About 30pc of job profiles for sales positions included ‘develops sales leads’ as a top competency before the year 2000.

Fast-forward a dozen or so years and only 8pc of profiles state the same. On the flip side, today’s sales jobs increasingly require that candidates prioritise tasks through thoughtful analysis, embrace strategic vision and learn the business. Frank V. Cespedes and Daniel Weinfurter explain that “yesterday’s sales strengths have become today’s minimum skill requirements”. For hiring managers, this means constantly reviewing changes to the market in order to advertise for positions and hire competitively.

(Source: HBR.org)

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, November 23rd, 2015