Kelly Services Market Wrap – Sales and Marketing

Market overview
Across the sales and marketing sector, there has been a more conservative approach to recruitment. The first quarter of 2009 saw a large number of redundancies across many sectors. This has flowed through to produce lower demand for labour in the second quarter. The economic downturn has meant that many companies are working at a minimum headcount, with few actively seeking to grow.

Latest trends
Chris Joynson, Principal Consultant, Kelly Executive, Sales & Marketing Division says that recent demand has centred on new business developers such as sales executives. Good sales people will always be of benefit to a business, especially in the current climate where building new revenue streams and maintaining market share is more important than ever. The downturn has arbitrarily affected whole departments. Itís not necessarily the case that the poorer sales people have been the first to go, meaning that there is much talent available in the marketplace.

The Federal Governmentís stimulus package has been of some benefit to industries that rely on the retail channel for sale of goods, which has to some extent filtered through the whole supply chain.

With the supply of good candidates higher than in previous years, the salary expectations of candidates have come down. Small to medium sized businesses have recognised this and are paying less. Larger businesses with more structured salary levels havenít been as greatly affected.

Positions in Demand
New business development remains a vital part of any business and there is demand for those people who have the ability to sell a product to a new client, rather than those who manage the existing relationships.

Outlook
The third quarter of 2009 is likely to bring some upturn in activity. The first quarter was all about consolidating staff around a more manageable headcount. The second quarter has been focussed on maintaining the status quo and re-organising sales teams around fewer numbers.

There are now signs that companies are feeling more confident simply because they have consolidated to a point where profits are more assured. There is also the rare opportunity for firms to use the current economic environment to become more competitive. They have benefit of an abundance of the industryís best sales people who are on the market – people who often come with contacts and a wealth of market knowledge.