Friday 6 June 2014

Length of Time Worked in Sales – Sales Survey 2014

Aaron Wallis has recently undertaken the largest sales survey of its type which explores changing trends within the industry as well as a powerful insight into the minds of sales professionals.

With 62 questions answered by 726 completely anonymous sales professionals we have captured some impressive results helping us promote professional sales, raise awareness and gain a firmer understanding on how to succeed in sales teams.

To receive a full free copy of the 2014 UK Sales Survey please follow this link – 2014 UK Sales Survey Report

A question of the years worked in sales was asked.


  • It was conclusive that more people had worked in sales for 20-30 years (29%)
  • Only a slight amount fewer had worked for more than 30 years in a sales capacity (21%)
  •  The same amount of people worked  between 10-15 years and 15-20 years (16%)
  • 29 people (4%) had worked in sales in the duration of 1-3 years.
  • 22 people (3%) had worked in sales for 3-5 years.
  • 15 people (2%) has worked for less than a year in sales.
However, it seems, most were always trying to seek for new jobs to change their ordinary surroundings and scenery, even if it’s within the same industry sector.

  • 19% of people had worked at their current or previous job for less than one year
  • 9% had worked in their current/previous job for 1 year
  • 13% of people had worked in their job/pre-existing job for 2 years
  • 10% of people had worked for their current/old job for 3 years
  • 5% of sales workers had been at their job/previous job for 4 years

  • 6% of people had worked 5 years, 6 years and 7 years in their current/old job
  • 3% had worked in their current or previous job for 8 years
  • 1% of the participants had worked for 9 years in their current or past role
  • 2% worked for a decade in their current or pre-existing job
  • 6% had worked between 10-12 years in their job
  • 4% had worked between 12-14 years in their job
  • 2% had worked between 14-16 years in their role
  • 1% had worked in their job for 16-18 years
  • 1% had worked in their job for a lengthy 18-20 years
  • 6% had served their job for more than 20 years
The majority had been in their current role for less than one year; sales is without doubt one of the sectors with higher staff attrition which you can attribute to a number of factors so this is perhaps unsurprising.

Over half had been in their current role for less than four years.  In sales, we are not surprised; such is the transient nature of the sector, though we are sure that this would shock other sectors!  With the average tenure in a sales role estimated to be 2.8 years, the survey response draws similar parallels to this.

Forget the weekends, some work on those days anyway; it's all about the holiday entitlements! Yes, it is a satisfying feeling knowing you can actually put your feet up and catch up on the latest programmes rather than the loathsome paperwork and admin; if only that was the case!  

More people (41%) are awarded 24-28 days holiday at their current job, followed by 27% who are allowed 20-24 days. 9% are granted 18-20 days off, and 8% have less than 17 days entitled holiday.

For the remaining 16%, they are the lucky ones who are awarded more than 28 paid days holiday. How and why? It depends solely on the employer. The government states that almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year.  Multiply that by a 5-day week and this totals 28 days paid leave per year.  However, that can include statutory bank holidays. The survey here asked how many day’s paid holiday were received above statutory bank holidays. 

Do people actually take all of their holiday though? It would be more than inviting to take all of the entitlement days off but unfortunately in sales this isn’t always practical with targets to meet and many often find they are just too busy to take their holiday. This means that the individuals lose out and end up losing their holiday entitlement.

Written by Liam Oakes
Liam is the Office Manager at Aaron Wallis and has been with the company for 3 years after having a career with the RAF; Liam has helped hundreds of Sales Professionals secure a new Sales role and ensures that Aaron Wallis runs smoothly.

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