People always ask me about salaries...
A recent article in Industrial Distribution covered a couple of points on salaries. I thought it was worth sharing.
Another top-notch university, Texas A&M, has an outstanding industrial distribution program and on its website points out that every student in its ID program had a job at graduation. Many of those students were offered jobs in sales engineering and sales management. The graduates received an average of three job offers, and the average starting salary was $52,000 with some receiving up to $70,000.
The article quotes the Wall Street Journal on sales compensation:
Note the comments on younger workers and their perception of risk. Many of us who have worked on commission or have worked as entrepreneurs for years have a difficult time understanding this phenomenon. We must remember, college campuses are filled with urban legends of students being victims of commission schemes.
One further point. Work done by Brent Grover points to an investment of around $150,000 to bring a
salesperson up to the point of generating a profit for their company. Making a hiring mistake can be costly.
Salespeople salaries
$150,000 to profit generator
Grads from Texas A&M's Distribution program are getting multiple job offers and that impacts starting salaries:
Another top-notch university, Texas A&M, has an outstanding industrial distribution program and on its website points out that every student in its ID program had a job at graduation. Many of those students were offered jobs in sales engineering and sales management. The graduates received an average of three job offers, and the average starting salary was $52,000 with some receiving up to $70,000.The article quotes the Wall Street Journal on sales compensation:
Sales reps who peddle technical and scientific products earned a median annual wage of $74,970 in 2012, more than twice the median for all workers, according to the Labor Department. A competitive hiring market for science and tech workers is part of the reason, but employers also say young workers are uninterested in sales — a field they perceive as risky and defined by competition.
Note the comments on younger workers and their perception of risk. Many of us who have worked on commission or have worked as entrepreneurs for years have a difficult time understanding this phenomenon. We must remember, college campuses are filled with urban legends of students being victims of commission schemes.
One further point. Work done by Brent Grover points to an investment of around $150,000 to bring a
salesperson up to the point of generating a profit for their company. Making a hiring mistake can be costly.
Read the full stories here:
$150,000 to profit generator
Comments
We use the $150K number as well for on-boarding. It came from a formula, not guesswork. When I can sense a bit of doubt about a particular candidate I always ask our team "would you write them a check for $150K?", that usually brings out the true feelings. We also don't do a round of internal interviews without the candidate going through a sales aptitude assessment. I don't want to fall in love with them before I know if they can really sell.