Revitalizing Sales Compensation - Aon

talent requirements by using the productivity model to
determine how many accounts a sales resource can cover.
In Acme’s case, if each strategic account requires 60 hours
of selling time per year, and a Strategic Account Manager
(SAM) has a selling capacity of 1,200 hours per year, then
each SAM can cover 20 accounts, and 50 SAMs are needed
to cover the targeted 1,000 accounts. If strategic accounts
can deliver USD 400,000 each in revenue, and SAMs cost
USD 180,000 each, there is now a cost associated with the
talent required to cover this segment and deliver targeted
revenue. Going segment by segment, complete this initial
sizing exercise for each type of resource.
By articulating talent requirements and identifying the
types of resources that will be assigned to customers, it is
apparent that five different types of sales resources will be
deployed (see Exhibit 3):
SAMs (blue in Exhibit 3) – assigned to large accounts
Territory generalists (maroon in Exhibit 3) – assigned to
mid-market accounts
Product specialists (maroon in Exhibit 3) – overlay
resources assigned to assist in the sale of new offerings
Inside sales representatives (green in Exhibit 3) –
assigned to small transactional accounts
Sales managers (blue in Exhibit 3) – oversee front
line sales resources
For each resource deployed, companies should have a
rough number required and a set of competencies defined.
5. Evaluate the Current Talent Supply
It is imperative for companies to identify a set of
competencies for each sales role within the organization.
Exhibit 3
18 www.aonhewitt.com/india
Creating a workforce plan is not just about numbers of
resources required, but also the skills or competencies that
must be demonstrated by each. This can make a transition
like Acme’s more complex. For example, in order to sell
solutions to senior buyers in larger accounts, SAMs may
need competencies such as problem solving or financial
acumen, where previously, sales representatives were hired
based on their negotiation or communication capabilities
only. Acme should perform a fresh evaluation of all sales
resources based on the new competencies defined. Leading
companies will embed these competencies in their
interviewing tools to screen recruits, training curriculum
and performance management systems.
6. Quantify Talent Gaps
After evaluating the qualities needed in the salesforce,
organizations need to also evaluate how many individuals
in the salesforce possess those skills in order to determine
how much additional hiring (and/or attrition) is needed.
In Acme’s case, assessors may determine that just 10% of
Acme’s original 400 territory sales representatives score
high enough in financial acumen, leaving a gap of at least
10 SAMs to hire from outside sources. Each role may have
a surplus or deficit of internal talent to be addressed over
time. The higher the talent gaps, the more the company
will lean on the talent gap closure levers in Step 7.
7. Select Talent Gap Closure Levers
There are many tools that a company can use to recruit new
sales talent, improve existing sales talent or coax additional
productivity from resources. These talent gap closure levers
Individual Sales Contributor Planning (Managers Driven by Span of Control)