Q2 bms business services sales index

Quarterly Business Services
Sales Index

About Index
The report is compiled from a variety of sources including vacancy data, candidate
salaries, client survey information and specific sector reports.

As a business we interview over 500 sales candidates per week, speak to 2000
decision makers and have a national presence with 7 offices throughout the UK. This
gives us access to a wealth of regional and national data, information on candidate
salaries and job expectations and insight into the challenges facing decision makers.

The index is produced quarterly and provides organisations with a good barometer of
trends in the UK sales recruitment market.
About Us
We specialise in recruiting high calibre people across the UK, Ireland and Australia.
Our network of offices gives us strong local presence and allows us to support a long
list of blue-chip clients who view us as partners they can trust.
We have grown to become a leading force in our field placing more people than ever
before. But we haven’t let our standards slip. We take the time to get to know you,
your business and the type of people you need. We tailor our services to ensure the
right recruitment solution for your business. In short, we make things run smoothly
and produce results.
2| BMS Quarterly Business Services Sales Index - Published July 2013
BMS Quarterly Business Services Sales Index

With output up across the UK, and the British Chamber of
Commerce suggesting business confidence is at its highest point
since 2007, at long last businesses have some small reason to be
cheerful.
Aside from the fact that we have seen economic false
dawns before, an upturn in business confidence and
the tentative shoots of recovery actually pose serious
questions for personnel departments, and the sales
teams they support.
According to the BMS Quarterly Sales Index,
employee retention is becoming a very real issue.
It was uncertainty and a lack of confidence, rather than the effectiveness of retention strategies,
that kept staff turnover low during the downturn. With candidate confidence now returning to the job
market, many sales leaders fear the loss of their star performers - forcing them to work harder to keep
their teams together.
“Seventy percent of companies
believe they are going to have to
work harder to retain their best
people in the coming months.”
Chart One: Will you have to work harder to retain staff if the economy improves?
Firms are responding. Across the board, they’re
continuing to invest in a range of retention strategies.
Today’s developing communications technologies
are enabling new forms of flexible working, which
according to Chart Two, has led to a third of firms
now offering these opportunities to their teams – a
growth of nearly 70% on last quarter’s figures.
Retention concerns as economy gears for growth
Yes, 70%
No, 30%
“It was uncertainty and a lack
of confidence, rather than
the effectiveness of retention
strategies that kept staff turnover
low during the downturn.”

Similarly, and perhaps more significantly, firms are
willing to increase base salaries to counter offers for
their best people – a jump of over 40% on last quarter’s
findings. The BMS Index has consistently raised the
issue of salary as a reason for losing (and failing to
secure) good salespeople. The fact that the industry has
taken action shows a positive development across the
vast majority of sectors.
“We’ve seen a rise this quarter
in the number of companies
offering higher salaries,
improved benefits and flexible
working. A real sign that
companies are starting to act.”
Chart Two: What are you doing to retain your best people?
The medical sector is particularly bullish, with
over a third of organisations responding to the
survey confirming they’ll increase salary to
hold on to the best people – compared with an
industry average of 23%.
Such increased efforts to keep their teams
together is hardly surprising given that eight out
of ten respondents felt their salespeople were
instrumental in protecting their businesses during
the recession. It’s safe to assume that this will
only increase should the economy continue its
upward path.
16%
19%
29%
6%
47%
29%
56%
14%
23%
32%
36%
9%
47%
34%
49%
8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Increased
Salaries
Flexible
Working
Improved
Benefits
Extra Holidays More Lucrative
Bonus
Schemes
Team Building
Events
Sales Training None of the
above
Q1
Q2
“Sales training and more
lucrative bonus schemes
remain the top ways
companies are looking to
attract and retain sales
talent.”

As Chart Two revealed, while salary and a range of other bonuses are being offered to keep their best
people, firms continue to focus their retention efforts on training.
This is a trend the BMS Index has been following for some time and offers benefit to both employer
and employee. Apart from the likelihood of improved performance (which will ultimately hit the firm’s
top line), expanding training programmes is a clear sign of a company who is willing to invest in its
people.
Chart Three: Will sales training be a big factor in motivating and retaining sales teams?
It would certainly appear to work, with the vast majority of survey respondents agreeing that sales
training is a major factor in motivating and retaining staff, as shown in Chart Three.
According to BMS’ Head of Training and Development, Dave Bill, investment in employee training
goes right to the heart of retention efforts:
“We’ve seen a big move towards training as a retention strategy over the past few quarters. While
salary may attract candidates, investing in your existing people increases motivation, performance
and a greater sense of value in the employee. Indeed, as we move forward, presentation and lead
generation training will not only add to team competencies, but will sit alongside growing salaries,
flexible working and increased bonus pots as a sound retention tool.”
Therefore, we will inevitably see the importance
of training increase over the next six months as
over a third of firms take on raw talent in their
attempts to remain competitive. Offering training
and development, and immersing graduates and
new starters in the company culture from the very
beginning, should not only accelerate ‘time to
value’, but support retention strategies too.
Training and Loyalty
“Sales training leads the way in
retention tactics being used by
companies with 86% believing
it will help them to motivate and
retain their staff.”
Yes, 86%
No, 14%

Chart Four: Jobs growth January 2011 - July 2013
Of course, enhancing team performance isn’t simply about retaining the best people, it’s also critical
to find and recruit new talent. And over the second quarter of 2013, the BMS Quarterly Sales Index
has brought to light that jobs growth recovered from a slump in March to end the quarter in positive
territory (Chart Four).
Q2 recruitment analysis
Business services, IT and manufacturing have
all fared well - in what remains a tough climate.
However, sales recruitment within construction and
medical remained well below the all-sector average.
Set against the quarter’s positive Purchasing
Managers Index (PMI) figures and growing business
confidence, the sales recruitment figures appear to
be lacklustre. In reality, firms rarely increase sales
teams or add additional account management on the
back of a single good quarter.
It’s a more strategic game; we’d expect a time lag between output/order growth and an upturn in
recruitment.
On the question of the challenge of recruitment over the past six months, firms were more evenly
divided; just over half of firms surveyed felt they had struggled to recruit good people (Chart Five).
A struggling six months?
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
“Whilst vacancy levels are low,
this new sense of optimism will
see recruitment activity rise in the
coming months.”

Chart Five: Have you struggled to recruit good sales people over the past six months?
Recruiters in the business services, FMCG and medical sectors were more likely to agree that they
had ‘struggled’. The biggest barrier to securing the right people within the medical sector was strong
counter offers from existing employers – small wonder as medical leads the sectors in using salary
rises to encourage retention.
Despite this, there’s no getting away from the fact that salary and counter offers remain significant
recruitment issues across all sectors, as Chart Six demonstrates. There is still work to be done here.
Chart Six: If you have missed out on a good candidate in the past, what was the main reason?
Yes, 56%
No, 44%
17%
11%
19%
21%
6%
26%26%
12%
20%
8%
8%
25%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Counter offer Long recruitment
process
Offer from
another employer
Other Unable to meet
candidates career
aspirations
Unable to meet
candidates salary
expectations
Q1
Q2

Two stage battle for talent back on
This quarter’s Index highlights a period of short
term entrenchment for employers. There’s no
doubt that as confidence returns to the economy
and the job market, good sales people who have
sat tight will be looking for what other opportunities
may exist.
In an attempt to offset this potential skills drain,
employers are ramping up strategies to engender
greater loyalty (principally through investment
in their people). But where attempts fail, as
highlighted in Chart Six, employers are now
prepared to aggressively move to counter offers.
For companies that are recruiting, this means increased competition. As Chart Seven indicates,
they’re taking action to make themselves more competitive by looking outside their markets for good
people. They are doing this by taking on raw talent and offering training and development, which are
trends we have seen over the past two years.
“As confidence returns to
the economy, those that sat
tight during the recession
will consider their options,
leading to increased
competition for candidates.”
But where this quarter’s Index offers a particularly
interesting insight is in the significant increase in
the number of recruiters (one in four) now willing
to increase salaries, and almost a third aiming to
shorten recruitment processes.
We haven’t seen these high levels for some time.
This reflects a growing realisation that to get the
best people you have to pay the money and be
fleet of foot; both to beat competing recruiters and
to outmanoeuvre the current employer who may be
looking to counter offer.
Chart Seven: What steps will you be taking to remain competitive in the search for good sales people
over the next 6 months?
35%
14%
24%
34%
29%
13%
16%
19%
10%
46%
25%
30%
47%
36%
15%
19%
20%
0%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Look for talent
outside market
Improve salary
& benefits
Shorten
recruitment
processes
Provide on-
going Sales
Training &
Developement
Take on raw
talent and
provide sales
training
Engage other
attraction
methods
Strengthen
recruitment
partnerships
Improve
employer
branding
None of the
above
Q1
Q2
“The rise in counter offers
and a willingness to increase
salaries compared to last
quarter are clear signs that
competition is increasing and
confidence is improving.”

Chart Eight: Will your recruitment activity for the second half of 2013 increase or decrease compared
to the first half of 2013?
Increase in activity forecast for the rest of 2013
As shown in Chart Eight, recruiters expect to be doing more business across all sectors (except
construction) as we move into the second half of the year. While the vast majority of firms believe
their activities will stay the same, around a quarter of IT and business services firms, and over a third
of manufacturers, expect their numbers to rise.
It would seem that once businesses have their retention strategies in place (and have dealt with the
inevitable churn that a growing economy delivers), they will look to go out to market to build up their
sales forces.
Of course this is largely dependent on the continued growth of the economy. While there have been
many false dawns before, there is certainly a place for cautious optimism – and there’s little doubt
that both business and candidate confidence is higher than it has been in some time.
But as we’ve discussed, increasing confidence can also be a major concern for the unprepared
employer.
24%
19% 20%
28%
37%
21%
15%
24%
15%
24%
26%
14%
62%
57%
65%
48%
37%
64%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Business
Services
Construction FMCG IT Manufacturing Medical
Increase
Decrease
Stay the
same

A stellar performance causing problems for Business
Services
In case Supply Management magazine’s headline to announce May’s PMI figures wasn’t clear enough,
Services sector shows ‘all cylinders of UK economy now firing’, June’s headline left us in little doubt: UK
services sees ‘stellar performance’.
Showing a PMI of 56.9 for the month (where a figure of
over 50 represents growth), June’s figures marked the
highest rate of expansion for over two years. Sales and
production increased and the sector saw the largest rise
in employment for nearly six years.
Small wonder then that sales vacancy numbers leapt
4.4% from the end of Q1 to Q2, according to the BMS
Quarterly Sales Index.
“Business confidence is
returning in the business
services sector with the recent
PMI figures showing the highest
rate of expansion in two years.”
Chart Nine: Business services sales vacancy growth rate year-on-year
But with 73% of recruitment and sales leaders feeling they’ll
need to work harder to retain the best staff as the economy
improves, the PMI figures highlight a challenge moving forward.
As revealed in Chart Ten, business services firms currently
favour extending sales training and offering more lucrative
bonus schemes to retain sales staff. Focusing on training and
development makes sense, of course – with investment in
people adding value to both employer and employee.
“Firms wanting to recruit
in this more competitive
market are also having to
raise salary and benefits
to compete with the
retention strategies and
counter offers of existing
employers.”
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
GrowthRate(%)
Market Average Business Services

Chart Ten: What are you doing to retain your best people?
In previous reports, we have questioned the strategy of increasing bonus payments to encourage
retention and/or acquisition, as employees and candidates were well aware of the challenge of
reaching targets in depressed markets.
But with the sector showing the fastest growth in new business since 2007, now is very much the time
to offer this kind of incentive. And firms are going further; almost a quarter are now also prepared to
increase salaries to hold on to the best people. This is something of a sea-change from just six months
ago.
This kind of salary and benefits-based retention strategy is creating something of a financial arms
race. Firms wanting to recruit are also having to raise salary and benefit levels to compete with the
retention strategies and counter offers of existing employers.
But recruiting firms have some way to go, according to the BMS data. As we can see in Chart Eleven,
the biggest reason for losing candidates at interview remains an inability to match salary expectations.
It seems the best sales people are still being lost to counter offers from their current employer or
another competitor.
10%
9%
12%
1%
25%
15%
26%
2%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Increased
Salaries
Flexible Working Improved
Benefits
Extra Holidays More Lucrative
Bonus Schemes
Team Building
Events
Sales Training None of the
above
Chart Eleven: If you have missed out on a good candidate in the past, what was the main reason?
36%
21%
50%
11%
7%
68%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Business Services
Counter offer
Long recruitment process
Offer from another employer
Other
Unable to meet candidates career
aspirations
Unable to meet candidates salary
expectations

Chart Twelve: What characteristics do you believe are needed to be an effective sales person?
In an effort to solve the salary issue, business
services firms continue to look outside their
markets for top talent and are increasingly taking
on raw talent then investing heavily in training and
development to rapidly upskill their people.
Again, this is a sound strategy in a market where
experience and specialist technical knowledge are
a rather smaller barrier to entry than in the IT or
medical sectors.
Indeed, communication, listening skills and a positive attitude are valued over all other characteristics
by employers within the sector (Chart Twelve).
Well placed for the future
With business services one of the faster recovering sectors in the UK economy, its recruiters have
been the first to experience the challenges of retention and recruitment in an ever more competitive
market.
There’s no doubt that inhouse recruiters are responding
– increasing salary and bonus levels, extending their
search outside their markets and the bringing in, and
training, of graduates.
But with a quarter of BMS survey respondents expecting
recruitment activity to increase over the coming six
months, it will be crucial to pay close attention to
changes in confidence of both employee and candidate.
Should optimism continue to rise, the sector will be hard
pushed to compete if others decide to play hardball on
salary and package levels.
“Firms continue to look outside
their markets for top talent, taking
on raw talent and investing in
training and development.”
“Should optimism continue to
rise, the sector will be hard
pushed to compete if others
decide to play hardball on salary
and package levels.”
28%
58%
62%
92%
79%
83%
55%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Leadership skills Market knowledge Product knowledge Communication skills Good listening skills Positive behaviour Entrepreneurial spirit

Q2 bms business services sales index

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