Pet companies risk losing out on the best sales staff
 |
Recruitment specialist Lynda Ward has issued a warning to pet companies that they face missing out on employing the best sales people unless they offer more attractive salary packages.
Lynda, owner of Pet Trade Solutions, says the salary expectations of potential employees are often ‘worlds apart’ than those of employers in the pet industry.
She attributes the discrepancy between what employers wish to pay and what prospective employees are already earning to the fact that other industries often pay low basic salaries (£22k to £25k) plus large commissions or bonuses, while the pet industry pays higher basic salaries with more modest bonus or commissions.
Lynda says: “Many of the younger companies in the pet trade have been founded by people who come from those industries paying small basic salaries, so they naturally assume similar scales. They are initially surprised to find that the current norm that a Territory Manager will already be earning is on average a basic of £32k to £40k, depending on experience (plus bonus/commission and car or car allowance).
“It can be an unwelcome realisation that they need to raise the bar on salary budget in order to find someone with the contacts, skills and experience to meet their needs, and they then need to make the choice of doing so or:- taking on and training someone from outside the industry (which takes more of their time and effort, plus time for the newcomer to build customer rapport)
- hoping we know of someone exceptionally unhappy in their current role (whilst that can be the case, people will not or cannot drop salary to such a great extent)
- hoping we have someone experienced who is, or is about to be made, redundant (again this can be the case but again those people usually either cannot or will not reduce their earnings so dramatically – and the risk is that if they did they would possibly continue to seek a role with a higher salary in the long term).”
She adds: “There is a lack of well-connected pet industry sales professionals in certain locations at present, so expect salaries to become even more competitive in the near future, as companies battle to get the best candidates.”
Lynda is always happy to personally advise on any aspects of recruitment and marketing strategy and can be contacted on 07946 743784 or at lyndaward@pettradesolutions.com
|
|
