Not sure the Ola and Uber have impacted the Automobile industry but defiantly made an impact on Sales Industry.
If you are an entrepreneur or a Sales Leader making serious business expansion plans based on entry-level salespeople, this is a must-read for you.
Let’s dive in
For me, It’s a best of one month and worst one month
Best one: I met, most vibrant entrepreneurs, We had great meetings, multiple discussions and I am glad most of them invited me and discussed their business expansion plans, it showed the trust and confidence they kept on me, mostly our conversation winded up with a plan to expand their business by deploying fresher’s /entry-level salespeople with an average 12k to 18 K salary PM.
The worst part: I couldn’t get freshers for Sales; yes around 95 % of my customer requirements go unfulfilled.
Your question, Did we tried seriously?
Yes to a great extent, we had a recruiter, had Naukri portal, posted in Indeed, had outsourced vendors, connected to all know sales folks, spread WhatsApp messages, blasted around 12,0000 emails. Expert headhunters been involved, we did managed to close few senior positions but not fresher’s for Sales.
So what happened now: we had a very bleak response, even in the past the story was not different, Sales was never an attractive profession, so we didn’t expect the candidates to stand in ques. We know Sales was the least of the preference. If freshers won’t get any other option they would finally land in Sales, but in the recent past even the minimal turnaround is not happening.
At GreatWorks we did a small investigation with at least 60 guys who showed interest and then no-show later, the conversations with them were quite interesting, they are aware of the risks and the toughness in sales profession. The said” why should take all the tension of Targets when someone pays better salary like Swiggy. One person said “Most importantly everyone is waiting for me”.
So we asked them what will you do in your 40s? Still delivery? Where is your salary increment, another one said more new start-ups will come we need to sail on the tide who pays higher and then he went away.
So ,Quickly, the point is entry-level salespeople between 12K – 18K; a cost affordable for MSMEs is tough to get and it’s getting more tougher
If you say that’s your problem, why should we bother, somehow I get someone? Read further
Is the entry Salespeople are doing well:
That’s another worst story, there is a consistent job switching happening between the first 6 months and 1.6 years period. We analyzed at least 200 profiles and we are giving you this insight.
The reasons could be many however my answer is we don’t know how to handle them, after all, they are kids.
So Is there a recommendation: Yes, you may plan for 20 K and above budget, the somersaults are getting settled in that group and we see a bit of accountably coming in, at least they have an accepted mindset for sales profession. Are they having enough sales skills? That’s altogether a different problem we could tackle it in a different way but at least we have one who could travel along our journey
Conclusion: For the entrepreneurs, the message is, if you are relying your business plans with entry-level salespeople, think differently, the chance of success is only 10- 15 %.
A bit confused after reading this, no worries , please do call or email or reply in our blog let’s sit for a chat how to plan the right sales team and the right composition to grow your business.
