Month: November 2017

3 Things You Want to Avoid to Improve Retention

Posted on by hiredna

Retention of sales reps is crucial to the long-term success of your sales organization. With the annual turnover rate of sales reps being on average 26 percent, failure to keep top sales reps is costly to your bottom line — in terms of talent loss, recruitment costs and training.

DePaul University’s 2016 Sales Effectiveness study confirms that sales talent retention continues to be a critical challenge for sales organizations.

The question becomes what should sales organizations be doing to keep top sales reps from leaving? Below are three things you should avoid doing in order to keep your top sales talent:

1.     Avoid stagnant job roles

Objective: Top-performing sales reps need new challenges and opportunities.

Approach: Top-performing sales reps get bored and antsy when not provided with new growth opportunities. Offer them new opportunities within your organization to keep them from looking elsewhere. Opportunities like providing input on sales strategies to management, launching a new product or service offering, or leading training classes are good examples. Sales reps appreciate feeling valued and knowing that there are career-oriented growth opportunities within the sales organization. A recent study by Willis Towers Watson on employee retention found that “more than 70 percent of high-retention-risk employees say they have to leave their organization in order to advance their careers.” Try to promote by developing your sales team instead of recruiting from outside the organization.

2.     Avoid poor incentive plans

Objective: Top-performing sales reps should always have a new incentive goal within reach.

Approach: Incentives for your sales reps shouldn’t just be tied to annual quotas. Sales reps should always be able to have an “eye on the prize.” Sales organizations could offer some of the following as part of their retention strategy:

  • Give shares of company stock that vest over time
  • Offer additional time off or vacation days at specific intervals (three and five years)
  • Pay for continuing education
  • Provide ongoing career development training
  • Provide substantial bonuses that pay out on specific numbers of years with the company

Your sales team should feel rewarded, recognized and appreciated. This will go a long way toward keeping top performers from leaving your sales organization.

3.     Avoid poor leadership 

Objective: Top-performing sales reps want strong leadership.

Approach: This topic comes up again and again when talking to sales reps who have left organizations. Most often they are not leaving because of the company or the job; they are leaving because of their sales management. Leaders need to be counted on to set clear expectations about the sales job role and earning potential. Feedback on job performance should be timely and attached to an employee development plan if needed. Sales reps want to know they have the potential to grow within the organization and that there is an established career path.  

These three tips can help your sales organization reduce turnover . Establishing and investing in your organization’s strategy for improving retention will result in a positive ROI in terms of employee retention and satisfaction.

Interested in a thorough evaluation of your sales recruiting and retention process? Revecent can complete an analysis of your company’s onboarding and retention strategies to identify areas of improvement. Request a consult now and start seeing powerful results.   Revecent is a national sales recruiting and training consulting firm. We help technology and professional service companies design, build and optimize winning sales teams to accelerate revenue growth. Contact us today to see how we can help your organization’s sales team exceed expectations.

5 Tips to Improve Sales Force Retention

Posted on by hiredna

Numerous hours are spent training new hires for their roles within the sales force. 

Organizations invest time, effort and money getting reps up to speed on their new roles and providing insight on the organization’s sales culture. When a sales rep leaves, the organization is back where it started with recruiting and training. Sound familiar? According to DePaul University’s 2015-2016 Sales Effectiveness – Sales Acceleration Survey the cost of losing a sales rep is substantial:

“The annual turnover rate for sales employees is high at 26 percent, and the average cost per sales rep turnover is $97,690.”

So, how do you convince your sales reps to stay? Here are five tips for retaining top sales performers prior to hiring them:

1. Lead by Example

Employees appreciate and value strong leadership. Share company roadmaps, goals and objectives upfront with your sales candidate. Begin fostering excitement around their new role and how they will fit into the overall mission of your organization. Set objectives and expectations during the interview process, so potential job candidates clearly understand what will be expected of them in upon hire. According to a recent study on HR and Recruiting Statistics for 2016 by Glassdoor:

“67 percent of employers believe retention rates would be higher if candidates had a clearer picture of what to expect about working at the company before taking the job.”

2. Implement a Strong Sales Culture

Establish a sales culture that matches the type of sales talent you want to hire. Use your sales culture as a guideline for hiring new reps. Hire people who not only have the skill sets you are looking for, but also fit seamlessly into your existing sales culture. Developing a conducive environment for your sales force creates a connection between your sales rep and your organization.

3. Establish Employee Development Plans

Have a development plan in place that provides a roadmap for new sales employees. The plan should include measurable goals and a timeline for achieving those goals. In your organization’s interview process, share the basic career roadmap while discussing your sales candidate’s interests and career goals. Take the time to discuss your organization’s development plans for new employees, so the candidate understands the opportunity and commitment offered for progressing their sales career.

4. Provide Ongoing Training

Organizations that provide ongoing training opportunities for their sales reps demonstrate they are invested in their employees’ success. Discuss any training opportunities with candidates during the interview process. Share how your organization’s sales training includes both instructor-led and online courses covering a broad range of topics from products, services, tools and systems to soft-skills they will need while interacting with customers. Let your candidates know upfront that your organization is committed to their career development.

5. Offer Employee Benefits

Employee benefits play a large part in recruiting and retaining top sales performers. Benefits can include perks like providing health insurance, sales bonuses, flex time, telecommuting or tuition reimbursement. Benefits should be aligned to your sales force and provide motivation for the sales rep to remain with your organization. Discuss benefits and perks with your sales candidate during the interview process and be clear on whether or not any of them are tied to specific sales targets.

Establishing and investing in your organization’s strategy for improving retention will result in a positive ROI in terms of employee retention and satisfaction. Interested in a thorough evaluation of your talent acquisition and retention process? Revecent can complete an analysis of your company’s onboarding and retention strategies to identify areas of improvement. Request a consult now and start seeing powerful results.  Revecent is a national sales recruiting and sales enablement consulting firm. We help technology and professional service companies recruit and optimize sales talent to accelerate growth. Contact us today to see how we can help your organization’s sales team exceed expectations.