America’s 500 Largest Sales Forces

Every year, Selling Power magazine’s research team ranks companies according to the number of salespeople they employ. The 500 top companies in America that employ the world’s largest sales forces command an army of 14.3 million salespeople. Our research confirms again that it is people – the sales force – that produce the dollars that drive our country’s economic engine.

The 2002 listing of the SP 500 includes the top 200 companies in the manufacturing industry, the top 200 companies in the service industry, the top 50 insurance companies, the 30 largest direct-selling companies and the top 20 automotive-dealer organizations (megadealers).

Every year new companies make the list, while others drop off. The total number of salespeople employed by all 500 companies listed adds up to 14,280,794, which represents a small increase of 169,885 compared with last year. During the last two years, the number of salespeople has declined by slightly more than 1.3 million. Most of the decline was reported in the direct-selling industry, which employs a large number of part-time salespeople.

To find out where the Selling Power 500 companies are located and to see how many salespeople they employ, please consult the special map on pages 60–61. The states with the largest numbers of SP 500 companies are California (64), New York (50) and Illinois (34). The states in which the SP 500 companies employ the largest number of salespeople are New York (3,378,463) Michigan (3,031,850) and California (2,447,117). These states account for about 30 percent of the total companies and a whopping 62 percent of the total salespeople, respectively.

PRODUCTIVITY SHOT UP ACROSS THE BOARD

Our research team continued to find that salespeople employed by manufacturing firms contribute a far higher amount of sales revenue compared with other industry segments. The top 200 manufacturing firms employ 484,532 salespeople and produce more than $2.46 trillion in sales. That’s an average of more than $5 million in sales per salesperson and a 3 percent increase in productivity compared to the previous year. It is interesting to note that while manufacturing companies lost 32,478 salespeople last year and gained only 6,894 back this year, they still managed to increase overall sales almost 10 percent over the last two years.

The top 200 companies in the service sector reported an increase of 21,870 salespeople, for a total of 900,419 salespeople. While the number of salespeople increased by only 2 percent, total revenues were more than $1.4 trillion, for a strong increase of 14 percent. This represents more than $1.5 million in sales per salesperson and a healthy 11 percent gain in productivity.

The top 20 automotive megadealers reported increases across the board as well. The top 20 firms own 1,072 dealerships (up by 5 percent), employ 16,080 salespeople (an increase of 5 percent) and produce more than $63.9 billion in sales (up by 11 percent). This brings the average annual sales per salesperson to more than $3.97 million (up by 6 percent).

The top 50 insurance companies show a total sales force of 941,763, with an average sales volume per salesperson of $441,078. The number of salespeople has increased slightly, and the yearly sales per salesperson has risen by 9 percent.

The top 30 direct-selling companies reported 11.9 million salespeople, reversing the trend of significant declines in the number of salespeople over the last two years by posting an increase of 123,605 salespeople, or more than 1 percent.

SP 500 SALESPEOPLE DRIVE THE ECONOMY

It is interesting to note that each salesperson in the service or manufacturing industry continues to support on average of 8.6 other jobs within the company, which is unchanged from last year. These companies employ a total sales force of 1.4 million salespeople who produce more than $3.8 trillion in sales and ensure the employment of more than 13 million people. This again highlights the fact that it is the sales forces in America that are working to increase the sales revenue, which keeps unemployment low.

MORE SALESPEOPLE – HIGHER SALES

This year 19 percent of the companies listed reported an increase in the size of their sales force, 68 percent remained unchanged, and 13 percent experienced a cutback. Overall, although the number of sales jobs within the SP 500 increased by only 1 percent, the sales volume increased in all industries. This year’s listing includes the top 10 companies in six key industries. Insurance companies are listed as a separate category. A detailed map shows state-by-state comparisons. The corporate directory also includes Websites and the companies’ addresses and phone numbers.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE SP 500

Top executives – Use the SP 500 to benchmark your company’s productivity per salesperson. Find out how you measure up to your competition and the average in your industry.

Salespeople – Use the SP 500 as your best-prospect list. There is no other source that gives you access to those companies that purchase products for a large number of salespeople. This is your ideal list if you sell sales training, sales incentive services, CRM solutions, automotive fleets, sales meetings or trade show services. Begin your account planning by researching the companies’ Websites.

Job seekers – Use the SP 500 to plan your sales career. These 500 companies employ the largest sales forces in America. Large companies invest significant amounts of dollars in recruiting, training and rewarding their sales staff. For job openings, log on to the companies’ Websites.

Educators – Use the SP 500 as a tool to build next year’s curriculum. Every year, Selling Power 500 companies will seek to recruit more than 500,000 college graduates. There are more than a dozen colleges that offer sales curricula, and all of their graduates can look forward to a solid career in sales. Prepare your future students for a lucrative career in sales. (Note: the average Selling Power reader has a college degree, works in sales management and has a household income of more than $148,000 per year.)

Special thanks goes to our corporate research team for collecting and verifying the data. To have your company listed in the Selling Power 500 next year, please write to SP 500 Research, PO Box 5467, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.