Sales skills shortage hits software industry

According to a report by the ISA , the potential of Ireland's indigenous software industry is being severely restricted due to the limited availability of experienced sales and marketing professionals.

The report for the Irish Software Association was conduced by consultancy firm, International Ventures Research.

Exports from indigenous Irish software companies are estimated to be worth €1.3bn and the indigenous software sector employs 20,000. Sales from the indigenous software sector were up 28% in 2001 over 2000.

No less than nine out of ten respondents say that it is hard to hire good sales people.

A majority of companies (70%) feel that they do not have all the necessary skills in-house to conduct a complex international sales process. 67% of respondents identified lead generation as an area for improvement, followed by prospect to sale conversion (52%), managing the sales process (49%) and closing the sale (49%).

While 87% of companies surveyed believe that strategic alliances and partnerships are important to grow sales, it was a concern that 41% say that they have not successfully engaged in such relationships to drive significant profitable revenue.