{"id":2103,"date":"2016-10-04T08:19:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T08:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asi2.wpenginepowered.com\/uncategorized\/exclusive-advantages-report-says-promo-sales-pros-earning-less\/"},"modified":"2016-10-04T08:19:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-04T08:19:58","slug":"exclusive-advantages-report-says-promo-sales-pros-earning-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asicentral.com\/press-releases\/exclusive-advantages-report-says-promo-sales-pros-earning-less\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Advantages Report Says Promo Sales Pros Earning Less"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/header>\n<\/article>\n

Online sales impacting earnings and profit margins despite rise in overall industry revenue<\/em><\/p>\n

TREVOSE, PA \u2013 May 26, 2016 \u2013<\/strong>An exclusive report fromAdvantages<\/em><\/a>\u00ae<\/span>\u00a0magazine<\/a>\u00a0says competition from online sales is cutting into profit margins and the average incomes of promotional products salespeople, despite a rise in overall industry revenue.<\/p>\n

In \u201cFixing the Funk,\u201d\u00a0Advantages\u00a0<\/em>provides distributor sales reps with a seven-point plan to counter negative trends and increase earnings, such as focusing more on referrals and upsells and selling value versus price.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs our report shows, until just recently, salespeople in our industry were earning far more than the average American and enjoying moderate to very good salary boosts each year,\u201d said\u00a0Advantages<\/em>\u00a0Editor\u00a0Dave Vagnoni<\/a>\u00a0(@VagnoniASI). \u201cTo help sales reps regain their earnings momentum, our June issue provides specific steps they can take starting right now to adapt to the changes impacting our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2015, following three years of increases, average annual earnings decreased by about 1% in 2015, according to an exclusive compensation report in the June issue ofAdvantages\u00a0<\/em>magazine. The B-to-B magazine is published by the\u00a0Advertising Specialty Institute<\/a>\u00ae<\/span>\u00a0(ASI) and delivers award-winning content to executive-level distributors and small-business owners throughout the $22 billion promotional products industry.<\/p>\n

In \u201cFixing the Funk,\u201d\u00a0Advantages\u00a0<\/em>Senior Writer Christopher Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) attributes the earnings dip to greater competition from online prices and the ensuing drop in profit margins, with distributorships increasingly giving salespeople 30% or less, versus the standard 50\/50 profit split.<\/p>\n

In 2014, e-commerce accounted for 16% of distributor sales, or $3.44 billion, with some of the fastest-growing, highest-revenue-generating distributorships now operating on Web-driven models.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, says Ruvo, some distributorships are now holding on to a greater portion of the profit because they\u2019re providing additional services and supports to sellers \u2013 measures they say are necessary to keep sales pros in the game in a tech-disrupted, highly competitive marketplace.<\/p>\n

The annual\u00a0Advantages<\/em>\u00a0Compensation Study shows both average and median monetary compensation for sales reps and managers declined 0.88% to $82,361 and by 1.8% to $55,000, respectively, in 2015. At the same time, total distributor sales increased by 3.4% in 2015, marking the sixth consecutive year of annual growth.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Advantages<\/em>\u00a0report also points out that:<\/p>\n