A bullied sales rep gets his revenge

Published: Wed, 03/02/22

March 2, 2022

Good morning. There’s not much we can say that hasn’t already been said about the tragic and heroic events taking place in Ukraine, but our hearts are with the people of the country. In this week’s edition of The Quota, we’ll tell you about the (wildly successful) history of Girl Scout Cookie sales, include a Sales Fail about a disgruntled ex-salesman’s revenge, and help a rep who’s stressed out by the financial ups and downs of the industry. Enjoy.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

The median number of daily dials made by BDRs (Business Development Reps).

Source: The Bridge Group

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week

There’s a bit of internal controversy brewing at sales tech mega-giant Salesforce, which recently announced plans to enter the speculative world of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. More than 400 employees signed an open letter objecting to the initiatives, citing the “unregulated, highly speculative” nature of the assets, as well as their potential environmental impact. The company has planned a “listening session” to address employee’ concerns. You can read the article here.
Apparently, one of the most popular characters from the hit show ‘The Office’ was based on an actual paper salesman. Dwight Schrute, played by actor Rainn Wilson, was (mostly) invented out of thin air. But when the show’s costume designer was doing research for the roles, she visited a local paper factory, and spotted a man wearing a t-shirt with a wolf on it for casual Friday and decided that he would be the inspiration for the fictional Schrute. You can read more about the story, along with actor John Krasinski’s real-life research, here.

FEATURE

"Girl Scout Cookies" by dlofink is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The story of one of the most successful sales initiatives of all time: Girl Scout Cookies

When the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, sold the first batch of Girl Scout cookies in 1917, it was 25 cents for a dozen. Now it’s $5 per package, and $6 for the gluten-free ones (at least someone’s getting a cost-of-living raise.) But the price isn’t the only thing that’s changed over the last hundred years of Girl Scout cookie sales. The way they’re selling them has changed too.

Girl Scout cookies are almost as old as the Girl Scout Organization itself. The Girl Scouts in the United States were founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Lowe. Starting around 1917, girls baked sugar cookies in their home kitchens and sold them in order to fund troop projects. In the 1930’s, the Greater Philadelphia Girl Scout Council started using commercially baked cookies, selling them in the windows of gas and electric companies. In 1936 they started making trefoil shaped cookies and sold them in boxes with “Girl Scouts” written on them.

WWII rationing necessitated that Girl Scouts stop selling cookies and start selling calendars instead, but the suburban boom after the war increased cookie sales as Girl Scouts sold them outside of malls and grocery stores. At the time, chocolate mint, shortbread, and peanut butter were the most popular flavors (are we making you hungry yet?).

The Girl Scouts upped their game in the 1970s, licensing four commercial bakers and unifying their packaging and distribution. Now all of the boxes looked the same and contained Saul Bass’s new Girl Scout logo. The boxes showed bucolic scenes of girls doing outdoor activities to illustrate to buyers what they were funding when they bought a box. They began trademarking their cookies, using names like Do-Si-Do ® and Trefoils ®.

In 1990, the Girl Scouts introduced awards (spiffs?) for those who sold the most cookies (as well as participation pins for everyone else). In 1985, Elizabeth Brinton, nicknamed the "Cookie Queen", sold a record 18,000 (!!!) boxes of cookies. That record has been broken several times since then, most recently by Lily Bumpus in 2021, a childhood cancer survivor. She used the proceeds from her sales to help other children with cancer.

In the 2010s, cookie selling went digital as the Girl Scouts launched both a website and an app where girls could sell cookies with a personalized touch, adding a photo and bio to their individualized webpage to make cookie sales more personal. The Digital Cookie initiative is meant to help girls learn about marketing, sales, finance, and entrepreneurship.

In 2020, Girl Scout Cookies gained even more visibility when Chris Rock helped his daughter sell them at the annual Oscars awards, with the likes of Kate Winslet, John Legend, and Matt Damon picking up some boxes. Throughout the night, celebs donated money to the troop and by the end, they had raised over $65,000. While not all girls get to sell cookies at the Oscars, it’s exciting to see a beloved American tradition evolve to help girls grow and navigate the modern world of sales and marketing.

If you’re looking for cookies near you, check out the Girl Scout website to find your nearest troop and the dates/times they’ll be out selling cookies. All of the proceeds from the cookies stay local. And if you have a daughter and want her to learn a bit more about the type of work you do professionally, sign her up to join a Girl Scout troop – that way, you’ll be able to talk shop at dinner.

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

Which famous figure founded America's oldest, continuously active property insurance company?

A. George Washington
B. Abraham Lincoln
C. Thomas Jefferson
D. Benjamin Franklin

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

“Years and years ago, I worked for a subprime mortgage company. It’s a big one that was in the news a lot after what happened in 2008. But this happened the year before the big meltdown. It was maybe an indicator of things to come.

The place was very much a boiler room. Lots of young, aggressive guys, slanging deals over the phone. Our branch did okay, but there was another branch in our same state that was absolutely crushing it. Guys there were all making well over 300k per year easily.

But they weren’t making it legally. They were manufacturing documents: doing things like making paystubs and other fake paperwork so they could get more people approved. It was kind of an open secret, but more of a don’t ask don’t tell thing. I’m sure it happened in my office too, but it definitely wasn’t as pervasive as it was at the other branch.

Anyways, there was this one guy who got a job at the other office (the scammy one), and he didn’t fit in with the rest of the guys there. Apparently he had long hair and painted his fingernails and stuff like that and those guys basically made fun of him all the time and bullied him.

So one day, the guy got fed up with being bullied and basically just stopped showing up to work. The manager didn’t take that too well, and called the guy and said that if he didn’t show up, he was gonna get fired. Well the guy wasn’t having it, and said that if he got fired, he would report the branch for all the illegal stuff they were doing.

The manager didn’t believe him, and went ahead and fired him. But this guy actually went and reported everyone not only to the corporate office (which must have secretly known about the shadiness all along), but to the federal government. Within two months, the company closed down the branch and let most of the employees go (some got transferred to other branches). A few years later, the company was in the news for a massive settlement with the government. I don’t think any of the employees ever got charged, but that guy definitely got the last laugh.”

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- February 2022

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

Not sure if anyone has asked this before, but what’s your best advice for how to handle the uncertainty of sales? I’m coming up on my second year in B2B sales, and I’m making more than I did at my previous job (basically customer service), but I can’t stand the ups and downs of my income.

My company gives us a small base, which is nice, but I’d say about two-thirds of my total income comes from commissions. Some months I do really well, but other months are leaner, and occasionally, I’ll only make my base (our company has a minimum revenue threshold to get any commission).

I have a family, and my wife works part time, but I’m basically the breadwinner, and I’m always stressed that I’m not gonna make enough to cover our bills even though my income is higher than it used to be overall. What do other people do in order to not let the uncertainty get to them? It’s a big source of stress for me. Any help is appreciated.

Stressed in the Northeast

Dear Stressed,

That’s the funny thing about working in sales: sometimes, it can feel like you’re all over the place because your income comes in strange increments, but at the end of the year (with some small exceptions) you almost always make more than you would in a comparable non-sales role.

The problem here isn’t with sales, it’s with your perception, and (possibly) with your money management skills. So if you want to stay in sales (you should) and ease some of your anxiety, you need to work on both.

First: the perception. Here’s an idea, take your 2021 W2 and divide your total wages by 52. This is how much you averaged per week last year. Assuming you’re on track to do just as well this year as you did last year, this is at least the amount of money you should have coming in per week (on average).

Your money management skills (which we know nothing about) will take a lot more work on your part. Salespeople aren’t exactly known for their frugality (though that doesn’t apply to everyone). In any case, if you work on your budgeting and planning, then you won’t worry as much about the natural ups and downs of selling. Calculate your monthly base pay, and allocate that money toward fixed bills like your rent or mortgage, car payments, etc. Oh, and much of your anxiety would be alleviated by building up an emergency fund with at least 6 months of living expenses saved up.

But at the end of the day, you’ll have to accept the fact that sales comes with uncertainty – that’s just the way it is. Your best bet is to stop fighting it and embrace the ride. There are no guarantees in sales, but unless you’re terrible at it (or absolutely hate it), you’ll make a great living. So stop worrying about the next commission check and start working toward making it a big one!

Quiz Answer: D - The Philadelphia Contributionship (Founded 1752)

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Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

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