Ensuring the success of your sales department does not end at hiring the right sales reps. Onboarding your sales team is an essential element of success. The program will set the tone for your new sellers and help them get well-acquainted with your company. According to G2, sales hires that undergo a good sales onboarding program are productive about 3.4 months earlier than those in firms with low-performing onboarding programs.
Unfortunately, getting an effective onboarding program is not easy. Some of the common challenges companies face include:
- An excessively lengthy onboarding process
- A program disjointed across different departments, and
- Including too much information for sales hires to retain.
Most companies also have poor internal networking support, meaning new sales reps have difficulty getting help and answers from experienced ones.
Even though 62% of companies consider their sales onboarding programs unproductive, some companies have very successful sales onboarding programs. The successful companies almost always start their sales onboarding programs immediately after the hire of sales reps rather than on their first day of work. Furthermore, these programs include formal mentorship, well-defined success elements, optimal resource management and consistency.
When effective, sales onboarding programs increase the chances of your sales reps attaining their quotas quickly. This leads to job fulfillment and minimizes your turnover rates.
To guarantee the efficacy of your onboarding program, below are a few tactics to point you in the right direction.
Consider Your People Before Your Processes
Though it seems simple, it is crucial to have the right employee to handle key roles for your sales onboarding program to succeed. When hiring new sales reps, evaluate them according to their performance metrics from previous jobs and soft skills. Remember that sales reps will be the face of your brand. As such, they should have soft skills such as creativity, empathy, and determination to connect with clients. Getting the right employees ensures you have a team that is receptive to your onboarding efforts so that you can attain revenue targets quickly.
Have the Right Success Metrics to Evaluate Your Onboarding Program
There are two main success metrics for a sales onboarding program; an effective ramp-up period and long-term success. For your ramp-up period to be considered successful, sales reps should have a comprehensive understanding of your company and its operation processes. Long-term success centers on aspects like attaining revenue quotas, among other elements measured when sales reps start working. Other than the right metrics, have measurable goals for your team to clearly understand what you expect them to achieve from the start.
Create a Blueprint
Once you have clear goals for your onboarding program, get a blueprint detailing the content, processes, and skills that will help sales reps achieve them. The blueprint will help you define the essential competencies for success and help people know their positions in the onboarding process. Some of the information areas that your blueprint might include are your company’s customers, available revenue opportunities, product, and sales motion.
Empower Sales Reps with On-Demand Training
You can allow sales reps to study at their pace by introducing on-demand learning instead of waiting for supervisors to walk them through different concepts. On-demand resources allow your sales representatives to learn faster and boost their confidence in handling skills since they can hone them in virtual environments. Some modules you can offer in on-demand teaching include objection handling, pitch presentations, sales processes, competitive insights, and veteran tips.
Assess and Measure Critical Competencies
When sales reps are not well prepared with answers to prospective clients’ questions and on how to address clients’ needs, they will struggle to meet their targets. As sales reps continue with your onboarding program, it might be challenging to gauge their understanding and how well-prepared they are for revenue generation. It is advisable to track the onboarding program with periodic knowledge tests rather than one test at the end of the program. This allows you to recognize any knowledge gaps early so you can give more attention to specific areas.
Have Continuous Learning Programs
According to data from Xerox, your sales team will forget 84% of sales training within three months. On-the-job training should not end with the onboarding program. Things are constantly evolving in the sales sector, more so with product offerings, messaging, strategy and techniques. You should thus promote ongoing training for your sales team through quizzes, certification programs, and micro-learning modules.
When It Comes to Sales Onboarding Programs…
As more companies appreciate the essence of an effective onboarding program for their sales reps, they are increasing the budgets they dedicate to it. However, you cannot achieve much without factoring the above tactics into the development of your onboarding program. These tactics guarantee that the program you put together positively impacts your sales reps and, by extension, boosts your company’s returns.
