Groupon Fires Sales Rep Who Threatened Bad Reviews for Business Owner

Something tells me he won't be working in an Internet-related field in the future, at least as long as this story sits around the top of a Google search for his name.

As it went down, even the bad reviews really don't reward the sales process. He received very firm no - he didn't say he'd post bad reviews if he didn't receive a sale, but retaliated after the fact. Additionally, it doesn't seem that he used bad reviews priorly posted with future leads ("don't let this happen to you ...") All in all, his actions were those of a bratty punk, and didn't directly come out of the base + commission model.

You see this model everywhere: hire young kid who'd be lucky to work in a mailroom or as a waiter, and give them opportunity to earn big $$$ via results. In Houston it may be oil-related; Florida vacation properties; SF, Internet companies. Some achieve success through thick skin and tenacity. Immature response, especially when it has nothing to do with achieving sales objectives, is not a foregone conclusion.

I agree with your point, but sadly I would like to add that this is the case for a large amount of companies hiring sales people for similar jobs, it's not restricted to groupon.

Having worked in the "mass web site production for soulless company" at one point in the past, this is also why you can end up with terrible un-doable projects with ridiculous timelines that the sales department sold, they're not dumb, they get their commission and now it's your problem if it fails. If they did not sale, then it was their problem for failing a sale.

Didn't realize how terrible of a job it was until I left. Yippee

yea AllThingsD didn't really get the whole story.

If he's a sales rep who cold calls people, he's probably experienced dozens of hang ups a day in the year he's been at that job. Something must have pushed him over the edge that day. Either that, or he's done this to many other people, but this is the first time someone called him out on it.

He could have been well-prepared. That doesn't give him the emotional maturity to deal with it. An employer's role isn't to turn a child into an adult. I can be taught about the reality of being rejected when I ask a romantic interest for a date, but in the end, my response when rejected boils down to character.

Nothing can prepare you for hang ups. But how you react to it shows your character. And if you can't handle it, find a job that doesn't require cold calling.

I've been mostly on the sidelines for Groupon, and realize most companies that sign up don't realize that it will most likely end up being a negative for their income.

However, I do know a few places that have made very good use of groupons. One example is our local eat-in movie theater. Tickets usually go for $9. Groupon ticket is $5. Customer saves $4, but movie theater makes up for it by selling overpriced (crappy) food and alcohol.

There is apparently enough retailers that simply don't know any better.

Groupon is a 6.5 Billion dollar company, and it's doing pretty well financially. The stock is growing.

https://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&...

Are you suggesting that Groupon is a scam, or suggesting that people will demonize Groupon because of this one sales rep? If you do think it's a scam, then why?