500 Largest Sales Forces in America

The 500 top companies in America – which employ the world’s largest sales forces – depend on more than 21 million salespeople to achieve their revenue goals, and this year marks the second consecutive year that the number of salespeople has topped the 20 million mark. This research shows that, without question, the men and women who make up each company’s sales force produce the revenue that will fuel this country’s economic recovery.

The 2009 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 21,309,279, which represents an increase of about 6 percent, or 1,135,157 salespeople, compared to last year. This overall change is due mainly to an increase in direct-selling, as the other categories showed little change. The direct-selling category, which had posted a small 2.5 percent increase in 2008, posted a much larger 6 percent increase this year.

The number of salespeople in manufacturing decreased by less than 1 percent. There was a 1 percent decrease in the number of salespeople in the service category and a negligible .16 percent increase in the insurance category. The automotive industry posted the largest decrease in the number of salespeople, a decline of 3.46 percent from last year. Overall, without considering the direct-selling numbers, the number of salespeople posted its first decline in three years, losing about 1 percent of the sales force.

The states with the most SP 500 companies are New York (56), California (51), and Illinois (31). The states in which the SP 500 companies employ the most salespeople are New York (5,731,951), California (4,854,275), and Michigan (3,033,055). These states account for about 28 percent of the total companies and a whopping 64 percent of the total salespeople.

PRODUCTIVITY ON THE RISE

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 501,110 salespeople and produce more than $3.8 trillion in sales. That’s an average of $7.6 million in sales per salesperson. This represents a significant (3 percent) increase in productivity compared to the previous year and six consecutive years with significant increases in productivity. It should be noted that manufacturing companies lost 729 salespeople since last year, which was the first decline in salespeople in two years, and they also lost 38,686 total employees, which continues to signal a slowdown in the manufacturing industry for both salespeople and all other employees of those companies.

The top 200 companies in the service sector reported a decrease of 7,302 salespeople, resulting in a total of 662,250 salespeople. While the number of salespeople decreased by only 1.09 percent, total revenues came in at $2.6 trillion for a significant 14.7 percent decrease. This represents almost $3.9 million in sales per salesperson and a substantial 14 percent decrease in productivity, ending a five-year run with mostly double-digit productivity increases. The total number of service sector employees posted its first increase in two years of more than 500,000 employees, or 7 percent of the service industry workforce for those companies included in this year’s listings.

The top 20 automotive megadealers reported decreases across the board this year. The top 20 firms own 1,341 dealerships (down by about 4 percent), employ 20,115 salespeople (a decrease of 3.46 percent), and produce more than $76.3 billion in sales (down by a sizable 12 percent). This brings the average annual sales per salesperson to $3.8 million (down by more than 8 percent). The productivity registered is certainly symptomatic of the economic downturn within the automotive industry.

The top 50 insurance companies show a total sales force of 733,388 with an average sales volume per salesperson of $760,443, which represents the third year of declining productivity, dropping this year by just a little more than 18 percent. The number of salespeople posted a negligible increase of less than 1 percent over 2008.

The top 30 direct-selling companies reported 19.4 million salespeople, continuing a trend of increases in the number of salespeople over the last eight years.  This year’s increase of 1,142,768 salespeople is much larger than last year’s increase of 450,500.

Overall, the numbers continue to show the signs of a fragile economy, with generally flat employment in manufacturing, declines in the service sector’s number of salespeople, declining productivity in insurance, and a substantial decline across the board in the automotive sector.

SP 500 DRIVES THE ECONOMY

It is important to note that each salesperson in the service or manufacturing industry supports, on average, 13.4 other jobs within the company in 2009; that figure marks a small increase from last year’s number of 12.9. These companies employ a total sales force of 1.2 million salespeople, who produce almost $6.4 trillion in sales and ensure the employment of more than 16 million people. This once again highlights the fact that the sales forces of America are responsible for helping to sustain and ensure future growth in our economy.

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 industry average. Check which companies have decreased their sales force and which companies are gearing up for expansion.

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 company 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, SP 500 companies will seek to recruit more than 500,000 college graduates. There are more than a dozen colleges that offer sales curricula, and their graduates can look forward to solid careers in sales. Prepare your future students for a lucrative career in sales. (Note: Media research shows that the average Selling Power reader has a college degree, works in sales management, and has a household income of more than $174,000 per year.)

Special thanks to our corporate research team for collecting 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.

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