Sometimes you need to spend more to make more
By Rich Lindblom, AVB Marketing
Way back in high school I had a female friend, strictly platonic (her choice, not mine), who lived down the street from one of our Advanced Maytag stores.
As it happened, her dad, Chet, worked for Frigidaire, long before they became part of Electrolux. But sure enough, every time my friends and I were hanging out over at her house, Chet and I would get into a playful argument over the merits of Maytag vs. Frigidaire. It was always good natured and light-hearted.
After college, as often happens, my friend and I drifted apart and I didn’t see her or her father anymore.
Help Wanted
As luck would have it, years later we were looking for a salesperson at the store near their home. We put signs in the window and ads in the newspaper (gimme a break, it was the 1980s). You can probably guess where this is headed at this point, but who comes walking through our door to apply for the job but my friend’s father, Chet.
Chet tells me he retired from Frigidaire and is looking for something to keep him busy and bring in a couple of bucks. The first thing I notice is that he’s dressed more like a business executive than a salesperson — dress shoes, dress shirt, dress pants. Not what I’m used to seeing from most job applicants, but a nice professional touch.
Naturally I gave him some grief about how he could possibly sell Maytag after all of those arguments we had about Frigidaire’s superiority, and we had a good laugh. The conversation went great until we started talking salary, which is when the train went off the track.
At our family business, my dad had a three-pronged philosophy about hiring and salary:
- Cheap.
- Cheap.
- Cheap.
He simply did not believe in paying people a lot of money. In fact, back then I think we were paying something like $10 per hour plus a small commission.
Suffice it to say, I was floored when Chet asked me for $20 an hour. It was literally twice what we typically would pay a salesperson. He did say he did not need or want commission, as he didn’t need to be motivated to do his job correctly.
Non-Negotiable
Regardless, $20 was just out of the ballpark for us. I tried to negotiate the salary with him but it went nowhere. He said he didn’t need to work and that he knew what he was worth.
I told Chet we would discuss it and I’d get back to him, because as much as I liked him, there was no way I could make that decision on my own.
Fast forward two weeks and we still haven’t found anyone to fill the role. So out of sheer desperation and despite our proclivity for hiring on the cheap, I got my father and brother to agree to Chet’s salary terms and he joined our team.
I’m sure you’re wondering how that worked out, giving in to the prospective employee’s salary demands at the risk of breaking the company pay scale.
Well, I can tell you that Chet was with our company until the day we moved many years later. He showed up for work on time every day, always professionally attired in dress shoes, dress shirt and dress pants. He did a fantastic job selling product, handling customer issues and generally representing our company in a professional manner.
In fact, as much as it would have pained me to admit it 40 years ago, my old Frigidaire nemesis taught me a thing or two about the industry and dealing with customers.
The Takeaway
As business owners, you probably know better than most that you get what you pay for. And whether you are buying something for your house or hiring an employee, the best option isn’t always the cheapest. Sometimes paying a little extra salary (or in Chet’s case, a lot extra) is well worth it in the long run, because bad employees cost you money and good employees make you money.
The bottom line is that the next time a guy or gal like Chet walks through your door, don’t be afraid to pay them what they’re worth!
Rich Lindblom is a past principal of Advanced Maytag Home Appliance Center, a family business founded 64-years ago in Schaumburg, Il. He now shares his 40-plus years of hard-won retail experience with fellow BrandSource members as a YSN columnist and product manager of AVB’s SYNC point-of-sale system. You can reach Rich at rich.lindblom@avb.net.
