Sales pay and bonuses on the up
With both basic pay and bonuses rising, sales people are amongst the best-paid employees in business, according to The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s latest Croner Sales Rewards study unveiled on 9 June. Sales professionals are paid more than colleagues in marketing, finance and human resources (HR) at most levels of seniority.
Above average
The average basic salary for a middle manager in sales is just over £38,000 – 5.6% higher than the national average for this level.
At the same time, average pay for a head of sales is £57,060, slightly behind a head of finance on £58,000, but comfortably more than that of heads of marketing on £53,963 and heads of HR on £52,603.
Highest-paid reps
Sales representatives in the South East remain the highest-paid (£27,490 on average), with pay a striking 16% more than the national average. Those in London were the next-highest earners with average pay of £26,716, 13% above the national average.
In contrast, sales representatives in the North East and North West are paid just under 10% below the national average, whilst sales representatives in Northern Ireland are paid 21% below the national average.
Rises
Pay awards for sales professionals averaged 3.2%, and are expected to remain roughly unchanged in the coming year at 3%. Once again, directors received the highest increase in earnings, up this year by 6.8%, whilst junior managers received the lowest increase at 1.3%.
Bonuses
Outside director level, fewer sales professionals received bonuses compared with last year, but the value of bonuses rose. Bonuses for the 31% of senior sales managers who received them were on average £7,780, whilst the 36% of sales directors who collected a bonus received on average £21,600.
Attracting talent
‘With the UK economy still in recession, organisations will need to hold on to their most experienced salespeople and attract the brightest talents if they are to tough it out until the economy recovers,’ said head of research and professional development at The Chartered Institute of Marketing, David Thorp.
‘Organisations appear to have recognised this and our latest study confirms that businesses are rewarding their most experienced salespeople well for their vital contribution.’
Courtesy of ModernSelling.com
Good article. Of course, it goes without saying that any sales director will be looking for that sales professional to demonstrate how good they are at negotiating to maximise their opportunity! Be prepared with a list of other ‘benefits’ you can ask for as well as the minimum deal you’re prepared to take. Being organised with this info before the final interview will be crucial to your success and will also make the whole experience more fun:)