Help me choose this battle
 

Here's the deal
My company's sales force are all provided company cars that are purchased and maintained by us, we also pay for car washes, fuel, tolls....everything. If there is a problem they drop it off at the garage take a spare and pick theirs up when its done. The managers get the new cars and then they are rotated to sales people and are all in excellent condition. Here's the catch....they all, with the exception of the GM are lettered. It is done very tastefully with the name of our company, address and a phone number. Every vehicle, be it truck, trailer, tractor is stenciled. Every piece of literature or machine we sell has a sticker placed "straight" on it.
A few years ago we hired a sales-WOMAN ;) for our medical division. She calls on hospitals, nursing homes, medi-centers, MRI's ect. Well at the time she had her own car so during the hiring negotiations we agreed to pay her lease which we did.
When her lease was up she we offered a company car and she has been very pleased, its an '04 Impala which she said is nicer than her lease.
Here comes the problem.......
She absolutely refuses to have her car lettered, claiming she is "not delivering pizza" yada yada yada. Well I know that is all BS she just doesnt want to go to the country club (literally)with lettering on her car. She says if her car has to be lettered she will go lease another car and thats where we are now.

This person is probably the most professional, organized, salesperson we have. She is not someone I want to lose. She is also the highest paid other than my VP of sales.
This is also round 2 for her, last week she refused her new company cell phone because it was a Nextel and she isnt "a truck driver". Well after I told her that her old number was being ported she accepted the phone.

Help me
Do I take on this battle
Do I give her her win and move on

So you hired Amorosa huh?
Give in now and she will be right back in your office with a new list of things to change. Nip it in the Bud!
You are the boss, not her. I actually was on her side until I read the phone thing.
Steeee- rike 2!!!

if you change the rules for her all the other salesmen will want cars without lettering. then your screwed unless you dont want your free advertisng any more. if she is to embarresed to drive the company car to her "country club" tell her to go buy a personal car to drive to the club. the job market is still tight out there she sure is pushing her luck lots of sales guys out there looking for work.

Agree with IDRPSTF - where will it end? And if she is so great, she should understand and commit to the company's goals and business plans. Marketing is most definitely part of the business plan. And how are you going to explain the special treatment to every other person that has a company car?

I agree!
 

You must have the same rules for everybody. If she wants to spend her money and lease a car that is her perogative but you cannot contribute/supplement.

I have one that is a b@@@@ on wheels. We B@@@@@ about her everyday but she brings in $$$$$. Most of the sales people that turn the $$$$ eventually turn into primadonnas.

Good luck. let us know the the final decision.

You can take the route of the Don and say"your fired, b@@@@@ !!!"

What's it worth to keep her?
 

If she is truly producing sales and income then get inventive to solve the issue:
1. Take the lettering off all sales VP's cars.
2. Let her lease a car and give her an "allowance" she maintains the car etc.

I franlky find it bothersome to be a rolling billboard no matter how tastefully it is done.

My $ .02

Wannabe

Let her lease her own car (but give some upper and lower limits) and the same with the phone. Key sales people are worth giving a little more to...

Oh my God is that true!

Get rid of that B*tch. YOU are the boss--not her. If you give in to her, you will have alot of unhappy employees that will be asking for the same treatment.

If your paying for the car put any damn thing you want on it. If she doesn't like it let her get her own car.

If she wants to take the route of her own car you could pay her a vehicle allowance once a month that is some reduced amount of your expense to provide her a company car, but that's the most I would do.

If her vanity is that important to her she should pay for it.

This is typical of employees thinking the business can not go on with out them. This business survuved before she was there, and will continue to be there after her.

It would be a cold day in hell before I let one of my employees tell me "how things were going to be." They didn't make the investment or sacrafice to start this, and she is just someone who got lucky to get paid the selary you are paying her.

BUT, it is the year 2004, where the business owner deserves nothing and dumb a$$ employees deserve everything.

PISSES ME OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fire her ass!

My first impression was to fire her... but if she is a good salesperson... there is one compromise...get a magnetic sign for the car and during business hours she has to have the sign attached to the car... after hours... and weekends she can take it off... or else she can find another place to work....my .02

She took the phone, but she is still drawing a line in the sand. Tell her that the company car that you are paying for will be lettered. Period. And that she is expected to drive it to any company related destination. Period. If she doesn't want to drive it to the country club, then she can lease her own personal vehicle to drive and the company car must be left at the office and she will have to pick it up at the office every day and return it every night. That's pretty plain and simple. Lord knows, I would let my company plaster whatever they wanted to all over a car if they were paying for it and I got to drive it all the time.

FIGHT. You have implemented policies for a reason. Besides if you bend the rules for one, what does that tell the others???

I vote fight it. I've been down similar paths before with people working for me, and when I let it go, it ALWAYS came back to bite me in the a$% one way or another.
Either other employees will jump on her bangwagon, or she'll just keep ignoring policies. Either way, you lose.

Well, you could implement a new rule allowing every sales person who exceeds a certain monthly figure to have privileges like leasing their own car with you paying up to a certain amount toward it every month. Then, let this woman meet the new goal and earn back her "lettering free" vehicle after first making her drive the company car to show her who is the boss. But, do not make special exceptions for her and her alone or it will continue to escalate with her demands while simulaneously buiding resentment at your company from other employees.

Company cars get the lettering. Thats the rule. She could drive her own car if she doesn't like it. Since she is the top salesperson she should get a major perk tho. It is called her higher salary!!! Which she gets.......Starting to hand out extra privileges to some employees just builds resentment in the others. She should be happy with her paycheck that allows her to even join her country club.

At this rate she will be your boss by next week.

Sounds to me like she has eyes for your job! You are being dared to cross the line. Don't let her or anyone else push you into a corner. I agree, she needs to have the car lettered like everyone else. If she is as good as she sounds, she will understand. Take her and the next best sales rep to lunch (witness) and explain your new incentive plan. A 20% increased sales over the next quarter will get a higher level car lease paid provided the current car is lettered. A 20% increase would probably make it worth the cost. That way she maintains face, the car is lettered and you look like a champ to your boss with a 20% increase in sales.

Wow...Reed's the voice of reason that pleases everyone. Nice job!

What I don't quite understand is why it's negotiable. Basically you've explained to us that everyone gets a car, gas, car washes, tolls and all your asking is for the logo on the side???

Every opportunity has an opportunity cost and guess what, the cost is the logo on the side.

I agree with everyone...she needs to conform to your company policy (policies). Unless of course you want to re-write them all based on each employee's whim. Up to you. It has great potential to cause a lot of dissention among the troops.

If that is the policy I would push it, except that I hate lettering on my vehicles just for the insurance scam people that see it think you will pay for a brak and bump. In my dads hotels all his company trucks and service vehicles are "unmarked" for this reason, maybe she ahs the same fear? You could do the magnetics as well, but how do you know if she is actually using them or not?

If you give in she wins and holds you by the nads every time you want to implement a policy.

Also no more lettering on cars for your sales force of course.

I'd have her rent another car but designate a fixed amount for monthly payments, maintenance, car wash and insurance, she can rent a Ferrari if she wants for her country club rides. Keep paying the gas but the amount for peripherals would be fixed. Make this available to all your sales team. I doubt they will take it.

That's what I'd do. My humble opinion.

BTW compromising with one employee opens a door you don't want to go thru.

I have to agree with most of the other people here. I am I Sr. Account Manager for a large company, in which we use our own vehicles, and we are reimbursed for mileage and a fixed amount per month. We use Runzheimer Vehicle Services to keep track of monthly mileage.
When I am on the road, I have magnet signs with company info that are very tasteful to attach to the personal vehicle. They go on and off easily.
However- if the rest of your sales force is using company vehicles, so should she, NO EXCEPTIONS.
Your the manager and your word should be final.
Hope this situation works out for you for the best.

I agree with Ange. Reed has a point but, as soon as she is out of sight of the office she'll just pull the magnetic sign off. She gets the letters or she gets the boot. No one is irreplaceable. With the job market as it is, there is someone just as good as her who would gladly take her job.

I need to buy a Miller 251 Mig welder with aluminum spool gun.

I used to own a chemical manufacturing company. We would provide company cars for the sales force. They would get them the way we provided...no questions...no negotiations on the vehicles. All that had a company car, had a 2nd car for personal use because as you know if an employee uses a company car for personal use there is a tax consequence to them. The executives that were provided a luxury car had to calculate a certain percentage of the vehicales yearly cost as additional income to them.

So as far as your sales force is concerned...you provide the vehicle you want to give them...other wise they can rack up milage on their own personal cars an be reinbursed for the milage. That is how we handled it when a sales person didnt like the type of cars we leased for them. They used there own cars and were given milage at the predetermined IRS rate.

Hey,Bidness is bidness.Anyone who "refuses" sleeps wit da fishes!( Thats how we talk in New Orleans!Since you're coming down,I thought you should start getting ready).Good luck & stick to your guns.The advice here is pretty good!BOB

Fire her.....she should be home somewhere cooking and ironing anyway. :D :D :D :D

Tantrum, you must not have been married yet. Give an inch, lose a mile. You are in a tough position. I voted to stick to your guns. You could be opening a can of worms if you give in and possible legal repercussions for unfair employment practices. For this reason alone you need to stick to policy. Any deviation can be construed as discrimination. If it is explained that way she may understand. You just can't change the rules because someone thinks they are wrong.

chris, shoe to ass. sounds like you take care of your people. your cars, you do what you want to them and use the phones that work best for you. tell her to park the car, and take the caddy to the country club. people suck, you take care of them and all they do is whine. in my eyes everyone can be replaced. maybe its time for her to know that. hope all is well. dave

When you start bending the rules you open yourself to litigation. Believe me, I'm being sued right now by a former employee. I fired her because she was not following policy, she countered "lots of people don't follow policy, therefore I don't need to either". Simple little thing, but now it's costing me. Don't go down that road.

I agree with Wildthing.

What is the objective? To make sales or have signs on cars?

I've managed sales people for the last 20 years. The one thing I know for sure is that top producers are a pain in the azz. Give in but only with a fight.

Being in sales as well, top producers usually get better perks. Let here have it her way, and if anyone else *****es, tell them you will remove the letters from there car when they beat her in sales for a couple months.
If you do that and they beat her great, more sales.
set a minimum criteria for no lettering.

TELL HER TO SAY 10-4 GOOD BUDDY ON THE NEXTEL, AND LETTER HER IN A WAY THAT ONLY NASCAR COULD ENVY! WTF is wrong with people these days?

:hothead: :mad:
Roby

She is a top producer, but gets compensated for it. All the other factors are just desires that will aggravate the other sales people if you give in.

The signs on vehicles is an interesting topic. I don't see the need if your business is not local, ie; electricians, painters, local business delivery vehicles, etc. If it depends on local business, it's appropriate.

One other thought, if you change the rules now as some have suggested, it'll be perceived by the sales force as giving in to her, it's just a different way of appeasing her. She knew the program when you hired her...

Do not bend over and cater to the whims of, who sounds like, a pompous, arrogent, self-centered saleswomen. Same rules for everyone. If the company is paying for the car, phone, etc. then she gets what you tell her she gets.

If you bend for her, you'll be hearing it from everyone shortly.

Hey Chris,

It is a Company Car and the Company determines what it will look like not her. It should be used for Company buisiness only anyway. If she doesn't like the way it looks then tell her to use her own car and set a monthly re-imbursement based on leasing the car you would have given her. That way if she wants a Jaguar she can have it but will only get paid for the Impala. You need to draw your own line in the sand but also show you are willing to work with her if she is a good sales rep.

Also, if your vehicles are registered and insured commercial than you are required to have lettering on them.

letter it. its a perk having a company car. i wouldnt have a problem with someone driving an unmarked car if THEY were paying for it, but if I were, its marked.

good salespeople always push and thats what makes them good. you are the boss and you must guide her. she will respect you more for putting your foot down. She will walk all over you if not.

your in a tough spot top producers are hard to find. if she really is the best in the company and you don't stand your ground you have to lay out some sort of written incentive policy, otherwise every salesperson will beat a path to your door to remove the lettering or chatter behind your back/remove lettering on thier own w/o permission.

lettering has the secondary benefit as that it slows down the unauthorized use by spouses/significant others/offspring.

either way we all "feel your pain" because it is not that easy to find a top producer.