Written By

Frank Aneke

Welcome to FieldWork Recruiting Blog, in this First Edition, we are going to explore seven core reasons why top business development talents leave their employment, in some situations, despite attractive monetary incentives in their existing job.

Brief overview:

According to a DePaul University study, the average turnover cost per sales representative is approximately (US)$97,690 when you add up recruiting costs, training costs, and lost sales. In other words, a large sales team that churns through five representatives in a year loses close to half a million dollars annually. That’s a substantial amount of money many businesses lose year-in-year-out as they continuously churn business development talents. So, let us find out why they leave?

Here are seven core reasons why top performing business development talents leave:

1. Tremendous pressure to perform: Many employers through their sales manager(s) place unrealistic expectations and untenable KPIs on their sales team. Such pressure despite rewarding monetary incentives attached to meeting these KPIs fuel desire for top talents to explore better work environment. In most cases, these talents end up in competition next door.
2. High expectations on new talents: Many a time, new business development talents are given high sales targets to meet especially within their probation period. In some cases, employers do not disclose these high sales target during interviews but wait until the contract is signed. These puts enormous pressure on top performers and prompts push towards the exit door within few months.
3. Poor Renumeration: Great number of employers do not reward top performing business development talents enough to keep them. In the business development space, most top talents are aware of their market value and can easily evaluate what their contemporaries earn in comparison to their take-home pay. Once they find reasonable disparity in their pay package, it is almost impossible to keep them.
4. Constant lure of greener pastures: Given great work environment and enticing bonuses, many top business development performers still look out for better work conditions down the road. There is always the assumption that the grass could be greener next door. In all, the green grass most seek next door could either turn out to be a mirage or lush green indeed.
5. Toxic management: Business development teams with toxic management churns more top talents quicker than other key factors. Toxic sales managers suffocate motivation to perform and frustrate top talents out of the team.
6. Limited career growth opportunities and job boredom: These two factors are among the leading causes of employee turnover for top performers across a range of industries.
7. Poor sales culture: According to Ken Thoreson, President of Acumen Management Group, Ltd, “High performers tend to leave companies because they lose ‘belief’ in the company’s ability to deliver positive results to their clients or execute effectively”. In other words, some top performers lose confidence in their employer and leave.

Facts sheet: 

1. The average time to replace a business development hire range between 3.69 months (for inside sales reps) and 5.42 months (for field sales).
2. A Glassdoor survey found that only 19% of sales representatives have no immediate plans to leave their companies.

On our part, if you are experiencing high turn-over in your business development team and need help to stem the tide, reach-out to FieldWork Recruiting via email here.
Better still, you can call us on: 1300 375 910. We are here to support your business growth.

In Next Week Edition: We will examine: Ways to Attract and Retain Top Business Development Talents: Watch this space!