Excel Agents get good news
As a Cognigen agent, I've been following this story for some time. For a while, it looked like these agents were going to get robbed of all their hard work. However, if the figures in this article are correct, most of the Excel agents that have been trying to get people to sign up weren't making as much as they claimed. According to this article, only .2% (99 agents) earned over a grand a month.
I'm lucky that Cognigen has a firm focus on sales over recruiting since we all know that without sales, no company can stay in business.
Copyright 2004 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
December 4, 2004 Saturday
SECOND EDITION BUSINESS; Pg. 2D
Excel sales reps win ruling Committee will watch over their interests in VarTec bankruptcy
TERRY MAXON, Staff Writer
A committee will watch over the interests of Excel Communications' independent sales representatives in the VarTec Telecom Inc. bankruptcy case.The decision on Friday was a victory for the salespeople and came despite the objections of VarTec, which owns Excel. The committee representing unsecured creditors had also argued that it could represent all parties, including the 130,000-plus salespeople. But a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Dallas, Steven Felsenthal, disagreed, saying that "the court concludes that they are not adequately represented" and that a committee will be appointed.The decision means that VarTec will pay for the sales reps' lawyers for at least 90 days. At that point, the judge wants the committee to recommend a settlement if it's appropriate.VarTec wants to throw out contracts with the sales reps, who are paid commissions on telephone service they sell. The judge is set to hear arguments on the request on Dec. 17.VarTec and representatives for the Excel salespeople remained at odds Friday over the dollars involved.Joe D'Angelo, a management adviser serving as VarTec's interim chief operating officer, estimated that the salespeople would be entitled to only $12.6 million for future lost commissions, assuming that VarTec didn't allow any new representatives to join.That differs from an earlier estimate from the independent representatives that the impact could reach $650 million.On Friday, Miami attorney John K. Cunningham, representing the Excel salespeople, didn't repeat that number but told the judge: "We think it's going to be at least in the tens of millions of dollars in claims."Mr. D'Angelo said that most Excel independent representatives earn little or no commission, and that at least 90 percent of the people who join don't stay a second year. A person who wants to sell Excel products is required to pay a $399 first-year fee, with a $199 annual fee for following years.He testified that as of October, Excel had 106,426 U.S. representatives eligible to earn commissions and that 64,967 actually earned commissions. Of those, 98.1 percent earned $100 or less. Only 99, or 0.2 percent, earned more than $1,000 for the month, he said.Total commissions earned were $741,613 in October, he said.Brian R. McClure, who owns an Austin company that signs up Excel customers and sales representatives, said that even $100 or $200 monthly payments were important to the salespeople."The loss of that revenue is devastating to them," he said.Mr. McClure said that he invested tens of thousands of dollars a year since 1995 to build up his organization of Excel agents, and that he had counted on receiving income for many years. He said he was earning about $1,200 to $1,300 a month from Excel commissions when VarTec filed for bankruptcy protection.
Copyright © 2004 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
I'm lucky that Cognigen has a firm focus on sales over recruiting since we all know that without sales, no company can stay in business.
Copyright 2004 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
December 4, 2004 Saturday
SECOND EDITION BUSINESS; Pg. 2D
Excel sales reps win ruling Committee will watch over their interests in VarTec bankruptcy
TERRY MAXON, Staff Writer
A committee will watch over the interests of Excel Communications' independent sales representatives in the VarTec Telecom Inc. bankruptcy case.The decision on Friday was a victory for the salespeople and came despite the objections of VarTec, which owns Excel. The committee representing unsecured creditors had also argued that it could represent all parties, including the 130,000-plus salespeople. But a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Dallas, Steven Felsenthal, disagreed, saying that "the court concludes that they are not adequately represented" and that a committee will be appointed.The decision means that VarTec will pay for the sales reps' lawyers for at least 90 days. At that point, the judge wants the committee to recommend a settlement if it's appropriate.VarTec wants to throw out contracts with the sales reps, who are paid commissions on telephone service they sell. The judge is set to hear arguments on the request on Dec. 17.VarTec and representatives for the Excel salespeople remained at odds Friday over the dollars involved.Joe D'Angelo, a management adviser serving as VarTec's interim chief operating officer, estimated that the salespeople would be entitled to only $12.6 million for future lost commissions, assuming that VarTec didn't allow any new representatives to join.That differs from an earlier estimate from the independent representatives that the impact could reach $650 million.On Friday, Miami attorney John K. Cunningham, representing the Excel salespeople, didn't repeat that number but told the judge: "We think it's going to be at least in the tens of millions of dollars in claims."Mr. D'Angelo said that most Excel independent representatives earn little or no commission, and that at least 90 percent of the people who join don't stay a second year. A person who wants to sell Excel products is required to pay a $399 first-year fee, with a $199 annual fee for following years.He testified that as of October, Excel had 106,426 U.S. representatives eligible to earn commissions and that 64,967 actually earned commissions. Of those, 98.1 percent earned $100 or less. Only 99, or 0.2 percent, earned more than $1,000 for the month, he said.Total commissions earned were $741,613 in October, he said.Brian R. McClure, who owns an Austin company that signs up Excel customers and sales representatives, said that even $100 or $200 monthly payments were important to the salespeople."The loss of that revenue is devastating to them," he said.Mr. McClure said that he invested tens of thousands of dollars a year since 1995 to build up his organization of Excel agents, and that he had counted on receiving income for many years. He said he was earning about $1,200 to $1,300 a month from Excel commissions when VarTec filed for bankruptcy protection.
Copyright © 2004 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
posted by Brian | 4:43 PM
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