I've gotten a job offer from a company in Roanoke VA where my wife lives and where we bought a house. I'm still in Raleigh working at my current job, but plan to move to VA as soon as I get a job.

I get a job offer from a heavy equipment company today. Its what I want to do, working with heavy equipment. Outside sales agent, all of Virginia is my territory, and I'm selling mostly to municipalities (towns, cities etc). They give me a truck, gas card, insurance, 401K, laptop, cell etc.

Problem I have is, I told them I'd like to stay near my current salary. They offered a base + commission. The base is about industry standard and what I expected, but the commission is lower than I thought (1%). The guy said on average the outside sales agents at this company (3 locations in VA) sell over $1mil in equipment a year, which equates to about $10K a year. I'm already 2 months into this year, and by the time I get some clients built up it could be another 2 months before I even sell a piece of equipment.

So how do I counter? Do I counter with a higher base or with a higher percentage commission? I'm thinking putting 2 counter offers on the table, one with a little higher base and higher commission, and one with just a higher base and same commission.

I know that with this type of industry the commission percentages are typically lower, but I cant find any research as to how low.

What say you tdub?

2/25/2014 9:51:24 PM

Outside sales you say? ...

2/25/2014 11:12:29 PM

I swear to god you posted this thread already

2/25/2014 11:22:10 PM

just do str8up MLM

you're a natural

2/26/2014 12:25:24 AM

^^He did, sorta.

http://thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=639365

If you're confident in being able to make the sales, I'd counter with a higher commission (1.5-2%). If you want the safety net, counter with higher base. Either way, only send one counter-offer.

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 1:32 AM. Reason : ^^]

2/26/2014 1:31:53 AM

I posted a thread similar to this one, but I was not asking about negotiating a base/commission offer.

2/26/2014 6:53:38 AM

based solely on what you wrote, here's my take:

if the base is industry standard and you'd expect a higher commission, that's what you should counter with. It seems like you answered your own question on which counter offer to use.



[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 12:26 PM. Reason : ]

2/26/2014 12:22:44 PM

^

2/26/2014 12:24:36 PM

^^ is it the same gig, just with a base salary?

I get that the dynamics have changed now, you have a house there, and a wife there... I'd take it and make it work.

You can always take your mobile detailing stuff with you and hit then pavement, and drum up some new clients.

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 1:30 PM. Reason : .]

2/26/2014 1:30:28 PM

my standard practice has lately been this:

they send a counter-offer, I send the next candidate an offer

2/26/2014 1:41:02 PM

If they stand firm on the offer would you still take it?

If so, then I wouldn't bother with the counter offer. This sounds like close to an entry level job, and there are likely others with the exact same position, with the same starting salary/commission.

Though unlikely, the hiring manager might be annoyed enough to rescind the offer, especially if he had a strong second choice candidate. If you're dealing with an HR rep for this part, it's even more unlikely to piss anyone off, but equally less likely to be successful.

Even if you're successful in getting a little more, you may be shooting yourself in the foot for raises/advancement down the road.

I can certainly see both schools of thought on this, but unless you come with a rare, sought-after skillset that the employer is going to have a hard time finding, the minisucle upside isn't worth any risk.

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 1:48 PM. Reason : .]

2/26/2014 1:47:52 PM

This is with a different company, and I'm the only candidate they are considering (its a job they kept me in mind for).

I would not be interested in the job at the current offer. I did counter today, we will see what they say. I've found enough job interest in the new area that I feel I can find something else close to the salary I make now if they dont accept the offer.

2/26/2014 2:25:39 PM

Just got offered a new position in my company. My boss asked me how much I wanted. I gave him a figure and he said I should get way more than that. Went up again and he said he'd make an offer by EOW. Lets see what happens. I'm so bad at negotiating salary.

4/22/2014 5:23:34 PM

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars

4/23/2014 12:01:59 AM

I asked for 10%+ more on their offer and got 5% more. All 2 previous jobs i was not able to negotiate a bigger offer.

[Edited on April 23, 2014 at 3:07 AM. Reason : Not a recent grad at all]

4/23/2014 3:06:28 AM