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Dear Quota Team,

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I'm two months into a new sales role that is commission-only. I haven't hit my quota yet, but I'm getting close this month. I feel like the main thing holding me back is my sales manager. He's just wasting my time. He has me creating daily progress reports of how my meetings went each day (even though I already put this info in our CRM). I'm also spending a lot of time doing admin tasks like chasing customers down for payment, which I really think our accounting team should be doing.

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Worst of all, he's bogging me down with unnecessary meetings about sales process improvement and makes me attend company all-hands and team building meetings. This company isn't paying me a base salary, I only get paid when I close a deal. To me, this means they don't see me as a part of their team. I'm just a mercenary, so I really don't care about spending time in any internal meetings that aren't going to directly contribute to my earning potential. How can I tell him nicely to leave me alone and let me sell?

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Wasting Time in Georgia

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Dear Wasting Time,

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If the company isn't giving you base pay or benefits and is only paying you a commission on what you close, you shouldn't be obligated to spend time in a bunch of internal meetings. 

Remind your manager that you can make the most impact for the company (and make him look good) if you can spend your time selling — and politely ask if there are certain meetings you can sit out and if some of the non-sales admin tasks could be taken off your plate. Be ready to compromise. But if your manager won't hear any of it, maybe it's time to find a new job. Good luck!