News: Performance Management
Sales executives being stretched for bonus recognition, says report
10 July 2008
The end of the so-called 'nice' decade heralds a need for sales professionals to prove their financial worth, according to the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
In a new study which indicates the growing need for tailored training, the CIM suggests that sales executives are already being "stretched" by bosses so that only the best performers benefit from discretionary bonus schemes.
Set for release next week, the CIM's Croner Sales Rewards 2008-2009 report highlights that fewer people have been receiving bonuses amid anticipation of tougher trading conditions.
Viv Copeland, head of client services at Croner Rewards, confirmed to ModernSelling.com that organisations are increasingly looking to "reward the better performers" as an incentive.
"With the end of the 'nice' decade and a rapidly deteriorating economic climate, sales professionals will have to prove they are worth the salaries they command more than ever before," she continued.
Ms Copeland noted that the survey covered 5,900 jobs across 450 organisations and revealed sales professionals' average basic pay still exceeds that of their colleagues in marketing, finance and human resources across most levels.
Furthermore, although fewer sales professionals have received bonuses this year in comparison to last, the value of bonuses is rising. 
