Retaining High Quality Sales Talent in Asia

Retaining High Quality Sales Talent in Asia:from The Sales Challenger™ by CEB Sales & Service
This is a guest post by Akshay Chopra of the CEB Asia Sales Executive Council, our sister program that equips Asia-focused sales leaders and their teams with deep insight and actionable, market-relevant solutions needed to transform their Asia sales operations. To learn more, contact us at CEB_Asia_Sales@executiveboard.com.
“We really need to upskill our China Sales team…,” the APAC Sales Leader for a European Chemicals company tells us, “…but how can we do that when we have a new team every three years?”
This is a story often repeated by many Heads of Sales across industries in Asia. In a selling environment that seems to double in competitiveness and complexity every six months, companies witness high attrition rates, requiring sales leaders to be constantly in a “hire and upskill” mode.
The average approach: unsustainable price wars for talent
In a bid to attract and retain top sales talent, companies have traditionally relied on compensation as a key lever. In fact, when compared to the global average, salespeople in Asia are far more confident about their prospects in the job market, and command higher ‘switching premiums’.
That said, a compensation-driven strategy is unsustainable in the long-term. Sales leaders still struggle to retain their best salespeople with increments and counteroffers, as salary levels continue to rise across the board. About 50% of sales leaders we interviewed in Asia are stuck in this spiral.
Growth opportunity: a step in the right direction, but not quite there
In response, companies are beginning to explore other talent drivers—most notably, focusing on professional growth and development. In fact, our data shows that while compensation is table stakes to talent attraction, professional growth and development is key to their retention.
However, many sales leaders misinterpret this aspiration, confusing the need for growth with the lure of ‘titles’, resulting in empty promotions and fancy titles. And, while this tactic works in the short-term, salespeople soon realize their new roles come with little increased responsibility.
What the best sales organizations have learned about retaining salespeople in Asia
The most progressive sales organizations have been able to pinpoint the key levers for retaining their best salespeople. It is closely related to growth and development, but very different from title changes and frequent promotions—rather, it’s the degree to which salespeople consider their manager a good coach and steward of their career. But as we all know, good coaching is often hard to come by.
Sales managers: the solution, but also the weakest link
Sales managers are prone to the ‘great salesperson but bad coach’ syndrome, often confusing managing with coaching, and parachuting in to save deals than developing long-term salespeople skills.
In a recent survey, we asked nearly 3,000 salespeople in Asia to rate how satisfied they were with their managers, on 15 parameters of coaching and manager-led development. Across each of the 15 parameters, sales managers in Asia scored the lowest globally (see graphic below). In fact, nearly 70% of salespeople in Asia felt their managers were not effective at key coaching activities.
Through our work with the most progressive companies in Asia, we’ve seen the key lies in reinforcing coaching with a disciplined framework on how, whom, and on what, to coach. For, the effects of high-quality coaching are felt beyond increased productivity; it also improves sales force retention.