The Retention of IT Sales Professionals

Abstract

The IT solutions industry has faced many challenges related to the retention of the sales force. This research evaluated many factors that influence the decisions of IT Solutions sales professionals to continue their employment with their current employer. It identifies the perceptive views of IT sales professionals on the effects of salary and non-salary factors on the voluntary turnover of these sales professionals. As Vice President of software sales at Freightcenter, Inc. and former director of global sales at Microdasys, Inc., the co-author Dr. David Hemmans finds the retention of IT sales profes- sionals to be a growing concern among today's IT solution sales organizations. As Associate Professor in Business Ad- ministration and with several years of experience in Marketing, Strategic Planning and Business Analytics, in various in- dustries such as pharmaceutical, telecommunications, consumer products, biotech as well as insurance the co-author Dr. Santosh Sambare sees direct application of the results of this study in addressing the concerns of turnover in the sales pro- fessionals not only in the IT industry but also other environments as well. This research concludes that several salary as well as several non-salary factors affect the decisions of IT sales professionals to maintain employment with their current em- ployer. This research indicates that companies need to provide support to their sales professionals by providing good leads, qualifying these leads, emphasizing sales training, having clearly articulated pricing policies, and promoting excellent in- stallation and customer service. This research concludes that job satisfaction is more important than base pay or commissions in influencing the IT sales professional to remain with their employer. The key recommendation to IT solutions companies from this research are that focusing on job satisfaction, recognition, and support services are more important than base pay and bonuses to maximize IT sales professional retention. The implication of the results of this study for IT sales management is to also focus beyond the traditional salary based factors such as base pay, commissions and bonus plans and concentrate on job satisfaction of their IT solutions sales managers. Also, it suggests sales management to show concern and care for their sales professionals and ensure that they have good scope for advancement in their organizations. In addition, sales man- agement should ensure that the sales position is challenging and provide training programs to help sales professionals meet their goals as well as to provide the support needed by the sales professionals to be successful in their positions. Such support includes access to accurate customer data, timely access to internal engineering and pre-sales resources, and assistance from upper management in closing major deals.