Confirmation that Salespeople ARE Different

It probably comes as no surprise for most of us to learn that sales employees are more motivated by money than non-sales employees.  We count on it, in fact, and the design of most sales compensation plans is proof of this.

Beyond confirming this fact, however, Sibson Consulting's most recent Rewards of WorkSM (ROW) Study shows us evidence of other more nuanced ways that salespeople appear to differ from their fellow workers.

The ROW Study found that sales employees, compared to non-sales employees, are:

• More engaged (57% versus 51%)
• More committed to their company (68% versus 62%)

And, of course,

• More motivated by compensation (82% versus 62%)

Moreover, they have:

• A greater sense of affiliation with their organization (67% versus 60%)
• Higher career satisfaction (57% versus 52%), and
• More trust in management

I find these additional differences interesting and wonder what lessons they offer us about motivation, engagement and retention.

Is a salesperson's very immediate connection to both the company's service/product and the customer a factor in the higher levels of engagement, commitment, affiliation and satisfaction that this group reports?

What about the direct feedback, recognition and reinforcement (both positive and negative) that results from the highly leveraged (higher proportion of variable versus fixed pay) and results-oriented compensation package - does this account for higher levels of engagement, commitment, affiliation and satisfaction?  What about higher levels of trust?

Or is it simply in the nature of those people who are attracted to direct sales opportunities - along with the nature of this work and the methods by which it is usually rewarded - to be more engaged, committed, affiliated and satisfied?

Worth pondering.

Comments

[Frank Giancola]

Hi, Ann,

These are interesting issues that you have raised and here are my reactions.

Are the sales people compared to all other ees? I wonder what the picture would be like if they were compared to just certain segments of the rest of us, like HR professionals and financial analysts?

Wouldn't it stand to reason that sales people are more motivated by compensation, since more of their pay is contigent than it is for other ees?

There is also some evidence to suggest that productive people are more satisfied at work because they are productive. So your thinking about the nature of sales work driving commitment, etc., could be right.

Also, when I studied commitment and engagement, I found considerable overlap in these concepts. In some cases, people are using commitment surveys to measure engagement. See my workspan article "Employee Engagement - What You Need to Know" October 2007.

Frank

[Ann Bares]

Frank:

My impression from what I read of the ROW study is that they did, in fact, compare sales employees to all other employees. I confess to having the same thought as you: I wonder what it would be like to compare salespeople to other distinct professions - like HR or engineering. Or IT. Probably way too ambitious an undertaking, but the results would probably be fascinating.

It is an interesting sort of chicken or egg question, isn't it? Does sales work drive more engagement and commitment, or are engaged and committed people more attracted to sales work?

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.