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AzureBlueSky
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Default Jul 01, 2020 at 11:53 PM
  #1
Hello all.

I'm in sales with quarterly quotas. Due to Covid-19, social distancing, etc., many companies are struggling to stay profitable. Our company was hit hard with 30% of our sales force not meeting their quarterly goals.

My supervisor emails me and calls me to deliver this message and he puts it this way, which later I thought was unprofessional, almost spiteful.

"70% our our sales agents made their quarterly goal. YOU were not one of them!"

What is your thought to the way that was handled? What is your perception of such a manager? How should such a message have been delivered?

Thanks.
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AzureBlueSky
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Default Jul 18, 2020 at 06:56 PM
  #2
I'm surprised that nobody here had any thoughts. about my original post above ^ I spoke to a co-worker in my office who said it was terrible our boss said it to me in such a manner, almost as if he was shoving it my face. Especially when my sales production numbers where HIGHER than the other sales agents in our office. What is worse is our boss didn't talk or email them at all about missing ]their goals. My coworker had a good point - If viewed from another perspective, 30%, or almost 1/3, of the sales force company-wide DIDN'T make their goals - very bad for managers who's job it is to guide, coach and make sure they do.
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Default Jul 19, 2020 at 09:51 AM
  #3
Hi AzureBlueSky. Welcome to Psych Central. I am sorry you have a boss more obsessed with numbers than people.

You said the boss emailed you "70% our our sales agents made their quarterly goal. YOU were not one of them!"

That really is very insensitive. If I may let me write the email I would have liked you to receive.

Proposed email "I am sorry you did not make your goal this quarter although you did put in a good effort. We are in challenging times and I am here to talk with you about what options you could try for the next quarter that could aid you in achieving your goal. Please reply and let me know a good time for us to talk and make a great start on Q3."

Feel free to substitute in your mind another email rather than focusing on that sarcastic one they sent. If you know someone who has been in sales you might want to ask them about things like finding new prospects, overcoming objections, new markets and sources of leads, closing prospects, and whatever you think is a struggle for you.

You also might want to not react to the insensitive attitude of your boss and find a way to do your best. That is all anyone can ever do. Remember no matter how the next quarter goes, you are a wonderful person inside. One thing that may help is building self esteem based on other things besides your job. Tips for Building Self-Esteem

For me I do exercises daily, mindfulness and find ways to volunteer or help others. These videos might be of interest
Mindful Acceptance - YouTube
Follow your breath not your thoughts - YouTube

Hope things work out for the best.
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Default Jul 19, 2020 at 10:39 AM
  #4
Quote:
Originally Posted by AzureBlueSky View Post
Hello all.

I'm in sales with quarterly quotas. Due to Covid-19, social distancing, etc., many companies are struggling to stay profitable. Our company was hit hard with 30% of our sales force not meeting their quarterly goals.

My supervisor emails me and calls me to deliver this message and he puts it this way, which later I thought was unprofessional, almost spiteful.

"70% our our sales agents made their quarterly goal. YOU were not one of them!"

What is your thought to the way that was handled? What is your perception of such a manager? How should such a message have been delivered?

Thanks.
That is a bad boss. A boss should be encouraging and not discouraging. A boss should also recognize and include in that email that 30% did not make their goals, that this is a rough time for the company and for sales, and he should have also said what can we do to help you to reach your goal next quarter? A boss should be offering solutions, and not pointing out something negative. He called you out unfairly. And if your sales were better than most? He should have acknowledged that. This is not a good boss, based on that one email alone. Unless this was just a bad moment and otherwise, this boss is encouraging.

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Default Jul 19, 2020 at 03:41 PM
  #5
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Originally Posted by AzureBlueSky View Post
I'm surprised that nobody here had any thoughts. about my original post above ^ I spoke to a co-worker in my office who said it was terrible our boss said it to me in such a manner, almost as if he was shoving it my face. Especially when my sales production numbers where HIGHER than the other sales agents in our office. What is worse is our boss didn't talk or email them at all about missing ]their goals. My coworker had a good point - If viewed from another perspective, 30%, or almost 1/3, of the sales force company-wide DIDN'T make their goals - very bad for managers who's job it is to guide, coach and make sure they do.
Hi AzureBlueSky,

I agree that your boss was insensitive about how he delivered the report findings to you. It doesnt mean he's a bad boss or a bad person, just that he communicated poorly with you and this has an impact on you, because you feel demoralized, which is understandable.

I can understand why you feel demoralized, and as a boss in this time, and not intending to defend your boss just give you some insight, there's a lot of pressure on everyone right now.

Is it possible for you to approach your boss and just talk calmly about getting that email, and asking if there are ways he can help you be successful right now considering the challenges of the pandemic? Maybe his tone will change if you approach him for "coaching" which bosses do find flattering. And also it might give you some ways to improve your performance to meet the quotas (or it might give him a chance to praise you for being more productive than your colleagues).

I would definitely be upset if I got that email, and my approach would be to figure out how I could open communication to improve things. You can only control yourself, no matter how insensitive someone else is, so take a deep breath, process the anger, once you feel calm, see what you can communicate to improve the situation.

Hope that helps. I know it's hard but if we model good communication others often follow, even our bosses.

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Default Jul 19, 2020 at 07:20 PM
  #6
It was handled rudely. Sadly there are a lot of rude people out there.

Did he follow up with suggestions how to improve or training opportunities for you? Is he inexperienced or is he just in general rude person? I mean everyone makes mistakes but it’s a common knowledge to start with a positive message and follow up negative messages with improvement suggestions. In fact managers must provide suggestions to struggling employees.

I bet he got in trouble with higher ups because his employees didn’t meet their goals yet he simply takes it on you all instead of following proper procedures.

“I had many wonderful bosses and YOU aren’t of them”. I know you can’t really reply like this but it’s kind of tempting lol

I’d follow up asking for Improvement suggestions. In the email. In writing. I’d also save rude emails with no suggestions, it might come handy in the future. You never know
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Default Jul 20, 2020 at 05:58 AM
  #7
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Originally Posted by divine1966 View Post
It was handled rudely. Sadly there are a lot of rude people out there.

Did he follow up with suggestions how to improve or training opportunities for you? Is he inexperienced or is he just in general rude person? I mean everyone makes mistakes but it’s a common knowledge to start with a positive message and follow up negative messages with improvement suggestions. In fact managers must provide suggestions to struggling employees.

I bet he got in trouble with higher ups because his employees didn’t meet their goals yet he simply takes it on you all instead of following proper procedures.

“I had many wonderful bosses and YOU aren’t of them”. I know you can’t really reply like this but it’s kind of tempting lol

I’d follow up asking for Improvement suggestions. In the email. In writing. I’d also save rude emails with no suggestions, it might come handy in the future. You never know
Yes, agreed. I had written that he should have offered solutions and help for making the next quarter's goals. That's the sign of a good boss. He should have been far more encouraging and supportive, rather than calling her out for not making the quarterly goals. He could have at least pointed out that her sales production numbers were higher than most. Encourage, not discourage... that's the sign of a good leader.

I have a boss like this, and he's a bad manager.

OP, I agree with you that his email shoved the failure in your face. That's obnoxious and not OK for a manager to do. He needs to learn better management skills.

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Default Jul 20, 2020 at 06:28 PM
  #8
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Originally Posted by AzureBlueSky View Post
Hello all.

I'm in sales with quarterly quotas. Due to Covid-19, social distancing, etc., many companies are struggling to stay profitable. Our company was hit hard with 30% of our sales force not meeting their quarterly goals.

My supervisor emails me and calls me to deliver this message and he puts it this way, which later I thought was unprofessional, almost spiteful.

"70% our our sales agents made their quarterly goal. YOU were not one of them!"

What is your thought to the way that was handled? What is your perception of such a manager? How should such a message have been delivered?

Thanks.
What you have here, is the perfect example of toxic leadership. Sorry you had to be stuck with such an impudent boss.

His email to you was extremely rude and totally unprofessional.

He could have been more concerned:

"70% our our sales agents made their quarterly goal. Unfortunately, your quarterly goal fell below that. Let me know a time when you can Zoom meet with me so we can discuss it." That is a more civil way to address the issue. But your boss is a straight up a-hole.

How did you respond to his inappropriate email?
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AzureBlueSky
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Default Oct 05, 2020 at 12:24 AM
  #9
Thanks for all the replies everyone!

Actually the sales goal he was referring to is our 'bonus' goal. We have two sales goals - One that is our expected, annual production goal, and a higher one that is our 'bonus' goal. When he wrote that email I was actually on track to meet my annual production goal. If we obtain our bonus goal we get a little higher commission rate but that goal isn't required. My boss only gets paid if his sales agents hit their bonus goal. So in actuality the email he sent me he was clearly demonstrating intimidation for HIS benefit, cleverly worded so it sounded like he was concerned about me. He can be very jovial and personable. I consider him to be what I call a "Happy Huckster".
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