What this industry needs more than ever is a commissioner. A commissioner to lead a commission, to study the commission issue plaguing our industry. It shouldn’t be hard to find one and naturally that person would be paid by commission.
I am perplexed how the commission, a bird dog, finder’s fee, whatever has become such a dirty word. It has been the grease that kept the squeaky wheel spinning for years. To some it was a courtesy. To many it was tangible income. And now it is insulting to some and feared by others. I guess it depends on which side of the food chain you are on.
Shutting off the commission flow especially within established relationships is tantamount to making a long-term decision based on a short term problem. It has occurred to me that industry commission deniers are the flat earthers of ground transportation. Or, as often quoted on the sales side, “No low ballers, I know what I got here.” The truth of the matter is that the commission phenomenon is everywhere and will likely morph into a larger underground economy than Bitcoin.
A day does not go by that I am not encouraged or solicited by companies, suppliers, friends, or clients to jump on the commission bandwagon. Some do it for free services, some do it for the outright credits. It doesn’t matter people like gifts and prizes. We love to click for cash.
We may as well start it again, either way the pitcher is doing some of the work and most of the collecting. Even a nominal 5% long distance and or 10% local just to slowly ease back in the game.
Those of you with these new “standards” who will actually park your vehicle before you work with someone will one day regret that behavior. It is counterintuitive and frankly immature because you can’t get your way.
This roller coaster we call ground transportation is slowly but surely returning to a new normal and that can happen faster if we could have a group or systemwide attitude adjustment with a side order of kumbaya, otherwise we will just be spinning our wheels.
Let’s work together, don’t force me to drop a dime.
Leave a Reply