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I recently negotiated a deal with a rooftop vendor who was going to pay us a months commission on a new lease beginning at 1600 per month with 5% escalations every 3 years...
After going back and forth with them for 2 months, in addition to doing additional investigative work to find out how badly they needed my specific location, I negotiated a starting rent of 2500, two months commission, and 4% escalation every year.
At this, the board decided to offer me the additional month that I negotiated... I graciously accepted.
Now, I always pride myself on my integrity and honor and I see no wrong with accepting this. It maintained the desire to go over and above on a continuous basis and cost the building nothing.
The familiar entitlement thinking I see on this tread is the same mentality that withholds paying a super, handyman or some other employee extra money for doing something well... next time, he will not go out of the way for you... It's as much the money as it is the knowing that what your doing is appreciated and not expected; and while a drink or dinner is nice, at the end of the day, it does not pay the bills.
You will always lose good assets (in any business) that way. Unless that is your motive, or your MA is a real pri@K, or you are overpaying to begin with, I never see any reason to treat any worker unfairly.
~AR
Absolutely agree with RLM. You can't serve two masters. If there's the possibility of the MA promoting one vendor over another because one will give him/her a bigger commission, then that's a conflict of interest.
Yes, offering bonuses at the end of the year for a job well done is a typical goodwill gesture for retaining good employees.
But a project-by-project commission just invites the same sort of kickback corruption that HISTORY shows will ALWAYS creep in -- maybe not with this or that particular managing agent, but endemic to the industry.
And let's face it, particularly in this economy, no employee is indispensable. All of us have to go the extra mile to keep our jobs. What makes an MA any different from the rest of us? Talk about an entitlement mindset. If this MA doesn't feel like negotiating the best deal for his client without the incentive of a commission, then someone else young and hungry wiil.
My reason for the post is that in this particular case, there is no bidding, no alternate vendors, no room for preferential treatment to a particular vendor, etc...
RLM.. Notwithstanding my previous postings, I understand and do agree with your principle 110%...
Very well put ......"You can't serve two masters. If there's the possibility of the MA promoting one vendor over another because one will give him/her a bigger commission, then that's a conflict of interest...."
~AR
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AR
Congratulations on an outstanding job for your client - really, really well done.
And I have no quarrel with bonuses; I believe in them firmly, myself.
Here's the blurry line I mentioned in my previous post, and since it's been misconstrued, let me clarify:
No bonus for the particular project savings. None.
A bonus, instead, at the end of the year, for a job exceedingly well done/contract more than fulfilled... presuming the quality of the entire year was of the same caliber (and in your case, I have no doubt it is).
In this way, there's absolutely no question about kickbacks tied to particular vendors/services - which is where the problem began so many years ago, and mushroomed into ruined reputations and lives.
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