Is this a legal sales practice?

[mayaL]

I work for a small company on salary. I do a little of everything at the company including sales in which I receive commission. I've been working on closing a fairly large deal over the last 3 months and it's now in the client's hands to make a decision. Our product is to be paired up as a sample with one of his products that he is selling en masse. His product has generated tons of interest from big organizations, but he's only got a few sales reps and they're having trouble with closing deals. He's asked that I work independently for him to hopefully help close some of these deals and I would receive a commission for this. If I close these deals it would also generate sales at my core company and this deal would be massive for the company and myself. There has been no deal of its size or even close to it's size in the history of the company. Closing the deal would give me commission as an independent contractor and then also commission on my core company's product that would be sold with it. This would be greatly beneficial for all parties involved and everyone would have a clear understanding of what was going on. Is this considered an illegal conflict of interest or anything else that I would need to be aware of? I appreciate any advice on this truly. Thanks ahead of time and if there any more details I need to provide please let me know.

[OmarGB9]

To be honest, I'd go consult an attorney on this. You wouldn't want to unintentionally break any laws or jeopardize your employment.

[SoCalGardener]

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@mayaL wrote:

This would be greatly beneficial for all parties involved and everyone would have a clear understanding of what was going on. Is this considered an illegal conflict of interest or anything else that I would need to be aware of?

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Bearing in mind that I am not an attorney, just logically looking at it I can't see how there could be a conflict of interest or any other type of problem--because *all* parties would be in the loop. It's not like you're giving trade secrets behind your employer's back to a competitor for financial gain. As long as your real employer is aware of what you're doing and has no problems with it, I don't see an issue.

But if you're worried, a quick consultation with an attorney certainly couldn't hurt.

[NRB525]

OP you have not specified whether your employer knows about your conversations with the client, including the offer that you would get a commission from the client for sales you help the client make. 

Companies coordinate selling efforts for complementary products, there is nothing against that. Think of it as the products work together, so the sales effort becomes a special "joint venture" with each company contributing personnel and resources to achieve the sales. 

What would be unethical is to not tell your employer that you are receiving compensation from this client whom you are spending time helping. Since your efforts will help the growth of both companies, I suspect your boss will be thrilled to hear about your change in focus. I hope you've already told them?