HP Sued Over Unpaid Commissions

Just picked this up a few hours ago. Former HP salespeople are suing HP for failure to millions of dollars owed to it's sale force. In one article "Former HP employees sue over unpaid commissions" the three former sales people are alleging that software didn't keep accurate records of sales and commissions.

Now HP stated that "Recently a very small percentage of HP's global sales team were impacted by a technical issue relating to processing commissions", the article goes on to mention that there are some 23,000 sales people. In another article "Suit filed over HP commissions", Portland Business Journal reports that there may be 2,000 sales people affected. That's almost 10% of the sales people, sounds to me like it's more than a small percentage.

HP has acknowledge problems with the sales tracking software, but they believe the lawsuit "substantially exaggerates the scope" of the issue. The three former employees are asking for a class action that would encompass 50,000 current and former HP sales employees, stating the total owed is more than 5 Million Dollars!

Hey, when it comes to commissions this is my bread and butter. Some people just don't get it, sales people rely on their commissions to pay the bills. Glitches in software, delays in delivery, delays in ordering, and out of stock issues can severely hamper our financial condition. Most of us in the industry get a meager salary and we rely on commissions, and bonuses to feed the family.

-=Good Selling=-

MFP & Copier Pay Plan Changes for the Future

I'd like to introduce Bill Siderys as one of our new "Guest Bloggers" . I have known Bill for years and recommend him to anyone who is looking to venture into the Managed Print Services side of the business. Here's what Bill contributed for you, also please pay a visit to his site.

MFP & Copier Pay Plan Changes for the Future:

Many things have changed in how we go to the street with our products and services. The number of new “page” or “MPS” providers is growing daily. The entrance of the traditional IT companies and automated system will drive a change in our pay plans. If the new game is about the pages, then it is fair to say that the traditional pay plans will also change. I have been asked many times in the last five years about how to compensate a dealer’s sales team.

Many dealers are moving towards some type of first year (page) compensation plan. The normal programs pay on the first year of minimum contract. However, due to the weakness in this style of pay plan I don’t see a future on this type of hybrid pay plan. (Visit http://www.managedprintsvc.com/ to read more). Two items will surely drive this pay plan change in the future. One of the main forces will be the accelerated drive towards total pages sold.

If your competition can deliver a MFP at cost plus delivery, you will be forced to react. As bids or RFP’s come out requiring MPS, the traditional dealer community will have to compensate their sale team to keep the pages as well as hardware. The other part of the change that will help your future pay plans are online tools like the servers from (http://www.printfleet.com/) .

So as the copier market and competition changes, your potential for income should change.

Bill
http://www.managedprintsvc.com/