December 18, 2007

Most Expensive Writers in the World

For most sales people, writing is neither a strength nor a pleasure. And yet they end up doing a lot of it.

When sales people write, it usually costs the company a lot of money. How much may surprise you. In the attached message, we show you some ways to calculate how much it costs you to have your sales people writing.

They just might be the most expensive writers in the world.


The Most Expensive Writers in the World

Your sales people are probably among the most expensive writers in the world if they're doing their own letters, proposals, and presentations. And to make matters worse--they're probably not very good at it, either.

How much is it actually costing you to have them write their own proposals?

Costs based on salary:

It typically takes a sales person hours to write a proposal. That's time spent in front of a computer, instead of a customer. How much does that cost? The formula is:

# of hours to write a proposal (average)

x

# of proposals per year each sales person produces

x

hourly charge rate for sales people

(calculated as annual salary divided by 2,000 hours [50 weeks x 40 hours])

For example: If a sales person, with a salary of $100,000, spends an average 12 hours per proposal and he or she sends out 10 proposals per year, the cost to the company will be:

12 hrs. x 10 proposals/yr x $50/hr. charge rate:

$6,000!

(The hourly rate was calculated by dividing 2,000 hours per year (50 weeks x 40 hours/week) into the $100,000 average salary.)

Costs based on sales quota:

You can also measure the costs in terms of quota. A sales person a $1 million quota is worth approximately $500 an hour (based on 2,000 hours of work time available per year to generate $1,000,000 in business).

Using these numbers, 12 hours spent on a proposal costs the company $6,000 to produce. For 10 proposals a year, that adds up to:

$60,000!

Proposal value:

Finally, what is the average value of a proposal in the organization? Suppose the average is $50,000. Divide that figure by the 12 hours the sales person spent writing it. Each hour of effort is worth more than $4,000, and writing 10 proposals costs nearly:

$500,000!

Other than Stephen King or John Grisham, nobody is making that kind of money writing!

To learn how to get your sales people in front of customers instead of the computer, visit us at www.santcorp.com.