Sales professionals value support and security over pay

Senior sales professionals think job security and good quality internal support are more important than a large financial package in the current jobs market, according to research by Finlay James Associates. In fact, only 13% of sales professionals want to leave their role due to inadequate financial compensation, the Reasons for Leaving report found.

A worryingly high number – 16% – wanted to leave either because they were ‘simply bored’ in their current position or they felt they had been mis-sold the sales opportunity. A further 15% wanted to leave due to poor relationships with their manager.

“This survey shows that there are a number of reasons why sales people end up wanting to ‘jump ship’ and that it isn’t always just about the money,” said Mark Neilan, Managing Director at Finlay James Associates. Most importantly, sales professionals want to feel like they can advance with their employer. They want to be secure, to get on with management and to generally be engaged.”

The executive search consultancy carried out a survey of 200 professionals earning basic salaries of £50,000-£150,000 and found only 13% wanted to leave their sales jobs due to the money they were earning.

The results provide a valuable insight for companies wanting to retain or recruit senior sales staff in what is currently one of the most competitive hiring sectors in the UK.

Perhaps not surprisingly the Reasons for Leaving survey found the number one response from senior sales professionals who are ‘actively’ seeking new roles – almost one in five – was they were simply looking to advance their careers.

However, the second most popular reason given was insecurity, due to acquisition or restructuring, and the third was a lack of internal support, due to a poor relationship with management.

Neilan said: “The war for sales talent is definitely hotting up, and the winners won’t be the companies simply getting the most sales talent through the door. It will be those companies who can combine effective talent acquisition strategies with long term employee engagement to retain their best sales guys.”

He added: “Finding out why senior sales people want to leave and become ‘active’ on the jobs market can help all employers of sales people with their retention strategies.”

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