This may be the dumbest question I ever had to ask you guys!

Because I already know the answer, at least from those of you who know how to run a business.

Hypothetical: Your crew is doing a roof job and a different property owner sees your nice equipment with the full body wrap and nice pickups. He watches your crew for a few days and notices that they do a lot of detail the other guys leave out - they're doing a good job.

The guys owns a LOT of commercial real estate, so he stops by the job and talks to one of the crewmen who is down off the roof getting some water or something. The crewman is polite to him and answer the guy's questions, and gives him the boss' business card. The crewman is an hourly waged employee, btw.

Ok, the guy calls a few days later and wants quotes on some roofs. He likes the quotes and says he wants you to do all of his roofing. So now your crewman thinks he caused the sale and wants a 5% commission on everything you do for that new customer.

Do you give your crewman a few hundred bucks to say thanks but decline to pay him anything more because he was on the clock as an employee, or do you pay him 5% commission on everything you do for the new customer?

If the guy cant talk to a customer to get himself and everyone else some work without being greedy then like my dsd would say fuck em. I would have told that employee to pound sand!!!Ungrateful s.o.b. I might have kicked his ass on the way out!!

I don't think your employee deserves commission in this case.The customer could have gotten your number off the side of your trucks or off the phone book. As for him handing out your business cards he was doing his fiduciary duty toward the company.Good workmanship sells the product but he and the others are getting paid an hourly wage for that. If the customer is an acquaintance of his or somebody that he tracked down with the purpose of acquiring his business and is using your company because of him than he may entitled to a commission.

Mike H Said: The 5% part is rhetorical.... but I would do something for the guy. Probably even the whole crew, and probably at one of our company functions, for all to see, as an example of the fact that you are ALWAYS selling, even when its just your appearance and your work ethic. Be proud to be part of something different, and know that your actions DO count, and if it shows so well that it gets us work, you will be rewarded.... even though theres no obligation to do so.

Good employees are hard to come by, something like this is an opportunity to make an object lesson that should not be missed.

I dont disagree with Lefty often, but definitely on this issue.

I would begin to work with him so he could earn extra money with leads and selling.

Vickie the Boss Said: Where do people get their entitlement ideas from.

So I had this great employee - loved her. I took all the office to the trade shows and she never got to go. We would all come back with these fun stories of getting to go out to dinners and the travel etc. So I decided to send her on a dream vacation for the weekend to San Fransisco. She had never been on a plane before. I sat her down and planned her entire trip - airfare, Alcatraz, every taxi ride, tips and nice dinners, set her up at a Marriott so she could have a nice room. I also included an Oakland Raiders game BUT I asked her to get the tickets herself because she had a connection. I wrote her a check for all the spending money and the tickets.

I was happy to do it for her and proud I could. She comes to me a few days later and says the tickets were $18.00 dollars more than we had figured so could I give her the difference. Mind you she probably had $800.00 spending money in her pocket she hadnt spent yet but she needed $18.00 more.

I was so mad that I got $18 in loose change and walked up to her desk and dumped it on it and said here you go.

Easy, I would tell the man he can have 1/2 the commission, 2.5% as he didn't close the job and since he considered himself in sales he would be working commission only and go find some jobs and get some contracts signed. Cya when you have one. :)

What would you be paying him for? For not stealing your work and doing it on the side? Isn't that what they call a bribe?

Any work that comes from an ongoing job belongs to the company that spent all the money on advertising, etc.and all the effort selling etc. to get that job. It's just a continuation of what was already started. I've been on both ends of this issue many times.

When I sub-contracted from other roofing companies and someone stopped by I always referred them to the company I was doing the work for and always expected the same from anyone working for my company.

Whether or not they are salaried or subs doesn't matter. Now if you want to "give" something out of the goodness of your heart that's a personal choice but if there was no upfront agreement I don't see how someone can say you owe them.

:lol: Vickie, please don't stop the story there...

Where do people get their entitlement ideas from.

So I had this great employee - loved her. I took all the office to the trade shows and she never got to go. We would all come back with these fun stories of getting to go out to dinners and the travel etc. So I decided to send her on a dream vacation for the weekend to San Fransisco. She had never been on a plane before. I sat her down and planned her entire trip - airfare, Alcatraz, every taxi ride, tips and nice dinners, set her up at a Marriott so she could have a nice room. I also included an Oakland Raiders game BUT I asked her to get the tickets herself because she had a connection. I wrote her a check for all the spending money and the tickets.

I was happy to do it for her and proud I could. She comes to me a few days later and says the tickets were $18.00 dollars more than we had figured so could I give her the difference. Mind you she probably had $800.00 spending money in her pocket she hadn't spent yet but she needed $18.00 more.

I was so mad that I got $18 in loose change and walked up to her desk and dumped it on it and said "here you go".

Yeah Mike, I edited it quickly as that part seemed whiney. lol

I'm just frustrated that's all. We pay our guys a good bit more than we have to. I pump their hours if we have bad weather so they get a decent check. The guy takes home our company pickup. I think we have treated him pretty darn good and it was like a 2x4 in the back of my knees when I was accused of not treating him fairly on this.

Of course I just finished a quote for 2770 squares for that same customer I mentioned in the thread I erased a week or so ago. So I'm in a pretty good mood as it regards crewmen making a good impression. 'nother day, 'nother circumstances, maybe I'd have a different attitude.

Ya know how that goes, I'm sure. ;)

Caught your edit ;) LOL

Tim,

I think I understand the question perfectly.

His 5% "damand" is laughable. I would have laughed in his face. If he was anything less than a great employee that did a great job of representing your crew and company, I might have even walked him to the door.

But I would still use this opportunity as I described above for the sake of the crew and the company.

Mike, the fact that he has demanded the commission on every job we do for the new customer, kinda puts his value to our company not very high.

Frankly, this seems like a pretty black & white cut & dried issue to me.

The 5% part is rhetorical.... but I would do something for the guy. Probably even the whole crew, and probably at one of our company functions, for all to see, as an example of the fact that you are ALWAYS selling, even when it's just your appearance and your work ethic. Be proud to be part of something different, and know that your actions DO count, and if it shows so well that it gets us work, you will be rewarded.... even though there's no obligation to do so.

Good employees are hard to come by, something like this is an opportunity to make an object lesson that should not be missed.

I don't disagree with Lefty often, but definitely on this issue.

This was not family or friends, it was a total stranger who happened by.

Back in the day when I was a realtor it was called "procuring cause of sale." The procuring cause of sale determined who got the commission. In this case the procuring causes of the sale were, in descending order of importance toward getting the customer:

1. We were on a job that was convenient for the new prospect to notice. 2. He saw our nice equipment and it caught his eye and made him curious. 3. He noticed that we do extra detail on the edges. 4. I put together a nice proposal package at a price he thought was reasonable. 5. Myself and my son answered 2 dozens questions he had about what we do. 6. Our credentials checked out. 7. An employee just happened to be standing there when he pulled up to ask for a card.

Of all the possible causes of the sale listed above, #7 is the one most likely to have made no difference in the sale.

Also, we bid the guy's work long before our employee decided he deserved 5%. A 5% commission was not plugged into the price.