This thread is fascinating. I am very surprised by some of the wages posted herein. It seems to me that a tech making less than 30K/year should be looking elsewhere.
While it is true that sales reps can make six figures I should point out most reps lie about their true income, especially to other salespeople. One thing to keep in mind when looking at techs vs reps. Sales reps usually make a very small salary and are heavily commissioned. This is done to create incentive for them and allows management to feel comfortable if the rep does not perform for a month or two (base between 15-25K/yr). Management "sells" the rep on the "unlimited income potential". 3 out of 4 sales reps make their base salary and not much else. This is a big reason for the turnover in sales reps.
By contrast most techs either by choice or by just not asking opt for a base salary and not much else (perhaps commissions on referrals). To management they appear as a "cost" each month, whereas a sales rep look like an "investment". This of course is way off base, both the techs and reps should have the same goals, keeping customers happy and staying profitable. The difference is how management views the roles. My thought is if you want a bigger piece of the pie, go to your management and tell them you want a 15% paycut. That should get their attention. Then tell them in return you want __% of the quarterly profits from the customers you service. And it should go without saying, if your gonna do this, make sure you know how much money the company makes on your customers, otherwise, they will screw you.
Any management that doesn't take that offer (assuming it's not a greedy %) is insane. Now the tech is motivated to keep the customers happy (which keeps revenue up) and profitable (which puts more money is his/her pocket).
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