Sales strategists under the microscope
Study: Marketing professionals acquire their most important skills through hands-on experience. Nevertheless, a degree is beneficial for one's career.
Study Marketers acquire the most important skills through practice. Today, marketing and sales specialists must above all be able to communicate and respond to customer needs. This is shown by a study conducted by the Private University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration (PHW) in Zurich, which focuses on current and future qualification requirements in marketing. In cooperation with Swiss Marketing (SMC), the PHW surveyed marketing and sales professionals from 511 Swiss companies. The survey also looked at careers and salaries, and if a distinction is made between technical, methodological and social skills, then social skills are the most important. These are largely acquired in practice. If you want to succeed in marketing or sales in the future, you need to have an increased knowledge of foreign languages and flexibility in the face of new challenges. Other key qualifications are a wealth of ideas and creativity, a willingness and ability to learn. Those surveyed consider the creation of marketing strategies to be the most important professional skill.
At all hierarchical levelsAlmost half of those surveyed work primarily in marketing or sales within the company. Over 30 percent work primarily in management and are involved in marketing and sales activities at the same time. This can be observed in small and medium-sized companies in particular. There, it is mainly generalists who are involved in marketing. In larger companies, on the other hand, specialists are more likely to be found. The larger the company, the greater the proportion of specialists who deal exclusively with marketing and sales. 93 percent of those surveyed are fully employed. Marketing and sales specialists can be found at all levels of the hierarchy, and 61% of Swiss companies have a marketing representative on the management board.
Overall, 70 percent of all respondents have a degree in marketing or sales.
Those 30 percent without a degree enter marketing two years later. This means that the lack of specialist training can be substituted by more experience. These people are more likely to be found in SMEs and earn around CHF 20,000 less per year than their colleagues with specialist training.
Training as a marketing planner is most in demand. One in five of the marketing and sales staff surveyed hold this qualification. More than half of them have another specific specialist qualification, in particular marketing or sales manager.
Career effectThe marketing planner is the basic training in the marketing sector par excellence. Despite its high prevalence, it is worthwhile acquiring it: 41 percent of trained marketing planners hold a managerial position. Among specialists without this training, the figure is only 26 percent. This "career effect" is reinforced for marketing managers: 77% of people with this qualification hold a managerial position within marketing. The picture is the same for sales managers, where 57 percent of those with a degree hold a managerial position, but only 26 percent of those without a degree. However, specific training is not required for every position in marketing or sales. 58 percent of those surveyed stated that none of the above-mentioned qualifications were required when they started their job.
In fact, marketing training is usually only completed after people are already working in marketing. On average, people without a university degree enter the world of work at the age of 21 and marketing at the age of 25. They complete an all-round marketing education at the age of 33. On average, university graduates enter the workforce at the age of 26 and work in marketing at the age of 29, i.e. before completing their studies at the age of 30. It can also be seen that the age at which people start working in marketing has fallen continuously over the years. The over-60s entered marketing at the age of 28 and the 30-year-olds at the age of 23. Around a third of marketing and sales specialists completed a commercial apprenticeship and 21% have a technical background. While the former enter marketing at the age of 24, the latter do not take this step until the age of 28. The later entry does not stand in the way of these people's careers. In general, it can be said that people who entered marketing late are overrepresented in senior management or in the executive board.
Big companies pay moreThe average gross annual salary of marketing specialists is around CHF 15,000. 36 percent of those surveyed earn more than CHF 140000. University graduates are best paid on average at 190000 francs, followed by diploma graduates at 177000 francs and graduates of universities of applied sciences at 157000 francs.
Salaries also increase with the size of the company: small companies (five to nine employees) pay an average of 105,000 francs, while companies with more than 250 employees pay 168,000 francs.
Portrait of a profession
At all hierarchical levelsAlmost half of those surveyed work primarily in marketing or sales within the company. Over 30 percent work primarily in management and are involved in marketing and sales activities at the same time. This can be observed in small and medium-sized companies in particular. There, it is mainly generalists who are involved in marketing. In larger companies, on the other hand, specialists are more likely to be found. The larger the company, the greater the proportion of specialists who deal exclusively with marketing and sales. 93 percent of those surveyed are fully employed. Marketing and sales specialists can be found at all levels of the hierarchy, and 61% of Swiss companies have a marketing representative on the management board.
Overall, 70 percent of all respondents have a degree in marketing or sales.
Those 30 percent without a degree enter marketing two years later. This means that the lack of specialist training can be substituted by more experience. These people are more likely to be found in SMEs and earn around CHF 20,000 less per year than their colleagues with specialist training.
Training as a marketing planner is most in demand. One in five of the marketing and sales staff surveyed hold this qualification. More than half of them have another specific specialist qualification, in particular marketing or sales manager.
Career effectThe marketing planner is the basic training in the marketing sector par excellence. Despite its high prevalence, it is worthwhile acquiring it: 41 percent of trained marketing planners hold a managerial position. Among specialists without this training, the figure is only 26 percent. This "career effect" is reinforced for marketing managers: 77% of people with this qualification hold a managerial position within marketing. The picture is the same for sales managers, where 57 percent of those with a degree hold a managerial position, but only 26 percent of those without a degree. However, specific training is not required for every position in marketing or sales. 58 percent of those surveyed stated that none of the above-mentioned qualifications were required when they started their job.
In fact, marketing training is usually only completed after people are already working in marketing. On average, people without a university degree enter the world of work at the age of 21 and marketing at the age of 25. They complete an all-round marketing education at the age of 33. On average, university graduates enter the workforce at the age of 26 and work in marketing at the age of 29, i.e. before completing their studies at the age of 30. It can also be seen that the age at which people start working in marketing has fallen continuously over the years. The over-60s entered marketing at the age of 28 and the 30-year-olds at the age of 23. Around a third of marketing and sales specialists completed a commercial apprenticeship and 21% have a technical background. While the former enter marketing at the age of 24, the latter do not take this step until the age of 28. The later entry does not stand in the way of these people's careers. In general, it can be said that people who entered marketing late are overrepresented in senior management or in the executive board.
Big companies pay moreThe average gross annual salary of marketing specialists is around CHF 15,000. 36 percent of those surveyed earn more than CHF 140000. University graduates are best paid on average at 190000 francs, followed by diploma graduates at 177000 francs and graduates of universities of applied sciences at 157000 francs.
Salaries also increase with the size of the company: small companies (five to nine employees) pay an average of 105,000 francs, while companies with more than 250 employees pay 168,000 francs.
Portrait of a profession
The study "Marketing and Sales: Qualifications - Careers - Salaries" paints a well-rounded picture of this professional field for the first time. It was compiled by the Private University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration (Zurich) in collaboration with Swiss Marketing and supported by the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology.
The authors are Cedric El-Idrissi and Jürg H. Arpagaus.
The complete results are summarized in a 32-page report. It is available for CHF 25 from Media-Daten AG (the publisher of Werbewoche). Order address: Springer Switzerland, Sabine Iseli, Bahnhofstrasse 24, 8803 Rüschlikon. E-mail: [email protected]
Ensures transparency in the labor market for marketing professions: The Private University of Applied Sciences in Business, Zurich.
Indispensable for employers and employees in marketing: the first representative survey of a profession.
> Cedric El-Idrissi is a sociologist and research associate at the Private University of Applied Sciences (PHW).
