8-2 Critical Incident Analysis

A recent incident that happened in my work place involved me and other co-workers in a training class for work on how to position a certain product. At my company they tell us that we need to sell our product based on doing a needs analysis to make sure that the specific product you suggest meets up with what the client needs, I personally think this is the correct way to promote and sell products and this is what I have always been taught and this is what the current company believes in. In this recent training session we were trained on a new product that the company is set to come out with during this product they want to have high number to show the product works, they decide to offer to pay extra commission to everyone that sells this product. I brought up the fact that this is no longer selling to persons needs as people will just get this new product forced onto them as there rep simply wants to make more money. My problem with this is now people aren’t actually getting what they need but simply a product that the company wants to push. This frustrated me as they are no longer doing a service for their customers and they will have many customer that are dissatisfied in the future and no longer trust there reps or their opinions. I brought this up to a manager and basically got scolded for not believe in the product or the direction the company is looking to go in, I tried to explain myself but got no where with it.

Why do I view the situation like that?

I view this situation this way as this is what I have been taught and this is what the company has told me they believe in. When a company starts to offer things like this people start to step away from the original strategy and start to push a product that may not suit someone.

What assumptions have I made about the leader or problem or situation?

When being told about the extra commission incentives I assume that this product will get sold more as people will be making more money off of it . I have seen this done multiple times before, Companies shouldn’t offer incentives like this if they truly want satisfied customers.

How else could I interpret the situation?

I could have thought that the company was promoting a great product and simply wanted to pay their employees more to help promote it.

What other action could I have taken that might have been more helpful?

I could have gone directly to a manger told them what I thought and why I though it would happen. I could have helped come up with an alternative way to make sure the new product was getting promoted but not pushed onto clients.

What will I do if I am faced with a similar situation in the future?

I will make sure that I am doing my part to give my clientele a proper recommendation. I will not promote something I don’t think will work for the customer simple based on what I will be getting paid on it.