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Q: Business and Money>Employment ( Answered 3 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Business and Money>Employment
Category: Business and Money > Employment
Asked by: chuck3-ga
List Price: $50.00
Posted: 24 Mar 2005 08:06 PST
Expires: 23 Apr 2005 09:06 PDT
Question ID: 499719
Why do people choose a career in Sales?  Freedom? Money? Recognition? 
etc?  What are the statistics related to this subject?  As an example,
"an xyz study shows that that 53% of those who chose sales as a career
did so for the freedom.  The other reasons are as follows."  I made
that up and need to know the real stats and be able to source the
information. Thank you
Answer  
Subject: Re: Business and Money>Employment
Answered By: welte-ga on 05 Apr 2005 16:38 PDT
Rated:3 out of 5 stars
 
Dear Chuck,

Thank you for your question.  Perhaps one of the best reference for
information regarding your question is the study done by Dudley and
Goodson in 1994.  Although markets may change over the course of time,
cultural motivations change more slowly, and the results and
conclusions found in this study are likely to remain largely valid.

This research study was discussed in the journal American Salesman,
Feb 1994 v39 n2, on page 25.  Here is the abstract of that article:

"A survey of salespeople from six countries shows that motivations for
engaging in a sales career vary widely. Most salespeople, however, did
cite financial reward as one fairly important consideration. In the
US, some 37% of respondents named money as the single most important
factor behind their choice of career. In contrast, the number who
named financial reward to be their most motivator was sharply lower in
other countries. In Canada, it was 20%, while in South Africa it was
27%. In New Zealand and Australia, the figures are even lower at 17%
and 15.6%, respectively. These numbers suggest that, in addition to
the observable variations among individual salespeople, cross-cultural
factors might also be at work."

Here is a link to the book published by Dudley and Goodson, which
includes the results of their research (in the Appendix):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0935907068/qid=1112741667/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-9089673-4298302?v=glance&s=books

Here is a more recent (1999) edition:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0935907076/qid=1112741776/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-9089673-4298302?v=glance&s=books

__________

The publishing company behind this book, Behavioral Sciences Research
Press (in Dallas, TX), founded by the authors in 1979, has further
resources on their research into the motivations of salespeople from
various cultures.  Here is a link to a bibliography of their published
papers:
http://www.bsrpinc.com/research/papers.htm

and a link to their research studies:
http://www.bsrpinc.com/research/studies.htm

Here is some background information (including credentials) on the authors:
http://www.bsrpinc.com/news/about_authors.htm

__________

Here is a link to a news article summarizing some of their findings
from their motivational research:
http://www.bsrpinc.com/news/why_salespeople_sell.htm

The study involved asking nearly 41,000 people in nine nations what
they hoped to gain from a career in sales.
"Motivations assessed included opportunities to use talents, make
money, work creatively, obtain status, interact with people, be
self-managed, progress into management, freedom from routine, and
opportunities to be of service to others. The nations studied include
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, U.K. and
U.S.A. The study used the Sales Preference Questionnaire (SPQ®), to
obtain data."

Also from this article:
"?Their motivations form a colorful and vastly more complex tapestry
than superficial stereotypes allow,' says Dudley. 'Sales motivation in
the U.S.,' adds Tanner, 'is more money-motivated than in other
nations, but there are other more complex motivations at work.'
Thirty-three percent of U.S. salespeople and 36% of the salespeople in
the U.K. say they work primarily to earn substantial incomes. This
compares to only 9% in Norway and 11% in New Zealand, where
'lifestyle' considerations such as opportunities to use their
abilities and freedom from routine are considered more important. In
fact, 'successful U.S. salespeople often shun advancement into
management,' Dudley adds, ?because they can usually make much more
money in sales.' That further distinguishes U.S. salespeople from
those of other nations, where sales is frequently viewed as a
temporary step on the way to management. Over 12% of Australian
salespeople actually seek a career in management."


A full copy of the research article, by John Tanner and George Dudley,
from Baylor School of Business, can be found here:
http://business.baylor.edu/web/DEPT/COMM&MKT/SMA2003paper.pdf

John Tanner can be reached by e-mail at this address:
jeff_tanner@baylor.edu

The data in this particular study was collected between 2000-2002
covering multiple sales settings.  Table 1 (found at the end of the
paper) details the results for each of nine motivational factors in
multiple countries.  Here is an excerpt from this table for the US:

USA
                                  	               Frequency     Percent  
0=blank                                                 5                 0%
1=use special  abilities 	                4069	            20.1%
2=earn a lot of  money 	                6703	            33.0%
3=be creative &  original 	                  794	              3.9%
4=obtain high social  status 	          451	              2.2%
5=work with people  	                  904	              4.5%
6=be more self-managed  	        1059	              5.2%
7=go into  management 	                1234	              6.1%
8=do new & exciting  things 	        2277	            11.2%
9=be of service to  others 	        2798	            13.8%


____________________________________

I hope this information was useful.  Please feel free to request clarification.

Best,

         -welte-ga

Clarification of Answer by welte-ga on 05 Apr 2005 16:39 PDT
Sorry, the table is misaligned:

USA
                                  	               Frequency  Percent  
0=blank  5 .0 .0 .0 
1=use special  abilities 	 4069	20.1%
2=earn a lot of  money 	 6703	33.0%
3=be creative &  original 	   794	  3.9%
4=obtain high social  status 	   451	  2.2%
5=work with people  	   904	  4.5%
6=be more self-managed  	 1059	  5.2%
7=go into  management 	 1234	  6.1%
8=do new & exciting  things 	 2277	11.2%
9=be of service to  others 	 2798	13.8%
chuck3-ga rated this answer:3 out of 5 stars

Comments  
Subject: Re: Business and Money>Employment
From: frde-ga on 25 Mar 2005 06:51 PST
 
They can't do anything else
- curiously the parasites rule the host

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