The most persistent threat to CEO’s and CRO’s growth plans is the battle for commercial talent. In late 2021, SBI research estimated that over 50% of seller capacity was at risk for most organizations. Factoring open headcount, past attrition, expected attrition, ramping backfill talent, and required growth hires, this number likely understates just how much sales capacity is at risk for most organizations.
To help growth leaders take action, SBI and the Top Percentile Collective, a firm specializing in support for top performing sales professionals and their employers, partnered to conduct a large-scale survey of several-hundred quota-carrying sales professionals across high-growth B2B industries. Further, we conducted over 100 interviews with CEOs and CROs to understand how organizations were managing this reality. Our intent was to understand: “How do CEOs and commercial leaders attract and retain A-Players amidst this unprecedented battle for talent?” While this research focused primarily on the tech and tech-enabled services verticals, many of the implications span industry.
Our research surfaced a remarkably stark conclusion: the typical engagement drivers most organizations prioritize in a tough labor market - including compensation, work-life balance, immediate title advancements and promotion opportunities, and strong sales organizational culture - have little impact. Instead, firms need to focus on supporting longer-term career ambitions, near-term seller support, and building confidence in their sales team’s path to immediate victory.
This research critically examines what gets sellers to stick around, and more importantly, what A-Players demand from their current (and next) employer.
