Sales & Marketing Management has a short article about what holds back sales reps – Companies Hamper Their Sales Reps. Some of the findings from the study:

* Salespeople spend just 8 percent of their time prospecting and qualifying new customers. Yet they spend 23 percent of their time dealing with problems and mistakes, searching for information and expediting orders.

* Salespeople spend 62 percent of their time on non-revenue-generating activities and 38 percent of their time selling.

I don’t doubt these numbers. In fact, we have seen entire salesforces that subscribe to these percentages (and sales managers who allow it). But my initial thought was this – how much of these time wasters are forced upon the salespeople by the company? Sales is a rather autonomous role within a company. The greater risk here is that the sales team may be comprised of salespeople who would rather spend their time on tasks other than prospecting for new business. The excuse of working on these other tasks provides cover for a salesperson who has an aversion to prospecting.

As we often preach – always assess sales candidates.

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And now for a brief follow up to my previous post. From foxnews.com’s business section – Money Might Buy At Least a Little Happiness, Study Shows. A strange survey for sure, but one that illustrates that there is some happiness to having money. That I don’t doubt. But two excerpts from the article are quite fascinating. First:

Does money make you happier? Or does being happier in the first place allow you to earn more money later, maybe by way of greater creativity or energy? Or does some other factor produce both money and happiness? There’s evidence for all three interpretations, Lucas says.

I am partial to his second question in that string as being the most accurate. Whichever one is correct, I greatly enjoyed the closing graph:

“People exaggerate how much happiness is bought by an extra few thousand,” Oswald said. “The quality of relationships has a far bigger effect than quite large rises in salary…. It’s much better advice, if you’re looking for happiness in life, to try to find the right husband or wife rather than trying to double your salary.”

That piece of advice, I know, is absolutely accurate.

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I hope this isn’t a trend – Extreme Jobs Mean Long Hours, Little Sleep — A Lot of Money. The example in the article is a trial lawyer working to make partner (reminds me of John Grisham’s book The Firm). How about this (my emphasis):

A new study in the upcoming issue of the Harvard Business Review estimates that 1.7 million Americans now hold extreme jobs. The study defined “extreme” as any job that requires more than 60 work hours per week and fits various parameters regarding work flow, travel, responsibilities away from the office and outside commitments.

A further description of Mr Shontz (the trial lawyer):

Shontz is almost never home for dinner with his wife and three children, and even breakfast at home is a rare occurrence.

If it works for him, more power to him. I just can’t imagine any line of work being more valuable than time with your family.

According to the Harvard study, 52 percent of the nation’s top income earners those in the top 6 percent of earners and often making six-figure salaries work more than 70 hours a week. And 48 percent say they are working 16 hours a week more than they did just five years ago.

Ok, maybe it is a trend and a bad one at that. The article concludes with my initial thought to this work/life imbalance (my emphasis):

The potential for burnout on these jobs is also extreme. The Harvard study revealed the dark side of working such punishing hours. High percentages of the high performers in the study said the crazy schedule took a huge toll on their family lives and even their health particularly because of a lack of sleep.

I have no empirical data to support this statement, but I suspect this extreme work schedule will not carry through to the younger generations. They seem to have a distinct drive to find a work/life balance that differs greatly from the “high performers” in this study.

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A quick story from the Pioneer Press – Early exit cuts Stroucken pay package. The departing CEO of H.B. Fuller located north of St. Paul is taking a compensation package with him worth $18.5 million. The article simply states:

The news release noted Stroucken is receiving $4 million less than he would have had if he had stayed through the March 31, 2007, the end of his contract.

There is something you don’t see too often in today’s world – a CEO who could have made much more had he completed his contract that ends in 6 months. Obviously, he is leaving with a lucrative compensation package, but here is why:

“The value of the options and stock are largely due to what Al did while he was here,” said Steven Brazones, director of investor relations for H.B. Fuller. “His compensation is tied to how the company performs.”Stroucken, 59, joined Fuller in 1998 and led the company through a series of acquisitions. The company’s improving financial performance showed up in the stock price, which is up more than 80 percent since early 2005.

80%! Think of the shareholder value that has been created during his tenure as CEO. I bring this up because we have worked with this company in the past and it is an impressive organization.

This CEO helped grow the company and received a sizable reward for it. With all of the Enron heartburn that still exists, it is refreshing to read a story about a CEO who brought great value to his company and didn’t milk it for every last cent.

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