When I left school at 19 I began working as a telemarketer for a healthcare information provider. My days were spent high-volume calling and reading from scripts.
It wasn’t my dream job, far from it. I never wanted to sell anything, I just wanted to work in an office and it was an easy way in. Still, my basic salary was reasonable and the commission per appointment booked was steady. As we were playing the numbers game and reading lines that had been given to us, most of us were earning a similar amount each month.
Nine months later I was told that the department was being closed down and I faced the threat of redundancy. I had the option to move into a sales role or seek employment elsewhere. My basic salary was protected, but the commission structure was quite different.
I would receive a percentage of every sale I made, and this was uncapped. It offered the potential to earn an unlimited amount in commission. It also meant that were I unable to convert sales I would be earning less than I had been previously. My concern was that I couldn’t sell. I didn’t want to sell, but I needed a job and stayed with the company.
That is the position that fighters under contract with the UFC found themselves in yesterday when they were told about the payout structures for the new Reebok deal. The guaranteed payouts per fight have been universally derided as too low, and a significant drop on what most fighters have been making in individual sponsorship previously.
That is balanced out, so we’re told, by the unlimited potential attached to the sales of Reebok kit bearing the name or likeness of the individual fighters. Each fighters’ kit will be available to purchase online, and some will be available in stores. The fighters will receive a percentage of gross merchandise sales somewhere between 20 to 30 percent.
The message to the fighters seems clear. Not happy with the significantly reduced amount you are now making in guaranteed sponsorship per fight? Then get out there, build your personal brand, and get selling those Reebok kits with your name on.
Between them, the UFC and Reebok have mobilized an approximately 550 strong sales force, who should be eager to start cashing those commission checks.
It is safe to say that your average unranked UFC fighter will not have fans clamoring for Reebok kit with their name on so the onus is on them to promote themselves and get people buying. It would be a smart move, were it not for the impact that this is going to have on those they are asking to enthusiastically sell their merchandise.
Following yesterday’s announcement that UFC sales force is demotivated. Even worse, once this deal really comes into play many will soon become desperate. In sales that is a combination that can only be destined to fail.
I never did earn more from that sales job all those years ago. Failing to hit target, I soon became demotivated and desperate. Within six months I was looking for employment elsewhere. With Bellator taking every public opportunity to shout, “hey, we’re over here with Viacom’s money offering you a viable alternative”, you have to wonder how many of the UFC and Reebok’s new sales force will end up doing the same.
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