so you can't join the meeting. Tomorrow you might not get a sale, so you are out on your butt. Every day changes....you could have one title and level today, and tomorrow he says he's taking that away from you.
He creates an environment where if you are not drinking and partying with the employees and sleeping around the office, then you aren't serious and so won't advance.
He spews this business model that everyone is working their butts off for, which is to get promoted and get your own office anywhere you choose in the usa. Just stick with him, work these 70 hours per week, and he will promote you out to your new office. But in the 5 years he has been the owner, he has promoted out ZERO successful reps into their own office. Though we know this business model works, and people can be promoted out to their own office, it won't ever be under the direction and leadership at RMI.