I’ve come across two different instances of a nefarious sales trick that is reviving itself in the telecommuting era.  Two different customers recently shared accounts of salespeople who were on their payroll and the payroll of another company.  This stickler is that they were allegedly full-time employees for both companies.

In one instance, the salesperson was on the West coast while headquarters was back in the East.  This guy set up a small office in an office building and had a slider sign on the door.  He would simply slide it to reveal the company he was representing that day for that appointment.  He also had a company car from both companies.

Outside of the healthy paychecks, it appears this guy was submitting expenses to both companies also.  Double reimbursement!  What a snake.

The other customer has a woman who works for them on a part-time basis which worked out well for them.  Unfortunately, another company was paying her full-time as she was working at home for them.  She would be at the part-time job in for half of the day while she was “on the clock” for the other company.  True double-dippin’.  In the end it evened out as the full-time employer found her work lacking (imagine that) and ended up letting her go.

Workers of this integrity are the ones who make managers uncomfortable with telecommuting.  There is no denying the telecommuting trend, but hiring the right salesperson with the right aptitudes and responsibility is crucial to success.

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