Integrator Salary Results 2014

Excellent article, thank you for posting.

Great timing, I have my annual review and pay raise coming up. I'm going to point to this and show that I'm actually paid well less than industry average.

Any idea on the areas that were surveyed? Some of the dollar amounts for techs listed are waaayy above anything anyone in my area (Manitoba, Canada) could make, unless they are self employed, or working for an Electrical Contractor.

I'd like to have more context for these figures though - any plans for to do surveys to determine how much these reps are selling, or the workloads of these technical people? I don't think it's as simple as "big" companies and "small" ones, or "experienced" vs "inexperienced" field people. The amount of work you do has to figure in somewhere.

Even averages would be useful since that's what this survey is really about.

I don't disagree that more detailed context i.e. geographic, experience, quota etc, information related to overall compensation would great BUT....this survey provides a very good starting point for discussion I think. Thanks for doing this John, I think its very helpful for employers, as well as, anyone negotiating for a position.

I only make 2000 a month. Oh well I guess I get paid what I am worth.

Sad to see sales reps making that much given the bad behavior they too often exhibit. It does however assuage my guilt at getting them fired when I catch a bad one red handed. Hopefully there are good sales reps out there and I'll meet some, eventually.

I think this is a good survey. The info was spot on for the parts of the country and expectations of the employers. John, I would do a little bit better job of formating info. But all in all great job.

I should point out I am the guy only making $2000 dollars or sheckles a month. I am the big gun guy. I have bagged many, many elephants. I am also a true sales person, not necessarily an account manager etc. I think sales people on the one hand make too much money compared to techies.. But when a company has income problems they dont call the techie on the carpet. But you will see blood on the carpet from the last sales guy. Again in the Boardroom they only look at income. So what is the salesman worth.

Since I am 68 years old, been in pure sales for the last 30 years. I come with a different perspective than most. I also have CS Degree from UC Berkley, Wrote code for IBM and Honeywell. Develop and taught course work for Cisco Systems (CCNA) and help in the consulting side for SAP (Oracle was my nemisis) I had to get my MCSE cert to truly understand what kind of special brew I was dealing with at SAP. "IT TAKES A TEAMS TO WIN THE BIG OPERTUNITIES. We need great senior techies/engineers. And we need a constant flow of beginners (new recruits) in tech for a few good potential sales people of the future. I typically would not hire a sales person unless he had field tech experience. When you have a few years at cleaning up some one elses mess and sturpid promisis, you become a great sales person. Empathy goes a long way.

Good luck and great sales to all. And the grass is never greener on the other side of the fence

Looking forward to the "Manufacturing" article. From my experience, the best way to make money is to move to a manufacturer. I've been on both sides, and it's been true for me. That being said, you may not get the same level of warm and fuzzy when you become part of the machine of a large manufacturer.

I'm amazed when I hear about good sales people or biz dev types with loads of experience who are making $85k at an integrator when they could easily double that with a major manufacturer.

I haven't gotten any surveys in awhile. Did the survey ask participants to put a cash value on things like retirement matching, medical and pension if any and add that to their total compensation?

This was a fantastic article for me. The earning map seemed almost prophetic for my own career (I.E. Entry level to migration to bigger company compensation).

I would ask if there were any articles/information regarding what courses to take to become an Engineer and even a better senior Technician.

Thank you for this one. A great read!

Knowing results are dependent on location, we pay at least what is listed or higher plus full benefits and company match retirement yet we still have an extremely hard time finding qualified, committed professionals. Those that have been with us for 10+ years are great employees but anyone in the entry to mid level tech positions are just "revolving door" team members.

In fairness we are quite rural, in a primarily white collar community so finding skilled technicians local is difficult (not to mention the entitlement of the young "junior"workforce not wanting to accept $15 -$20/hr).

Coming from a high end/critical security end-user environment in which employees were dedicated, focused and thankful to have their jobs, I have found that (generally) the same dedication is harder to find in the workforce on the integrator side.

A job board would be an great benefit to us (and yes, we do provide IPVM memberships to our staff as a benefit, which many juniors don't bother to use - despite consistent reminders).

I want happy employees that enjoy what they are doing. If my employees are strictly driven by money, they probably shouldn't work for me :)

They ARE however compensated properly and are paid higher than average. Salary/Hourly pay should not be based upon how hard somebody works, it should be based upon the responsibility and role you take on within an organization!

I get what your saying, but when do you stop "throwing" money at your employees? And if you continue to throw money at them, they begin to fill entitled and are always looking for that extra dollar. In my opinion, this may be the true reason somebody leaves a job for more money, because you created that monster!

All of our employees are go getters, because of the culture we create. When somebody needs to crawl under the building or in the hot attic, every single one of our technicians is ready to start, nobody is waiting to be told what to do. And guess what, all of our technicians get paid differently, some more than others!

Using industry standards for salary and compensation is great for a starting point, especially for a new or young company. If I paid each person based on how hard they worked, every employee in my organization should be getting paid $100/hour. So the way we increase salary, outside of commission obviously, is to tie it to something tangible like certifications, roles/responsibilities, etc.

To each his own and thanks for sharing :)

PS - I've had technicians leave our company for more money, 3 weeks later they came crawling back because they missed our culture that we bring to the table. He came back making less money than where he went and left each day going home happy!

Interesting articles! I read them both, Intergrator and Manufacturer.

Compensation and Culture and both very important. Compensation should be tied to the Value the person creates to the Company and the Marketplace, both count.

As far as Culture, some Salespeople forget to treat their own co-workers at least as good as they treat their customers. These are the people who take care of your customers after who have aquired them. Many also forget about how good they may have it, compensation vs. degree of difficulty. Other times Management either does not recognize what and "Outstanding" employee looks like or they simply are trying to get the most for the least and squeeze blood from a stone. Developing a Culture where people, clients and co-workers both, feel valued and appreciated goes a long way. Rewards, Promotions, Titles, Privilages and more can be used instead of increasing the monetary Compensation, because you have increased their Emotional Compensation. Promoting ONLY based on "Dollar Volume" or "Contract Value" can often breed the Salesperson who disreguards "Setting Expectations" and sells whatever they can to whomever they can regardless of the consequenses.

As for Compensation, most of us, when we are honest with ourselves, has a pretty good idea of their value to the Company, however they are too shy or too scared to ask for a raise. If you truely feel that you add more value than you are being compensated for, test the waters and see what others will offer you. You have now put yourself in a position to ask for more or choose to leave for what you feel is a better opportunity.

I have been a business owner, an employee and an Independent Contractor. Business owners need to understand that if they don't recognize their best people, they will lose them to someone who does. Head hunters make a living finding people who are not being taken care of well enough.

Be careful about the Culture you create and the Value you put on people. There is much more than money that is important to make a Company thrive and survive in this world if Company wants any longevity. If the Company only cares about the Current and Short-Term Valuation, it is probably because they are looking to sell or go public and then... "Employee Beware".

Overall great article and some great comments. Keep them coming. I agree that a job board would be a nice addition to this site. It would surely keep both sides "honest" and be a great place for Companies to identify people that would fit in their Company well.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Prosperous New Year!

By the way, I am a top producer at my company and I believe I also bring value to the company in many other ways, like office moral, cooperation, training, research and creating networking partners. It is interesting to me that people put so much value on "Experience" with in an Industry.

While "Experience" in an industry has a Value, there are many other things that an employer should be looking for, in my humble opinion. They should be looking for the ability and desire to learn, a strong work ethic, loyalty, charisma, character, intelligence and experience in other areas that create Value.

We hired salespeople with years of experience in Security Technology and they have not been able to sell at all, while I picked up the job in two years. Of course I have had a career in Sales even though it has not been in the Security Technology Industry. Sometimes people who come in without prior "Bad Habits" are the best to teach...LOL

As one manufacturer eluded to , the grass is never greener on the other side of the world.

Every area has its own set of set backs, problems, prices to pay for the rewards of return.

Nothing is free and everything has a price to pay.

Time to update!