An interview with Dr. David Brookmire discussing the surprising results of his recent survey, which assesses how best to compensate each generation of sales person. The study is “Back to the Future, Hiring, Retaining, Motivating Multiple Generations of Sales Staff.”

Interviewer: One of the first areas I want to talk about are the myths around Gen-Y.  A lot has been written about the differences of each generation in the work place.  What is being said about the Gen-Y in sales?

Dr. Brookmire: A lot has been written about Gen-Y in general, as a category. There have been a lot of stereotypes about the Gen-Y worker, not so much specifically working in sales, rather generalities have been applied to sales.  You hear of researchers or consultants talking about Gen-Y’s not being work-focused, that they are more focused around quality of life and work balance.  They (Gen-Y’s) are more interested in paid time off.  There was a recent Harvard Business Review article that found about 47% of Gen-Y’s wanted companies with sabbaticals.  They (Gen-Y’s) are also interested in their own career development, a “Me-Me-Me” focus.  Those are some of the most popular myths about Gen-Y’s.

Interviewer: In building a compensation plan, are you thinking that some of the sales operations and compensation specialists might be thinking that they can re-mix sales compensation away from cash, which is usually the largest component?

Dr. Brookmire: No question about it.  If you read any of the popular literature or research (on generational compensation), it suggests that although you have to have competitive pay, other incentives are much more appealing and interesting to the Gen-Y salesperson. That might include things like an opportunity to develop their career, an opportunity to take sabbaticals, leave the playing field for an extended period of time.

What we have found is quite the opposite.  Our research found that for Gen-Y and Gen-X and certainly Baby-Boomer sales professionals, the highest rated reward or incentive was either a base pay increase or cash bonus.  Cash is king for Gen-Y, and it trumped everything else by quite a large margin.

Interviewer: Do Gen-Y salespeople adhere more to the sales profile than the broader Gen-Y worker profile?

Dr. Brookmire: Yes, they do.  The statistic that amazed me was that 50% of college graduates go into some type of sales role.  That’s a heads-up on how the (sales) function is going to change over time with all that new talent coming in.  If you think about the sales role and its requirements, and the people who stick with it and are successful, it’s a different breed, a different type of person with a common success profile around winning, being competitive, getting a lot of satisfaction by closing sales and pleasing clients.

They enjoy being recognized not only by the company, but also in the community in which they live and work.  When you have these types of success profile characteristics you are definitely going to be motivated by cash, so that you can support your family and have quality of life.

Interviewer: I understand that cash is king, but were there any differences in preferences on rewards and compensation across the generations?

Dr. Brookmire: Yes, absolutely.  Right behind cash was job promotion (for Gen-Y’s).  It’s a way to achieve cash, but it’s also a way to develop your career.  They (Gen-Y’s) also preferred an all expense-paid trip with their spouse or partner. That was rated very high as motivational.  Other preferences were additional vacation time and flex schedule. Time off was important to Gen-Y salespeople, but was not really close to cash incentives as a motivator.

Gen-Y’s rated retirement benefits very low, and they did not pick stock plans, because they do not have much experience with it and it is a much longer-term focus.

Interviewer: If you are thinking about re-mixing your sales compensation, the number one rule is don’t mess with cash, but are there some secondary rewards that you may want to consider? That are more appealing to certain generations?

Dr. Brookmire: Setting a competitive cash compensation plan for all of the generations is a building block.  What we found is very few companies asked their sales staff what rewards they prefer. That was very surprising, and it was true across industries and across generations.  I don’t want to be prescriptive here, but I would encourage companies to ask their sales force what is of most value to them.

Interviewer: Back to Gen-Y’s. Since all the things we are hearing about Gen-Y and compensation need to be taken with a grain of salt, are there some other myths to watch out for? Such as, they are difficult to motivate?  From the study they seem to be more positive about a manager’s ability to motivate them than the other generations.  What are some of the other things you have found contrarian in your research?

Dr. Brookmire: Well, we found that Gen-Y’s generally met or exceeded quotas in 2007 and 2008.  In 2007, 60 percent of the Gen-Y’s reported that they met or exceeded quota, only 12 percent were below quota.  For the remaining percentage, quota did not apply in their selling jobs, such as pharmaceuticals.

In 2008, 68 percent (of Gen-Y salespeople) met or exceeded quota, which is considered quite high for that year.  I was encouraged that we have a highly motivated, highly effective group of sales staff in the Gen-Y profile.  This was supported by some recent research that showed companies feel that Gen-Y’s perform at or above their Baby-Boomer or Gen-X counterparts.  Not just in sales, but in other roles as well.

Interviewer: Are there certain sales roles that you think Gen-Y would excel in, or are really suited for?

Dr. Brookmire: We found the typical profile for Gen-Y salespeople—where they are meeting or exceeding quotas—is in selling technology or services, consulting or business services, health care, medical, and telecommunications.  I would say they do well when there are technology and high growth aspects to their job.  Their quotas are typically less than $500,000, and their selling cycles are generally six months or less.

Interviewer: This reflects more of an entry-level sales position?

Dr. Brookmire: Yes, it does.  It also reflects hunter roles versus farmer roles.

Interviewer: It sounds like Gen-Y’s are doing really well at these entry level positions.

Dr. Brookmire: Yes, the candidates in our study did better than the average bear, so to speak.

Interviewer: If you are talking to a sales manager, who is hiring, recruiting and selecting salespeople, what would you tell them about hiring the right Gen-Y salesperson?

Dr. Brookmire: Part of the hiring process is to make sure that you have the best role match for the incoming Gen-Y salesperson.  You need to be clear on what you are looking for from a skills and ability standpoint, and that you are matching the incoming sales representative to that profile.

You also look for a previous success in a selling role.  The best predictor of future performance is past performance.

You also ask for what their preferences are. Not so much in the hiring process, but once they are on board and performing, you really stay close and understand, besides the cash compensation, what really motivates them, what would be valuable for them to meet or exceed quota. You look at trying to provide these types rewards within your whole sales function.

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David Brookmire, Ph.D., is the founder of Corporate Performance Strategies and GenerationalDNA.

David is a seasoned executive advisor, researcher, author and recognized authority on generational dynamics, organization and leadership effectiveness. Working extensively with CEOs and senior leaders, David provides trusted advice and counsel assisting these leaders in achieving their organizational goals and business outcomes.

He provides clients with strategic direction and proven solutions in business continuity, generational opportunities, merger and acquisition success, and improved leader and team performance.

David’s experience in business and consulting is extensive. His approach combines more than two decades of successful roles as a senior corporate officer with global responsibilities and specific education in Industrial and Organizational Psychology to provide unique perspective to clients of all sizes and industries. David utilizes his expertise to develop, design and implement innovative business and performance enhancement strategies and initiatives that help clients capitalize on business opportunities and overcome critical barriers to success. Representative clients include The Cheesecake Factory, Kodak, Lucent, ADP, Flowers Foods, Platinum Equity, Darden Restaurants, Solvay, Randstadt, Georgia State University, Arthritis Foundation, Pitney Bowes, and Merial.

Throughout his career, David’s strategies have directly contributed to numerous measurable benefits on behalf of his clients, including executive leadership performance improvements, retaining highly valued at risk executives, improved top line growth, successful IPO, acquisitions and divestitures, rapid and critical skill acquisition and retention, successful business strategy development and implementation, improved workforce productivity, M&A integration success, and creating winning teams and strong corporate cultures. Prior to consulting, David held several executive positions with well recognized companies, including Frito-Lay, General Motors, Digital

Communications and Profit Recovery Group. Among his corporate accomplishments, David has the distinction of managing global HR functions, business strategy, and merger integration in his executive positions. He has also assisted buyers from Japan and other countries in successfully acquiring businesses domestically. His understanding of globally applicable business best practices and international economics is truly a unique offering to his clients.

In addition to his client service career, David is a recognized speaker and expert in leadership development and business effectiveness. His national workshops include “Designing a High Quality M&A Process that Delivers,” and “Managing and Leading High Impact Executive Coaching in Your Organization.” His latest book is Coaching for Success: Reaching Your Potential While Achieving Greatness. His research report Back to the Future: Hiring, Motivating and Retaining Multiple Generations of Sales Staff, established new findings on how to achieve greater sales effectiveness with the different generations of sales professionals.

David earned a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of South Florida. He serves as a board member for Quality Care for Children and is active in his community.

Learn More:

Corporate Performance Strategies
Generational DNA
Coaching for Success
Research by Dr. Brookmire

Technorati Tags: baby boomers, gen x, gen y, generational dynamics, multigenerational workforce