An Exploratory Analysis of Sales Career Desirability: An MBA Perspective

Abstract

INTRODUCTION To survive and prosper, firms require well-qualified human resources. The field of sales is no exception, as good sales forces require good salespeople. But, how do firms identify sources of good salespeople? Many sources of salespeople exist, including internal sources (the company's own employees) and external sources (competitors, suppliers, customers, want ads, employment agencies, etc.). While these sources are relevant, increasingly colleges and universities have been identified as excellent sources of prospective salespeople (Bristol, Gulati and Amyx, 2006; Dubinsky, 1980; Nachnani, 2007). Companies are making efforts to recruit the best and brightest college graduates for sales jobs. This strategic focus on selecting the 'best and brightest' for the sales force is largely based upon the importance of selling in the marketing programs of many firms, as firms are discovering that their salespeople are no longer 'product pushers' but are instead solution developers (Nachnani, 2007). According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers sales is one of the top 10 jobs for college graduates (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2006). However, as demand for salespeople has grown (Galea, 2005), firms are discovering that the time required to fill vacant sales positions has increased. Salesperson compensation is also increasing, salesperson compensation has been described as growing a rate of almost two times that of other corporate positions (Nachnani, 2007). While businesses recognize a prime source of talented individuals exists that can fill many of their sales needs, college graduates, these firms also realize these graduates require the correct background to succeed in sales. Companies are seeking individuals who have an understanding of sales and an appreciation of the importance of sales because these attributes reduce both training and associated selection costs (Sales and Marketing Management, 2002). In fact, the sales role is getting so complicated and challenging that to cope with the difficulty of operating as a salesperson, firms are increasingly seeking individuals with Master's degrees in Business Administration (MBAs) to fill these positions (Pullins & Buehrer, 2008) or are funding graduate studies in the belief that an MBA will give their sales representatives advantages in the competitive and complex sales industry (Butler, 1996). A quote attributed to John Lanning, Sales & Marketing recruiter and Training Manager for 3M states, What is going to be needed in the near future for those individuals wishing to be promoted into sales leadership positions is an MBA ... The belief is that an MBA allows the individual to blend textbook knowledge of sales strategy, sales management, sales ethics, etc. with what 3M calls the 'voice of the customer' (Pullins & Buehrer, 2008, p. 15). These arguments indicate firms are not only looking to universities as a prime source of new salespeople, companies are even reaching into graduate programs as sources for their new sales representatives. While it appears that positions in sales are readily available to college graduates (and MBAs), a problem exists; attitudes toward sales are not always positive. For example, Butler (1996) states college graduates often accept sales positions only begrudgingly. It is further contended that on college campuses attitudes toward sales are not entirely positive and negative attitudes toward sales limit organizations in their ability to attract, recruit and retain college graduates (Lysonski & Durvasula, 1998). The purpose of this study is to evaluate MBA student attitudes toward personal selling careers. As noted, student attitudes toward sales positions have been described as being negative, yet firms are increasingly interested in recruiting not only college graduates, but MBA students for their sales positions. While student attitudes have been assessed from an undergraduate perspective, this research represents an effort to evaluate the attitudes of MBA students. …