K&L Commissions?

Every now and then I'll assist a customer in picking out some wine and then walk him/her over to the counter where one of my colleagues will ask to ring them up.  The customer then says, "Oh, well he's the one who helped me so I want him to get credit for the sale."  We all kind of smile to ourselves, laugh a bit, and then let the person know that there are no commissions for sales at K&L.  We can all only hope that our fellow employees are just as motivated to help customers out of a sense of pride and duty.  I work on a fixed salary as the spirits buyer and regardless of whether I sell $100 or $100,000 of single malts to a customer, I'm going to get the same paycheck at the end of the day.  I think that's an important fact for people to know sometimes, especially those of you who get my email blasts on a weekly basis.  At this moment, I'm sitting at my desk in my apartment - completely off the clock, using my own time to update this blog.  Half the time I send out the newsletter from home as well.  I do it because I like it and I enjoy writing about whisk(e)y.  When I'm jumping out of my seat about a new barrel we are purchasing, I'm mostly excited because I get to buy a bottle for myself, rather than because I'm going to get a huge bonus or make a big sale.  My motivation to sell single malts stems completely from my desire to share my passion with people, and the knowledge that if I can clear out 375 bottles from one barrel, that gives me enough profit to buy another one!  When I was in high school, I used to like professional wresting (I still kinda do) and I wanted to watch the monthly pay-per-views they offered.  However, the price was $30 and I didn't want to spend that myself, so I made friends with as many WWF fans as possible who would come over on Sunday and split the cost with me.  It was a great deal for everyone and I made a number of lasting relationships.  This whisky gig is basically a more expanded version of that.  I want to select as many new barrels as I can possibly get, but I need help from all of you out there to chip in with me.  As long as we all like what we're drinking, we all win!  So the next time you're browsing through the aisles, remember that we genuinely want to help you because we like booze, not because we're trying to spike our commissions.

-David Driscoll