{"id":7158,"date":"2014-07-23T09:50:11","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T13:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theweekinimaging.com\/?p=7158"},"modified":"2014-07-23T15:33:12","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T19:33:12","slug":"looking-beyond-the-numbers-of-copier-careers-2014-sales-manager-salary-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2014\/07\/looking-beyond-the-numbers-of-copier-careers-2014-sales-manager-salary-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Beyond the Numbers of Copier Careers\u2019 2014 Sales Manager Salary Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"salary\"<\/a>I always enjoy reading the results of Copier Careers\u2019 annual salary surveys. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company that offers recruitment services for the document imaging industry recently released their twelfth annual Sales Management Salary Survey, and there\u2019s some worthwhile information in there, whether you\u2019re a sales manager or the owner of a dealership.<\/p>\n

I find there\u2019s a lot of validity to these Copier Career surveys based on the number of respondents. This year 1,069 sales managers responded to the online survey. That\u2019s a solid number. The survey tracked such things as compensation, how well employers are meeting sales manager\u2019s needs, and job satisfaction.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t go into all the findings of the survey. You can find that here.<\/a> As far as compensation, something that most everyone in the industry is curious about, the average annual compensation for this year is $147,734, up from $137,731 last year. If you go back to 2004, the first year of the survey, that figure was $104,332.<\/p>\n

Last week I caught up with Paul Schwartz, President of Copier Careers, to delve deeper into the results of this year\u2019s survey and look beyond the numbers.<\/p>\n

What was the biggest surprise in this year\u2019s sales manager salary survey?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz:<\/strong> Sales managers are embracing solutions and technologies because they\u2019re making the correlation between the ability to sell these solutions and ultimately the revenue they bring in. They\u2019re realizing that the channel is expanding rapidly. We notice a bit of the downtick in the time the individual has been at their position and we\u2019re starting to see some people are either accepting the new reality of this expanded channel of solutions because that\u2019s what we\u2019re calling it. It\u2019s not copier anymore and the copier channel is offering more solutions. Solutions are best served locally and we\u2019re seeing massive organic growth within our clients that have embraced this. This is directly reflected in the salary survey.<\/p>\n

You attribute the 4.4 percent increase in compensation to revised compensation plans. How do you think those are being revised?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz: <\/strong>We have about 300 clients and there are 300 different comp plans. A lot of clients are dealing with how do we compensate people for this and how do we not over compensate and stay profitable. I don\u2019t have a straight up answer for your question, but I know that most of them in one way or another have figured out what works for them and that\u2019s what becomes the norm rather than the exception. They\u2019ve settled in on some form of comp and it varies wildly among the various dealers, but they are no longer struggling with it.<\/p>\n

In the last year, we have been placing a lot of CFOs, back-office operations, and operations people, and a lot of that is because of the advent of MPS and MNS. Many dealers did not know what their profit margins were before. They didn\u2019t know how to compensate people and we\u2019re starting to see that tighten up with all of our clients.<\/p>\n

I found it interesting that 30 percent of sales managers participating were women. What\u2019s happened?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz:<\/strong> It used to be you would rarely see a woman in a management role. It\u2019s no longer a \u2018good old boys club.\u2019 It\u2019s starting to evolve and we\u2019re also seeing that reflected with sales reps; I don\u2019t think it\u2019s all the way there. We don\u2019t see it as much with technicians or service managers yet.<\/p>\n

I find it interesting that selling sales managers are making a comeback. Do you think this is by design or necessity and do you think these folks are embracing this change?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz: <\/strong>For roughly 10 years we did not hear the term \u2018selling sales manager\u2019 [at Copier Careers]. This whole thing that you can\u2019t serve two masters, you\u2019re either a manager or a sales rep and you can\u2019t do both well. That started to change with the advent of MPS and MNS. With MPS the sales or takedowns are pretty large and to carry a personal quota for a selling sales manager, he has a team or individuals or the infrastructure of the dealership to back him up.<\/p>\n

I think the answer is it doesn\u2019t take as much micromanagement on behalf of the selling sales manager to manage his quota. It\u2019s usually a big quota, but they still have time to manage a team. Typically the teams under the selling sales manager are usually three to four max and if it goes beyond that they become a traditional sales manager.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t see a graph for age, and I don\u2019t remember if you ever tracked that information, but anecdotally, what are you seeing in this regard for people seeking sales management positions in this day and age?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz: <\/strong>We don\u2019t track age, but we ask how long have you been in the industry and how long do you expect to stay in industry. We\u2019ve seen how long they\u2019ve been in industry starting to go down. Anecdotally, if you think about the needs of our industry, there are a lot of managers who are at the point where they are at a retirement age. The other thing we\u2019re starting to see is people coming up through the ranks. If those individuals have been in the industry 10 years, they\u2019ve spent half of their experience with MPS, MNS, and solutions selling. Pushing a box has almost become an oddity for these people.<\/p>\n

Are there a fair amount of openings for sales managers?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz:<\/strong> We have placed more sales managers or selling sales managers in the past three years than we have in the previous 10 years. I think it\u2019s a reflection of the aging of the industry and a reflection of how someone has to embrace this new technology, understand it, understand how to sell it, and realize that it\u2019s a huge revenue stream. If they don\u2019t understand it, then they\u2019re probably not the most effective in their position.<\/p>\n

The other thing is it\u2019s not unusual in the last two to three years that we have traditional copier dealership clients that are going through 75-150 percent organic growth because of MPS and MNS. All that does is drive the other needs of the individual owner.<\/p>\n

Why aren\u2019t they finding those resources in their own company and coming to you?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz:<\/strong> I was talking to a client the other day and they\u2019re selling more solutions and they were a traditional dealership that wanted to bring in someone from the outside who understood how to sell these solutions. They didn\u2019t have someone. Some of these entities are going through such rapid expansion they don\u2019t have enough people or enough infrastructure to support their rapid growth.<\/p>\n

If you went through 75-100 percent growth would it be better to turn one of your inside reps into a sales manager or would it be better to bring in someone from the outside who has gone through that natural progression for the size you\u2019re now at and let them apply their skills?<\/p>\n

How easy is it to find these people?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz: It\u2019s becoming more difficult to recruit sales reps, sales managers, and selling sales managers because all of a sudden their comp has become cyclical now because of what they\u2019re selling. If they\u2019re selling solutions, they\u2019re implemented over a long term period and it creates a revenue stream. Once you create a revenue stream it\u2019s harder to get that person to leave the position they\u2019re currently at when they know they can bank on X amount of revenue.<\/p>\n

What skills are employers looking for in a sales manager these days?<\/em><\/p>\n

Schwartz: <\/strong>All of a sudden they get and appreciate the technical side of it. Where a couple of years ago they didn\u2019t embrace that as much. We\u2019re seeing a convergence there, and they have to be willing to work in a collaborative atmosphere. You need the tech people on board and you need someone who is a business manager, who is communicative and can lead their team and understand how to get in the door.<\/p>\n

These positions are interesting because it used to be they basically had to start over every month, well now if you position yourself properly with your solution it\u2019s a cyclical annuity. The other important thing they have to do is be extremely customer oriented and drive customer service and keep the client happy with all these solutions or the client will find someone else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I always enjoy reading the results of Copier Careers\u2019 annual salary surveys. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company that offers recruitment services for the document imaging industry recently released their twelfth annual Sales Management Salary Survey, and there\u2019s some worthwhile information in there, whether you\u2019re a sales manager or the owner of a dealership. I find there\u2019s a lot of validity to these Copier Career surveys based on the number of respondents. This year 1,069 sales managers responded to the online survey. That\u2019s a solid number. The survey tracked such things as compensation, how well employers are meeting sales manager\u2019s needs, and job satisfaction. I won\u2019t go into all the findings of the survey. You can find that here. As far as compensation, something that most everyone in the industry is curious about, the average annual compensation for this year is $147,734, up from $137,731 last year. If you go back to 2004, the first year of the survey, that figure was $104,332. Last week I caught up with Paul Schwartz, President of Copier Careers, to delve deeper into the results of this year\u2019s survey and look beyond the numbers. What was the biggest surprise in this year\u2019s sales manager salary survey? Schwartz: Sales managers are embracing solutions and technologies because they\u2019re making the correlation between the ability to sell these solutions and ultimately the revenue they bring in. They\u2019re realizing that the channel is expanding rapidly. We notice a bit of the downtick in the time the individual has been at their position and we\u2019re starting to see some people are either accepting the new reality of this expanded channel of solutions because that\u2019s what we\u2019re calling it. It\u2019s not copier anymore and the copier channel is offering more solutions. Solutions are best served locally and we\u2019re seeing massive organic growth within our clients that have embraced this. This is directly reflected in the salary survey. You attribute the 4.4 percent increase in compensation to revised compensation plans. How do you think those are being revised? Schwartz: We have about 300 clients and there are 300 different comp plans. A lot of clients are dealing with how do we compensate people for this and how do we not over compensate and stay profitable. I don\u2019t have a straight up answer for your question, but I know that most of them in one way or another have figured out what works for them and that\u2019s what becomes the norm rather than the exception. They\u2019ve settled in on some form of comp and it varies wildly among the various dealers, but they are no longer struggling with it. In the last year, we have been placing a lot of CFOs, back-office operations, and operations people, and a lot of that is because of the advent of MPS and MNS. Many dealers did not know what their profit margins were before. They didn\u2019t know how to compensate people and we\u2019re starting to see that tighten up with all of our clients. I found it interesting that 30 percent of sales managers participating were women. What\u2019s happened? Schwartz: It used to be you would rarely see a woman in a management role. It\u2019s no longer a \u2018good old boys club.\u2019 It\u2019s starting to evolve and we\u2019re also seeing that reflected with sales reps; I don\u2019t think it\u2019s all the way there. We don\u2019t see it as much with technicians or service managers yet. I find it interesting that selling sales managers are making a comeback. Do you think this is by design or necessity and do you think these folks are embracing this change? Schwartz: For roughly 10 years we did not hear the term \u2018selling sales manager\u2019 [at Copier Careers]. This whole thing that you can\u2019t serve two masters, you\u2019re either a manager or a sales rep and you can\u2019t do both well. That started to change with the advent of MPS and MNS. With MPS the sales or takedowns are pretty large and to carry a personal quota for a selling sales manager, he has a team or individuals or the infrastructure of the dealership to back him up. I think the answer is it doesn\u2019t take as much micromanagement on behalf of the selling sales manager to manage his quota. It\u2019s usually a big quota, but they still have time to manage a team. Typically the teams under the selling sales manager are usually three to four max and if it goes beyond that they become a traditional sales manager. I didn\u2019t see a graph for age, and I don\u2019t remember if you ever tracked that information, but anecdotally, what are you seeing in this regard for people seeking sales management positions in this day and age? Schwartz: We don\u2019t track age, but we ask how long have you been in the industry and how long do you expect to stay in industry. We\u2019ve seen how long they\u2019ve been in industry starting to go down. Anecdotally, if you think about the needs of our industry, there are a lot of managers who are at the point where they are at a retirement age. The other thing we\u2019re starting to see is people coming up through the ranks. If those individuals have been in the industry 10 years, they\u2019ve spent half of their experience with MPS, MNS, and solutions selling. Pushing a box has almost become an oddity for these people. Are there a fair amount of openings for sales managers? Schwartz: We have placed more sales managers or selling sales managers in the past three years than we have in the previous 10 years. I think it\u2019s a reflection of the aging of the industry and a reflection of how someone has to embrace this new technology, understand it, understand how to sell it, and realize that it\u2019s a huge revenue stream. If they don\u2019t understand it, then they\u2019re probably not the most effective in their position. The other thing is it\u2019s not unusual in the last two to three years that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[1554,328,388],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7158"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7160,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7158\/revisions\/7160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}