Selling and sales management 367
should possess. The second factor is the turn-
over in personnel. That is, people may be
recruited to add to the salesforce, while others
will be recruited to replace those who are
promoted, leave, retire or are dismissed. A
measure of turnover is the number of people
who leave per annum divided by the total
number in the salesforce.
The next stage is to write a job description
for an individual in a sales position, including
the integration of the job into a team or
organizational unit. The job analysis is the
cornerstone on which the job description for the
salesperson is based. Therefore, the job descrip-
tion should begin with repeating the main
duties, tasks and responsibilities of the job. The
key areas can vary, but a job title, the main
purpose of the job, key and secondary activ-
ities, and performance measures should be
included. It is preferable to be specific in the job
description about job functions and duties. For
example, indications can be given on time
allocated to prospecting, travelling, merchan-
dising, servicing, reporting as well as selling
time. The approach should cover the most
important aspects of the job, essential and
preferable criteria, the necessary education,
qualifications, experience and other attributes,
and an assessment of the validity and reliability
of previous methods.
A variety of potential sources can be used
to recruit new salespeople. These sources can
vary as to their adequacy and consistency in
obtaining the best possible candidates for sales
positions. Good recruitment policies will take
a planned approach to this problem. For
example, turnover rates will indicate how
many and how often replacements are likely
to be required. Furthermore, analysis of pre-
vious recruits can indicate more and less
productive sources. This analysis can be
extended to discriminate between high, aver-
age and low performers. There is a need to
link sources of recruits in sales to the selling
style. For example, recruitment for missionary
selling jobs favours employment agencies. For
trade selling, sources are primarily from
advertisements and educational institutions,
while for technical selling, recruiters rely more
on personal contacts. The use of different
sources is, and should be, related to job- and
company-specific criteria, as well as the
matching characteristics between buyer and
seller.
When the number and type of salespeople
has been determined and the various sources
have been selected to obtain the necessary
applicants, it is then essential to evaluate these
in order to recruit the best, i.e. those most
suitable to the job and the firm. One possible
cause of high turnover in sales personnel is
that badly suited applicants are recruited in
the first place. Turnover rates (i.e. the number
who leave per annum over the number in the
salesforce) which are above industry averages
or seem to be increasing over previous periods
indicate a problem and an unnecessary cost.
These turnover rates do vary, being higher in
salesforces where the average age is younger,
higher in consumer goods than industrial
goods companies and significantly higher in
the first three years of service. For example,
higher turnover rates are found in new,
young, consumer goods salespeople. In finan-
cial services, 80 per cent of life insurance
salespeople leave within two years of joining
their company and only 8 per cent had been
with their company more than four years
(LIMRA, 1992).
Related to the turnover level are the costs
of recruiting, selecting, training and super-
vising new recruits who are poor performers. In
addition to these costs, a salesperson leaving
the company may well have a negative effect
on sales in their territory and, if joining a
competitor, business may be lost. The average
lost sales multiplied by the number who leave
will represent the total cost of lost business.
Commensurate with cost is the time factor.
From a decision to recruit or replace through
sourcing, interviewing, screening, second or
third interviews, checking references, medical,
to placing and accepting an offer may take
several months.