Years ago I was working for an automotive parts distributor as a sales rep. Within a short time, I was promoted to New Accounts Coordinator. With this new role, I was in charge of recruiting new clients for the company and essentially “coddling” these new accounts before passing them on to the sales reps.
I was good at my job. And the position came with a hefty salary increase. This would be where the red flags and problems would start to present themselves.
With my newly increased salary I decided to purchase a new personal vehicle. I had earned it. However, management frowned upon this. I was pulled aside one day and was told that the purchase of my new vehicle “didn't look good for me” or the company because they didn't want the other employees being jealous or upset in regards to my new salary. Excuse me? You pay me more money because you promoted me to a higher role and you are going to raise concern of what I do with my own money? I sheepishly agreed to not “flash my money around” just to end the ridiculous conversation and went on with my duties. This was just the tip of the iceberg.
As I continued in my new role, another “problem” developed. These new accounts (that were easily six figure a year accounts, large for us at the time) were having difficulty transitioning from me to the sales reps I was appointing the accounts to. There were multiple clients/accounts that would see significant declines in sales once they left my care. Somehow, management saw this as my fault.
Management pulled me aside one day and told me that I was “doing too good of a job” and that I “needed to stop being so friendly” with the new clients because that, in their eyes, was the reason new clients weren't doing well with transitioning. During this conversation I was informed that I would be training the replacement for my role as I was being demoted back to a general sales rep. I was livid.
At the time though, I really loved my job and the company I worked for. My main issue was with the Sales Manager who kept up with all of this nonsense. I begrudgingly trained my replacement and took my seat back on the sales floor with the rest of the sales reps. On top of this slap in the face demotion, I was not given any of the higher dollar new accounts that I had established for the company. Not one. I was basically given the scraps. In his eyes, if I was able to garner all of this new business, then I would be capable of “resurrecting” the older, essentially non-active accounts. I simply couldn't believe what was actually happening. I couldn't believe the audacity of this man.
But, I pushed forward. Trying my best to work with what I was given. I was able to bring some inactive accounts back to life. This took me a short period to do but, yet again, there was a “problem” with how I was performing my job. It was standard practice that if a sales rep was out of the office, on a lunch break, whatever the reason, another sales rep would help someone else's clients. This was all fine and dandy until…
Multiple accounts of mine refused to speak with other sales reps. If I wasn't there, they would say they would call back when I was available. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it was awesome. I'm building back another client base that appreciates me. But then, again, I was doing my job too well. Some of the other sales reps clients were starting to ask to speak to my Sales Manager because they liked dealing with me better and wanted to switch their account from their current sales rep to me. Even on these short replacement phone calls, because I treated them better, they liked dealing with me more, whatever the reasons may have been. This really pissed off the Sales Manager.
I was done with the mind games he played with me. Promoted me. Demoted me. Gave me a higher salary. Took away my higher salary. Gave me the most difficult opportunity to reach projected sales goals with a practically non-existent client base. All of this had culminated over a four year period. Now, I was about to have another one-on-one meeting with him because of whatever “reasons” he had this time. I had enough.
I walked up to his desk and asked him what he needed to talk to me about. He asked me to sit down. I chose to stand. He asked me what I thought about my job performance. I told him that I thought I was great at my job and that a lot of the client base would tell him the same thing. There was a pause. He looked at me and said “Well, I would say you are OK at your job.” That was the icing on the cake.
I raised my middle finger, stuck it directly in his face and told him to go f**k himself. He leaned back and I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. He stood up and said “Welp, you don't work here anymore” and proceeded to escort me off the premises. I wasn't allowed to collect my personal property from my cubicle and all of my stuff was never seen again.
I would hear later that a short while after my departure he had pushed the FOUNDER of the company out as well, taking his seat as CEO. I know he went on to torment many employees for many years after that. I still remember one time when I still worked there, we had all gathered at a local bar after a long day at work. That night I witnessed him drunkenly slap a new guy so hard that he knocked his glasses off his face and clear across the floor. This man was a monster.
I would hear from my old coworkers every so often about my “legend” status at the company because I was the only one that ever really stood up to him. Years later and he is no longer there, but unfortunately, he took the company down with him.
We still talk about it.