Sales still the top job
Article Date: Jun 09 2009
Sales people are still top earners
The salaries and bonuses of sales managers are still rising, making them better rewarded than their colleagues in marketing, finance and HR.
The average basic salary for a middle manager in sales is just more than £38,000, some 5.6 per cent higher than the national average for this level, according to research from business information service Croner Reward.
Average pay for a head of sales is £57,060, slightly below a head of finance on £58,000 but comfortably more than the equivalent roles in marketing (£53,963) and human resources (£52,603). Sales representatives are earning around £23,500 on average, though there is a stark difference between regions, with those in the South East receiving over £27,000 and those in Northern Ireland under £19,000.
Pay awards for sales professionals averaged 3.2 per cent, and are expected to remain roughly unchanged in the coming year at three per cent.
David Thorp, head of research at The Chartered Institute of Marketing, comments, ‘With the UK economy still in recession, organisations will need to hold on to their most experienced salespeople and attract the brightest talents. Organisations appear to have recognised this.’
Outside director level, fewer sales professionals received bonuses compared with last year, but the value of those bonuses rose to £7,780 for senior sales managers and £21,600 for sales directors.
