{"id":1006,"date":"2007-06-15T09:21:25","date_gmt":"2007-06-15T14:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/06\/retention-in-a-downsizing-industry\/"},"modified":"2007-06-15T09:21:14","modified_gmt":"2007-06-15T14:21:14","slug":"retention-in-a-downsizing-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/06\/retention-in-a-downsizing-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Retention In A Downsizing Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We don&#8217;t do much work in the pharmaceutical market but I do have a couple of friends who sell for the big players.  SellingPower.com&#8217;s article <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sellingpower.com\/html_newsletter\/article.asp?NLid=7&amp;Layout_ID=648&amp;ARTid=2957&amp;nDate=June+12%2C+2007\">Have You Heard Who\u20ac\u2122s Hiring?<\/a> discusses a downsizing trend in sales hiring that is occurring in that specific market.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u20ac\u0153The days of armies of sales reps in the field driving revenues are over,\u20ac\u009d Davenport says in a recent Business Wire story. \u20ac\u0153It will no longer be about numbers and volume \u20ac\u201c now <strong>the focus will shift to productivity and performance of the remaining sales staff<\/strong>.\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This comment is spot on even though it seems counter-intuitive.  My sales friends in this industry have mentioned that their roles have consisted of a strong &#8220;shake and howdy&#8221; approach.  They have both traveled in their territory on a regular basis taking samples into doctor&#8217;s offices and then taking the staff out for lunch or dinner.  Not what you would call a &#8220;focus on productivity&#8221; in most other industries.<\/p>\n<p>Now that the companies are changing their focus, the salesperson numbers will cease to expand at the outrageous numbers they have been at for the past decade.  That means the competition for the top performers will increase dramatically.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The overabundance of talent flooding the market will also impact how pharmaceutical companies operate. Instead of focusing on recruitment and hiring, <strong>companies will need to redirect resources into programs that reward, recognize, and retain the top performers<\/strong> most likely to seize on shiny, new opportunities elsewhere.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Retention activities should always be a priority in any industry.  However, as this industry shifts more towards productivity, the top salespeople at one company will become the top recruiting targets for a competitor.  This fact is common to many industries but appears to be a nascent trend in Big Pharma.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, smart people run these companies and they are making the right adjustments (sound advice no matter what industry you are in):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Companies are already responding by opening up more career \u20ac\u0153tracks\u20ac\u009d for salespeople who have no ambitions to jump into management \u20ac\u201c a group whose numbers grew from 57 percent to 74 percent from 2003 to 2004 alone. Wilcox says such developments will only increase in importance as the competition for the best salespeople continues to grow.<\/p>\n<p>\u20ac\u0153It\u20ac\u2122s crucial that pharmaceutical companies <strong>do all they can to hire and retain the right people with the right competencies, skill sets, and experience,\u20ac\u009d he says, \u20ac\u0153and to make sure they are deployed in the most effective manner possible.\u20ac\u009d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Sounds like<strong> <\/strong>competencies (<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.selectmetrix.com\/Assessing_Aptitudes.html\">aptitudes<\/a>), skill sets (<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.selectmetrix.com\/Assessing_Sales_Skills.html\">sales skills<\/a>) and deployed in the most effective manner (<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.selectmetrix.com\/Developing_Salesperson.html\">sales development plan<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Of course I&#8217;m biased.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We don&#8217;t do much work in the pharmaceutical market but I do have a couple of friends who sell for the big players. SellingPower.com&#8217;s article Have You Heard Who\u20ac\u2122s Hiring? discusses a downsizing trend in sales hiring that is occurring in that specific market. \u20ac\u0153The days of armies of sales reps in the field driving revenues are over,\u20ac\u009d Davenport says in a recent Business Wire story. \u20ac\u0153It will no longer be about numbers and volume \u20ac\u201c now the focus will shift to productivity and performance of the remaining sales staff.\u20ac\u009d This comment is spot on even though it seems counter-intuitive. My sales friends in this industry have mentioned that their&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/06\/retention-in-a-downsizing-industry\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retention","category-sales-management"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-ge","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1703,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/08\/2-jobs-in-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":0},"title":"2 Jobs In 1","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wall Street Journal offers an article about companies combining 2 jobs into 1 and then hiring based on the lower level job.\u00a0 The author explains it better than me: Some job hunters have been encountering a new kind of downsizing: companies that aren't eliminating positions entirely, but are combining\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19691,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2018\/07\/finding-sales-talent-in-tight-markets\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":1},"title":"Finding Sales Talent In Tight Markets","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The labor market is tight today as you assuredly know if you have been attempting to fill open sales positions.\u00a0 The issue in sales runs deeper than that as you are typically attempting to find strong sales candidates.\u00a0 \"Attempting\" is the key - many hiring managers are unsure of selecting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Compass-on-rocks.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Compass-on-rocks.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Compass-on-rocks.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":386,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/10\/open-mind-hiring\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":2},"title":"Open-Minded Hiring","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Another good article from the new Selling Power newsletter - Open Minds Open Doors. The topic here is Hiring Salespeople From Outside Your Industry. If you follow that link, you will see that this topic is of great importance in our world. From the article: \"I believe the way the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2432,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/10\/skills-pay-the-bills\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":3},"title":"Skills Pay The Bills","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I am slowly coming to the realization that many (most?) sales hiring managers are drawn to hiring experience like a moth is drawn to light.\u00a0 I am seeing it play out again at one of our assessment customers.\u00a0 The allure is to hire a salesperson with industry experience before properly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":377,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/10\/a-good-time-to-be-in-sales\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":4},"title":"A Good Time To Be In Sales","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This article - The Hottest Industries For Sales Jobs - comes from the daily SM&M Magazine enewsletter. The market demand for salespeople is strong right now (we can attest to that fact) and is going to remain high: The trend for hiring shows no signs of stopping, according to Cindy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":599,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/01\/the-sales-hiring-security-blanket\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":5},"title":"The Sales Hiring Security Blanket","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a security blanket in hiring salespeople and it is this - experience. Experience is the balm to bad sales hiring. Companies start with a desire to hire primarily from their industry. If someone has multiple years selling in the industry, skill and talent are assumed to be sufficient\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring Salespeople&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring Salespeople","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/hiring-salespeople\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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