AS THE ECONOMY IMPROVES, COMPANIES SEE GROWTH AHEAD, HIRE MORE SALESPEOPLE
A telltale sign that Corporate America sees an improving economy is a very strong trend toward expanding its sales forces. Salespeople should have been the last employees to be let go, since they’re the only ones who bring in the money. But many radio stations didn’t see things that way when the economy soured. Now that buyers are loosening the purse strings again, they have to ramp up their sales staffs to handle the increased business. And there’s no better time than right now.
The Alexander Group has just released a comprehensive new study it calls the 2011 Sales Compensation Trends Survey. In a nutshell, Alexander’s David Cichelli, Senior Vice-President and Survey Editor, says the results show a “sharp uptick” in sales hiring plans and loosening of previously tight-fisted controls on expenses. “Most sales departments are ready to spend money to help grow top line revenues” he said.
Hopefully, that includes radio sales departments, too.
The reason for this sudden brightening of viewpoint on sales hiring is the obvious one: companies expect to make more money this year than during the last three recession-racked years. A whopping 80.3% predict sales growth in 2011.
ALL SIGNS POINT TO REVENUE GROWTH IN 2011
Other highlights from Alexander Group’s survey that are of interest to radio station managers include:
- Increasing investment in sales departments – Nearly 72% of the companies surveyed say they plan to spend more on sales in 2011
- Putting more hot bodies on the street – Over 61% plan to hire additional salespeople this year
- Paying salespeople more – 65% of the large group surveyed said they’ll increase base sales pay over the next 12 months
- Jacking up sales incentives – Around 3% is the median rate reported by the survey subjects
The Alexander Group study covered a substantial base of companies nationwide. Results are drawn from responses by over 130 corporations employing a total of around 140,000 salespeople.
WHAT RADIO STATION MANAGERS MUST DO NOW
First: Get going. This is no time to sit tight and hope for better days.
All signs indicate the economy is coming back. Holiday spending was strong and retail, our life’s blood, is looking healthy again for the first time in recent memory. Radio needs well-trained people who come to the table already motivated on the streets, helping customers get back on the air.
Second: It’s also no time for skinflint half-measures. If you’re tempted to say, “I guess we could hire two or three people, pay ‘em straight commission, send ‘em out and see how they do”, you might as well save your time. That kind of thinking sank a lot of broadcasters even before the economy went south. It buried many more when things really got tight.
If you are seriously so beat-up by economic conditions that you can’t think of anything else to do now than the scenario I just mentioned, maybe it’s time to get out of the radio business altogether. There’s no dishonor in that. For some, it’s the only way out of situations they think they can't win.
But if you still have the spark, that Something Within that told you radio was where you needed to be in your life, the drive to get back out and start swinging again, this is the time to get going. Start looking again for quality salespeople, organized yet outside-the-box thinkers who can represent broadcast, online, and any other media you can corral.
Most of all, the Alexander Group survey tells us that the business of selling is coming back, and fast. Which means that a lot of quality salespeople who have been forced to the sidelines are going to get snapped up and put back on the street.
Which also means you’d better get to know who they are so you can grab the good ones before someone else – maybe your competition – gets there first.
I’m thrilled but not surprised by the Alexander survey’s findings. A jump start for sales forces has been long overdue. The smart managers – the ones most likely to make strong gains quickly in the improving economy – feel the sea change, too. And they’re ready to expand their sales forces to ride the crest of the new waves of prosperity that are thundering toward us right now.
