Sales Focus Inc. Norman R. Clausen Unscrupulous Activities, Unfair Treatment to Employees Mariottsville Maryland

I worked for Sunrun through Sales Focus Inc. I liked the product and the whole idea about not just having solar panels but also solar energy which was the primary focus. We had a lot of competitors but still stayed optimistic. The problem as I see it is that we were like a football team and everyone wanted to be the star player. A lot of experience but also a lot of egos among us. A team that couldn't play well together and win. The lack of respect was also present. We came from diverse backgrounds. Some with major sales experience and others who just started doing sales for the first time. Some of us much older or younger than our counterparts. Not a team of our peers really. All of us had one thing in common: Striving for success and walking away with our heads up high. Initially I hated how disorganized everything was from the jump. I also understood that we were working for a start up company and things would eventually fall into place. Most times I felt stagnated. It was also a very stressful time considering there were no sales and conflicts between the canvassing team, closing team and the management. All of this during the holidays which brought spirits even lower and not being able to sufficiently provide for our loved ones and ourselves. The failure was all across the board. We shelled out more money than we ever saw in return. Even though we failed Sunrun, they also admitted to failing us as well. Very frustrating. Everyone became irritated with each other and no longer desired to learn and grow as a force. There is so much more we could've done and territories to cover. I enjoyed meeting and educating homeowners about solar energy. Some were even generous enough to invite me into their homes considering extreme weather conditions. If I ever received another opportunity to work for the solar industry, I'd go for it without hesitation. 

I want to start out by thanking everyone for their support; it was a pleasure working with each of you over the last three years. Even though we no longer work together, I know our relationships will continue. 

I want to give a special thanks to my Hiring Mgr; he was my right hand-man. I never made a decision without consulting him first. I am grateful he is still a phone call away.

I have waited a year to respond to these allegations, while some are true others are completely false and I’m responding to set the record straight about Sales Focus Inc and myself.  You can call Sales Focus Inc many things and yes, they sometimes stretch the truth, but they have never cheated anyone out of money. Every employee hired knows exactly what they are getting into, each employee receives an easy to read, well laid out offer letter which they must acknowledge and sign prior to employment. On the first day of work each employee is given a 30-50 page employee packet (The Do’s and Don’ts) which includes an Employee Handbook. Sales Focus Inc does not offer mileage reimbursement, fuel reimbursement, etc. Those perks are only offered to Sales Mangers and up.

Sales Focus Inc is an out sourcing company; medium to large size companies come to us to sell their product as opposed to them doing it themselves. This happens for a number of reasons, brand protection, revenue generation within 45 days, shorter sales cycle, etc. The clients I will be talking about today are, Sunrun, which is based out of San Francisco and Target Shopping Solutions based out of Denver. These two areas are where the complaints generated from. 

The one thing everyone failed to mention is that we failed our clients. These two companies hired us to do a job, and we fell flat on our faces when it came to sales. In three months we lost $300,000.00 for Sunrun, and over the course of a few years, TSS lost over $400,000.00. To be fair, the failure of these two programs can’t solely be placed on Sales Focus Inc, Sunrun is responsible for 50% of our failure and TSS quite a bit more. Never the less we still failed and ultimately, I failed…..

As everyone acknowledged in their comments, sales are tough, and when you mix sales with an out sourcing company it becomes even harder. The client expects to see a ROI right out of the gate and if that doesn’t happen, we become one step closer to losing that client. We only have a matter of weeks to prove success, decisions are fast and yes, sometimes they are inconsiderate of individual’s feelings.

The comment that hit me the hardest was the original comment on this report. The Manager wrote it after she lost her job.  She is a great person, she actually reminded me of my cousin Mary, it was quite scary.  I think she would have been successful if the team would have accepted her as their coach; I was given an ultimatum by the team, leading the conversation was our leading sales rep. While speaking on behalf of the team it was a clear message, she goes or the team goes….After a week of thinking about it I terminated her over the phone and promoted the leading rep to replace her. The hardest part of this situation was that only after I terminated her position, she told me that prior to working at SFI,  she and her daughter were homeless living in a shelter, this position was her way out. She rented a house got back on her feet, and I took it away with no regard on the outside because that was my job at SFI, do whatever it takes to ensure success for our clients. I hope she is doing well.

The rest of the complaints don’t hold much weight to me because overall I know I am a tough boss to work for however I am fair. I challenge every individual to think; to think about who they are as a sales person, who they want to be, and where they see themselves in 10 years. We went through three sales managers and finally, after it was too late, we ended up with a good one, his name was Matt.

Unlike other programs, Sunrun provided the training for the reps and managers. It was a week-long class. The first two days consisted primarily of canvassing training, by the third day, they were in the field. The Closers (reps who sold the product in the home) received a full 5 days of training. The first Manager, Dominic, never once addressed his team throughout the entire week of training. In fact, he never said one work. Needless to say that was his last week. The second manager was Darren, hiring him was my mistake. Sunrun even told me he wasn’t the right guy but I hired him anyway because I lived and worked in Baltimore at the time and I had no other options. The team would have fallen apart in days without a leader on-sight. Darren was a soft spoken gentleman; he completely clashed with my personality. I am loud and direct, Darren.. not so much. He was put through a 3 day long interview process, held by myself and Sunrun. Darren knew exactly what his job requirements were, and in the end he didn’t want to join the canvassers in the field. His Job was to train, teach and mentor. He thought he was better suited working with the closers directly but there was one problem, if the canvassers failed to set any appointments, there was nothing for the closers to do. I took a surprise trip to California to check on the team. Over text, Darren told me he was in the field yet when I arrived to the office (not to my surprise) there Darren sat. He was always in the field when I was in town, however, I found out from the canvassing team that every time I left town, he stopped going in the field.  Darren made up a number of things about me that just weren’t true, some comments were very distasteful. Darren said that he would resign only if we wrote him a glowing letter of recommendation, which I disagreed with, but Tony gave it to him anyways. In the end Darren failed, he wasn’t the right person for the job.

I brought my wife on board for two reasons, to prove to the owner of Sales Focus that we needed to increase the canvasser salary so we could find a more qualified candidate. My wife has her bachelors for Creighton University and she is obtaining her masters and doctorate from the Art Institute of Chicago. She is fun loving and outgoing, a perfect candidate for this position. The second reason was to prove to the team that having a daily plan, being organized, setting goals, and having product knowledge would make you successful. After my wife had her first full week in the field, she set more appointments then everyone on the team combined! All of this with no previous sales experience.  After 3 months of working for Sales Focus the canvassing team still didn’t have the script memorized word for word, in fact they had nothing memorized, the script, the rebuttals, product info, nothing. Sunrun and I did everything we could to help this team become successful, daily training, ride-alongs, dinners, spiffs, and giveaways.  I lived out of a hotel for 6 months and worked 7 days per week with 15 hour days. I missed Thanksgiving, Christmas, I even missed my anniversary….All and all it was my fault, I failed to find the right people, but it was not for lack of trying. I understand why some employees became so upset, three months of failure can really take a toll on people; it surely did affect me as well.

Finally I want to address attacks on my character; I am not racist or sexist. Shame on those who insult someone’s integrity instead of facing the music and taking accountability for their own shortcomings. To those individuals, I would like to tell you that you failed at your job, you failed to learn, you failed to sell, and you failed to succeed. Learn from your mistakes and walk away with your head high rather than making yourself a victim.

I made one comment that was taken the wrong way.  A team member asked whether or not I liked San Francisco, I told the team that I loved it for several different reasons. The response that was taken out of context was when I was explaining that I liked how in the city, San Francisco was segregated (not by race, but by ethnicity), much like Chicago. I used the word segregated to the extent of its definition in the dictionary, meaning separated in groups. I went on to explain that San Francisco and Chicago have unique, culturally rich areas due to the fact that people tended to settle in parts of the city with others who shared their same heritage.  If you want to experience another culture (its food, its ambiance, traditions, etc.), you simply head to that part of the city (Little Italy, Ukrainian Village, China Town, etc.). It is as though you can visit multiple countries without leaving your own city.  

 I walk away from the program in California knowing that I did everything possible to be successful, yet I failed.  That failure will haunt me for the rest of my life. I carry my Sunrun back with me everywhere I go just as a reminder of my downfalls. There were only a few people on that team who had that same passion for success as I did. Can you say the same, I don’t think so.

I truly wish each of you the best and I hope you find success someday,

Norman Clausen

The FORMER hiring manager only knows what he is told by his FORMER boss or perhaps what he saw going on himself but will turn a deaf ear. He has no idea what it was truly like for the reps in the field nor what they have experienced themselves dealing with the same boss. The reps still pushed forward despite stiff competition from other solar companies. I agree this industry is cutthroat. I know sales. I was in a job training program as young as 15 years old so I know how to sell. Of course I know that if you don't meet the job expectations in a certain time frame you will be terminated. That's with any position. Regarding my 25 years of experience, I've worked in several industries other than sales but that's my business. Always have had success. I have a BA degree also which I'm proud of and don't brag or boast about it. I'm an educated, intelligent, friendly, outgoing, likeable and approachable individual. A team player. Our daily, weekly and monthly transportation expenses were outrageous and never saw reimbursements for mileage. I know I went out there and busted my behind day in & day out. I was not in the program 4-5 months as stated. More like 2-3 months. I was only offered a 2-day training, not a week worth of training as you claimed. Within my first week I had some solid leads. I prequalified the homeowners and all that. Bottom line the whole sales program was flawed from the start. I shared it with other professionals and they said the same thing. I've worked for companies that no longer exist because they had many flaws in their organizations. One company had a reputation so bad that they were voted the worst company in America. 

The statements made to us by Norman Clausen were vicious, thoughtless and just plain cold. No one fabricates a story like that and no one is being emotional or unprofessional. Based on other reports I've seen here, many employees have suffered his wrath. Just because you don't see or hear someone making racist & sexist comments does not mean it never happens Mr. Hiring Manager. That's like assuming someone isn't a drinker or a smoker just because you don't see them drink or smoke. You are supposed to give your employees the upmost respect and encourage them to have a good rapport with management. Make them feel valued and they will continue to give you their very best. Just for the record, no one has thrown Mrs. Clausen under the bus. She's a intelligent, sweet, friendly and hardworking young woman. She was very likable and no one envied her success. Mrs. Clausen did very well during her very short time in the field. It's a shame she didn't get a chance to reap the benefits of her labor. Regardless of the diversity the team may represent, that doesn't mean they won't ever be discriminated against. It's been noted in one of our meetings that we worked in the most racist city in the whole Bay Area. Yes it's a numbers game and it's painfully obvious you don't care about your employees at all. Stepping in their necks and constantly abusing them. If they are given all the tools they need to succeed then a larger percentage of your work force will exceed their goals. The Bay Area is the land of diversity so of course our company would not only employ one race of people. The company we represented offered a good product but the other solar companies dominated and saturated the market period. We were only limited to residential while others did both residental and commercial so they had a broader customer base. If we were able to show homeowners how our services were set apart from the rest, then the company wins, the team as a whole would be successful and we could celebrate. Going home every night feeling like a champ. Speaking of being blessed, I am a child of God and He is good all the time. I work in an industry now where there is always room for growth and I'm always recognized and rewarded for my hard work. I will remain a sales professional, a businessman and an effective communicator. Thank you very much.

I have fully read the above review of Norman Clausen and I have come to the conclusion that he deserves some truth shed on these topics.  I was the former Hiring Manager for Sales Focus at this specific location and as such I have a wide range of information that I would like to share.

First of all, it is true that we did not have the proper licenses to canvass in certain areas of the Bay Area.  The incorrect aspect is that Norman Clausen fought very hard for the funds to acquire the licenses we needed for our canvassers.  Instead of limiting the sales reps to a smaller geographical area, he simply told to the employees to strive for sales and we (the company) would handle any legal interference.  This shows a great amount of character and concern for your employees when your own VP is choosing to take the blunt force of the legal ramifications just so his sales reps can have a wider territory and thus have more opportunities to make sales. 

Second issue is in reference to the racial accusations made towards Norman Clausen.  As the hiring manager I was responsible for all hires and terminations for our canvassers.  I hold a degree in Economics and a MBA and I have over 5 years experience as a hiring manager for an international corporation located out of Oakland, CA.  Our sales/canvassing team was comprised of 70% African Americans, 25% women, and 100% were unable to successfully close a sale or generate a respectful lead.  The only person who really had a positive impact on sales/appointments was his wife during her limited 2 weeks employed with Sales Focus, during that time she managed to triple our more seasoned sales rep and her appointment setting percent was well above 30%.  Our sales reps and canvassers had an amazing 4 months with ZERO sales which is pathetic for any company.  For someone with 25 years of experience to be so unsuccessful and still have the audacity to say “I did not see the termination coming” is shocking to me.  0 sales in 4 months is 3 months longer than most companies would allow a sales rep/canvasser to be employed.  And we cannot argue that “people were not interested in solar” because our main competitors (emphasis on the plural) were making sales and setting good appointments in the same exact cities.  We had the same product, same pitch basically, and the same hours of operation…the only difference were our reps.  Apparently theirs were better and that is not a personal statement but rather a quantitative fact.  With all of that said, how could Norman in his right mind “promote” anyone into a hire role when they could not even successfully accomplish the position they were hired for?  We are professionals and we are businessmen, we care about numbers and that is all.  We do not care about the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, your religious affiliations, or your gender…we care about your ability to produce results.  The numbers we were working with simple reflected one of the worst sales teams I have ever come across in my 10 years of professional experience and it amazed me that he allowed so much time to pass with such an unproductive team. 

Third, Norman did hire his wife and it would be beneficial to mention that she immediately had the highest appointment setting rate within her first 3 days.  This was a very good tactic to give the current canvassers something to strive for and someone to “chase”.  Until his wife worked there, the top producer was nonexistent and we were surrounded with complaints and excuses.  She raised the level of expectation from practically zero to a number that would make a company profitable.  Sadly, we were only in operation for another 2 weeks with her on staff until our partner company discontinued the contract due to poor performance.  This would be the 4-5 months of zero sales that I mentioned earlier.  But back to his wife as an employee - she is a very intelligent, personable, and customer friendly representative…she does not deserve the hurtful statements made about her or her husband all because a former employee (with 25 years of experience) could not compete with a newcomers high closing percent after 1 week of “training”. 

If someone wants to argue the morality of being let go with no warning, then take it up with your state since California is an “at will” state.  If you have a problem with a manager not promoting anybody into a hire position then take it up with your 0% closing rate.  If you accuse a manager of being racist then talk about it with your team that is comprised of 70% minority and 25% female.  If you are upset with the company who employed you for 4-5 months even though you and your team had zero sales, then open your eyes and recognize that you were blessed for that time period as no other company would have kept such a poor performer on their pay role.  I understand you are upset but you false statements are unprofessional and it only reinforces that terminating you was a good idea but one that was made months too late. Norman Clausen fought for his employees and continues to do so, you should be so lucky to have someone to mentor if given the chance again.  I know businessmen who are so cut-throat that you will be terminated if you miss your goal 3 days in a row, Norman gave you months. 

Sincerely, The Hiring Manager

I am currently employeed by Sales Focus as a sales rep for a program in Chicago. My job is to sign consumers up for prepaid wireless service. Much like sales positions I have had in the past, I am expected to hit my goals and hopefully, if I am able to surpass my goals, I get certain spiffs. I don't have much insight into Sales Focus as a company becuase I really only deal with the program I was hired for, but I do have insight into how my boss (Norman Clausen) runs the Chicago program. 

I was interviewed and hired by Norman a little over a month ago. I explained to him that I am a single Mom and I would appreciate flexibility if needed. He was so accomodating to my schedule (I like to be home by 3:00 everyday when my kids get home). He has always been respectful towards me and although he is serious about his team meeting its goals, I have never once felt threatened or uncomfortable when Norman is around. 

In reading other reports about Norman, it is obvious to me that there are many false accusations about his managment style as well as who he is as a person. Shame on those who feel the need to bash hardworking decent people just because they couldn't handle a high pressure job (welcome to the sales industry people!). 

I worked for Sales Focus Inc over a year ago and out of all the companies I've been with over the past 25 years, this was by far one of the worst. No respect for their employees nor creating a family style atmosphere among the sales reps. Just every man and woman for themselves. Initially I thought this job could go somewhere. It had potential. I have many years of sales experience and deserved better. Darren Kelly was the sales manager who hired me and I admired his knowledge and expertise in the solar industry.

We even had a great rapport after my interview. He was also open to suggestions and ideas, very supportive and gave encouragement to generate more sales leads. Unfortunately our working relationship was cut short. At that point Norman flew out here from Baltimore and planned to make the Bay Area his permanent residence. He even took over the whole sales operation. It was hell from that point forward. He hired his wife as well to be a D2D sales rep. His treatment of women and people of color was appalling.

A woman was demoted from sales closer to just a D2D sales rep. Another D2D sales rep was refused a sales closer position because of his color and accent which Program Director Norman Clausen felt would intimidate homeowners. Norman also questioned employees of color about their drug tests before the results even came back. When he had other passengers in his car, he would have his wife ride in the backseat like some prostitute off the streets. After Darren Kelly's departure, he hired a woman to be our new sales manager but she failed her background check.

We had several sales meetings and a lot of reps left feeling very frustrated and not motivated to work towards their goals. Once we had a meeting with President Tony Horwath and he was ready to eliminate the whole team. Canvassers and closers included. Let me just say after 90 minutes, it was not a happy ending. Norman became more verbally abusive, condescending and even stopped phone calls from reps in the field. We were trained for success from day 1 and unfortunately things didn't work out.

The holiday season was upon us and not many homeowners were in the market for solar. A lot of them were struggling financially. This company was not organized and our paychecks were always inaccurate. We didn't have the proper licensing to conduct business in several towns and the company knew that. We were ordered by local authorities, even Neighborhood Watch to leave certain areas and threatened with stiff fines if we continued to work in those neighborhoods without the proper paperwork. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!

As a former employee of this company who worked directly for Norman Clausen, I know that it is tough to lose a job. It puts stress on ones personal life and creates a sense of insecurity. That being said, that is no excuse for a disgruntel past employee to make a public report about their former boss. 

Norman was the hardest working person I knew, he was literally in the office 7 days a week for nearly 4 months trying to ensure that we would have a successful sales program. Most days, he would have bits of advice, tips, and motivational stories to get us sales reps revved up for the day. In the end, it was the team that couldn't meet their goals despite Norman's efforts. 

It sounds like the previous statements were written by former sales managers on the team. The truth is that Dominic Newsome and Darren Kelly were horrible managers. They rarely interacted with the team and instead of coming into the field with us (like Norman often did), they wanted to sit in their office and push papers. Obviously, in a D2D sales environment, that just doesn't cut it. They were let go and replaced by Norman, who was the Program Manager (what kind of PM would Norman had been if he had just let bad sales managers run the team?!). 

All in all, I never once felt pressured, unsafe, or unsupported by Norman. He is driven to succeed and dedicated to his team (he even bought my co-worker gas one day because they were driving a little further than usual). Any allegations of him being sexist or racist is simply falsified. I learned a lot when working for Norman and I would jump at the opportunity to work for him again in the future. 

Norman M Clausen threatened employees jobs & paid them to write the positive reviews of him that are listed here. I know this 100% fact because I was one of them. Norman is a scam artist, along with his "wife". He had sonce been fired from Sales Focus... long overdue. He has made many racist remarks including  that he hoped to live in San Francisco because "everyone stays to their own kind. If you want to see Chinese people you go to china town, black people just go to the ghetto & normal white people everywhere else!" Also he has rude, condescending, innapropraite views & habits to & on women.

Please beware inviting this seemly smart, seemly charming & SEEMLY good employee into your business or life.

Know Locations - San Francisco,  CA ; Chicago, Il ; Baltimore,  MD

 Whether the writer of the original post is whining or not I can't say, but the assessment that Mr Clausen is tough, fair and honest is accurate. My experience in working for him for some time makes me seriously doubt that he lied about an employee's performance.

 Norman is a tough driving manager, but fair and honest. That then that is what it takes to stay in business in today's enviornment.  I have known many who would rather whine than do their job, shich is exactly what this sounds like.

I worked for Norm in SFI's Chicago office.  I found Norm to be a tough boss with very high expectations of his subordinates, yet more than willing to work with anyone on his team to overcome problems, and understanding if you needed to take care of a personal issue.  During my time with SFI I've never seen them cheat a client, but found their conduct toward our clients to be nothing less than ethical.

I have worked for Sales Focus Inc. under Norman Clausen for over a year now. Over the past year I have not only grown under the quality leadership that Norman provides, I have also learned many valuable skills that I apply to both my personal and professional endeavors. I have approached Norman on numerous occasions with my ideas and concerns and he has always been supportive and does whatever it takes to keep us happy, motivated, and successful. I have never worked for somebody who fights for his team in the way that Norman does. 

I am a current sales rep for this company working this program and am also the TOP performing sales rep since the beginning of this program.  The information provided by the above commenter is completely inaccurate, our Project Manager Norman Clausen spent a very large amount of time and was very thorough with our training, our Sales Manager however was completely incompetent.  Not only did she not understand the program and her duties as a Sales Manager, she constantly took credit for my suggestions on how to improve the program and caused huge organizational and directional issues for the sales reps.  I know in working closely with the other sales reps everyone was unhappy with her attitude, condescending tone, treatment of the reps, and organizational issues.  All of her reporting which directly affected our commission pay was inaccurate, she worked with our customers without our permission and lost sales for us, and she never once gave any help, support, or motivation.  I personally asked for her assistance with many different things including a vacation trip, special information / items to give to customers to close a sale, and time spent in the field with me to help close sales.  She constantly tried to assert herself as the dominant role of manager and never tried to work with our strengths, the entire team is full of seasoned sales professionals and she treated all of us like children, even after closing a large sale she would immediately jump to coaching me and telling me how I should have done things differently.  I am a seasoned sales professional and do not take this type of treatment from an unqualified manager lightly, my review on her in the survey as well as 2 of my other co-workers was terrible and completely accurate.  The comment about her "she was an excellent manager who was constantly challenging me to improve myself. She was one of the best leaders I have ever worked with" cannot be even close to true as she was only a manager for 3 weeks, no seasoned sales professional in their right mind could come to that assumption so quickly.

Norman has been very supportive of us, listens to us, plays off our strengths, and helps us grow as a team as well as a company.  I have been very happy working under Norman Clausen and know that he is the correct person for this job,  I believe this previous report written about Norman came from our previous Sales Manager Elle as a disgruntled employee because she was completely taken off guard when she was let go.  Of course an incompetent and overly confident person would react in this manner and be surprised to know that her employees and her supervisor were unhappy with her performance due to the fact that she did not listen to her employee's or try to support them.