When I first started in sales recruiting I cold called
CEO's of major company's everyday until they either
accepted a meeting with me or handed me down the line to
someone else. One day one of those cold calls paid off and
I ended up meeting with a newly appointed VP of HR for a
$2.5 billion company.
At one point in the meeting he asked me why happy,
successful sales reps left for new sales jobs. Being very
well read and up on the industry news, I started to recite
the results of a poll I had just read about this very
topic. I said something to the effect of, "sales reps
leave because they feel no respect from their bosses, they
want more recognition, they want greater challenges in
their sales jobs, they want more vacation, more flexible
hours so they can be with their families."
I went on and on with this malarkey that I quite frankly
didn't believe but thought was the right thing to say.
He stopped me and said, "Steve, sales reps leave for new
sales jobs for one thing and thing only. They want more
money!"
We wrapped up the meeting. It went well - I ended up with
the account and helped them recruit on average of a sales
rep a week for quite some time.
But the one thing I learned from that meeting was more
important than any number of successful searches that I
could ever complete.
I learned then and there to never say anything but what I
felt to be the truth.
That said - I just read a post at The Recruiting Edge -
one of my fellow recruiting industry blogs.
The post has survey results listed that appear to be taken
from a survey completed by Careerbuilder. The results of
this survey seems to be more in line with what I hear and
see from sales professionals.
Here it is as clipped from the site The Recruiting Edge:
8 Hiring Trends For 2008
EIGHT MAJOR TRENDS FOR 2008
#1 Bigger Paychecks
(here's more info on this point as it was broken down at
http://biz.yahoo.com)
56 percent of employers expect to increase salaries on
initial offers to new employees, up from 59 percent in 2007
#2 More Flexible Work Arrangements
#3 Screening Candidates via the Internet
#4 Rehiring Retirees
#5 Diversity Recruitment
#6 Freelance or Contract Hiring
#7 More Comprehensive Healthcare Benefits and Special Perks
#8 Career Advancement
Hey, I'm no fortune teller, but it was common sense years
ago that people went to work to make money. I'm just glad
CareerBuilder decided to let us all know.
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More sales recruiting information and resources can be
found at the sales rep recruiter blog (link below). The
author, Steve Crothers, has been a sales recruiter since
1993, working with companies ranging from start-ups to
multi-national Fortune 50 corporations and helping them
recruit and retain sales professionals, sales managers
through VP Sales. Search current positions or contact Steve
at http://www.salesreprecruiter.com
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