Keeping Your Sales Team Motivated: Commission, Bonuses and Incentives

Then you’ll want to ensure your sales organization has a well-designed incentive and bonus program. 

Regardless of whether your sales team is large or small, local or global, sales reps that are incentivized will work harder to achieve the goals set by your organization.

“When I look back on the various strategies I used to grow

our sales force from zero to several hundred people, I realize

that one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned involves the power

of a compensation plan to motivate salespeople not only to sell

more but to act in ways that support a start-up’s evolving business

model and overall strategy. Whether you’re a CEO or a VP of

sales, the sales compensation plan is probably the most powerful

tool you have.”  – HubSpot Chief Revenue Officer, 

Mark Roberge, in The Sales Acceleration Formula

The key to finding the right blend of commission, bonuses and incentives for your organization’s sales compensation plan is understanding the different options available and what motivates your reps the most.

Below are some of the most common sales compensation plans with our thoughts on why some aspects work (the good) and why some aspects fail (the bad).

Straight Salary

The good:     Straight salary is the annual base salary sales rep can depend on. It is also easier                              to budget, since it’s consistent.

The bad:           The sales rep’s salary is not impacted by their sales performance. That means                                 sales reps are not necessarily incentivized to sell or work harder and may                                       become complacent in their sales role. 

Straight Commission

The good:         With this option, there is no base salary for sales reps. Individual sales reps earn a                            percentage of each sale they close. This option may attract top-performing                                    sales reps who are confident in their ability to sell and make a good income. 

The bad:           Because reps are depending entirely on their ability to sell, this structure can lead                           to high turnover rates and sales rep burnout from stress.

Salary Plus Bonus

The good:         Your sales reps receive a base salary along with an added bonus for achieving or                            exceeding predetermined sales goals. Bonuses are provided to sales reps at                                    specific intervals.

The bad:           Sales reps sometimes become disheartened if it takes too long to reach a sales                             goal. If not handled correctly, this can lead to high turnover.

Salary Plus Commission

The good:         Salary plus commission sales compensation plans are the most popular option                             in sales organizations. Sales reps receive a lower annual base salary along with                               commission to make up their total compensation. Their commission is earned                               based on the number of sales the individual sales rep closes, resulting i  n                                       increased productivity and motivation to achieve sales goals.

The bad:           This compensation plan can make it more difficult to budget, since sales vary. In                           addition, lower base salary can be viewed as a negative comment on reps’                                     worth, especially if the rep is having difficulty making sales. 

Variable Commission

The good:         In this option, sometimes sales reps don’t receive a base salary, sometimes not,                             depending on the organization. The sales reps’ rate of commission, however,                                 can go up and down depending on factors like product sold, contract terms,                                 new business vs. existing, etc.

The bad:           This compensation plan can make it difficult for both reps and the organization                             to budget.

Incentive Variety Makes the Sales World Go Round

On average, there is a 30% annual sales force turnover. So, while it’s important to note that total compensation is a significant factor in recruiting and retaining sales reps, incentive programs that award sales reps for their achievements inspire loyalty and job satisfaction. Some effective incentive programs are as follows (and mixing and matching is often useful):

  • Gifts – Gift value can vary based on the size of your sales organization. Gifts can range from retail gift cards to “most-wanted” electronics.
  • Awards – Recognition of sales performance achievements can be given during organizational staff meetings. Display sales staff awards in a common area. Designate a highly-desirable parking spot for the top performing salesperson each month.
  • Experiences – Event tickets, spa getaways or all-inclusive vacations not only motivate sales reps, they also offer time away from the office to recharge.
  • Education – Offering onsite industry-related classes or tuition reimbursement for top sales reps wanting to grow in their career is great at incentivizing. The best thing about this is the education the rep receives benefits your organization, too.

Designing the right sales compensation and incentive plan will infuse your sales organization with the confidence and motivation it needs to exceed sales goals. Curious as to whether your sales compensation and incentive plan needs adjusting?

Revecent can complete an analysis of your current sale compensation and incentive plan to identify areas of opportunity for accelerated sales growth and sales force empowerment. Request a consult now.

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.

Sales Recruiting and Onboarding Success Tips.

Did you know that more than half of all employees who left their job during the 

past year did so within the first twelve months, according to a recent Workforce Insights study by Equifax? That’s employees overall. The average sales force loses one-third of its reps each year. That’s a pretty chilling stat brought to us by Hubspot, a stat we see our clients being affected by directly.

To help rectify this issue, organizations are moving away from the old school new-hire orientation classes and are focused on creating a strong onboarding process for new employees. But onboarding is more than simple new-hire training. It is a process of acclimating new employees to the organization’s culture and team, aligning expectations and performance and providing tools and information to ensure a quick ramp-up and long-term success.

Key Components for Onboarding Sales Reps

A recent statistic from O.C. Tanner shows that 69 percent of new hires are likely to stay with the company for at least three years if they have a positive onboarding experience. So how do you ensure you have a solid onboarding process to keep your sales reps from becoming a negative statistic? Let’s review some key components:

  • Proactive Engagement  Successful onboarding begins prior to your new sales employee’s first day of work. Engage sales candidates early to begin fostering excitement around their new role and to build enthusiasm for the company. Have a plan…30-60-90 days with a defined agenda of what information or training you plan to cover. Pair new-hires with successful sales reps that can demonstrate what makes them successful to get reps excited about the possibilities.
  • Present Goals – Share your organization’s roadmap, goals and objectives. Explain how the new sales rep’s role fits into the overall direction of the organization. Make sure your goals are realistic and provide insights on past goal achievements. Build incentives and incorporate gamification to make it fun while bringing out the competitor in your reps.
  • Introduce Culture – Provide an overview of your organization’s culture in terms of the overall, then the specific sales culture. Offer guidance to new employees to ensure their success. Discuss unwritten guidelines or rules that may not be found in the handbook. Help your new sales reps to navigate the organization, their team, and the environment. Introduce them to the entire organizational culture so they understand the entire business. This will give them a better understanding of the mission and vision of the organization, which will help them sell better. Introduce them to marketing, product development, operations, delivery etc. so they can understand the behind the scenes of what they’re selling.
  • Provide Training – Deliver functional training on your organization’s products, services, and target customer demographics. Provide training on any necessary tools or systems. Ensure new hires have access to relevant sales or product content. Sales rep training should be an ongoing and structured process. This should not be a one-time event. It should be part of continued coaching. It’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the individual and their learning style to customize the training to their needs. Implement accountability measures to reinforce behavior change and ensure tactics and strategies are being deployed.
  • Clarify Objectives – Initiate on-the-job coaching to build confidence and reinforce sales reps’ goals and objectives. Address priorities, expectations, and deliverables during these one-on-one discussions. Track and measure goals and objectives in the CRM for customized reporting and analytics. This also emphasizes to the rep the importance of maintaining updated data and activities in the CRM.
  • Establish Mentors– Partner new sales reps with seasoned sales professionals who will provide coaching and mentoring. Mentors can introduce new hires to cross-functional team members, other divisions, and organizational executives. An organization that demonstrates the investment in its sales reps garners loyalty. Have new reps ride along and shadow experienced reps on live calls, demos, and meetings. Training is a great way to prepare reps for the sales process, but there’s nothing like getting real-world experience.
  • Give Continuous Feedback – Ongoing communications with sales reps ensures they are receiving the training and support they need to excel in their new role and that they are digesting and acting on what they have learned. Set a cadence and agenda for period meetings with reps as a team and individually. Have a well-defined agenda and always review activities and metrics.

Okay, great. These are the basics. But the devil is in the details, right? For one thing, who will be included in the onboarding process? Who “does” the onboarding? The best answer is, those who have knowledge and influence who are deeply invested in whether or not a new sales rep stays on and succeeds. These members of the organization should include:

Human Resources – Among other things, HR reps are doing the hiring. The last thing they really want to be doing is the firing. HR reps have a vested interest in keeping sales reps long-term. Who better to initiate onboarding? HR will acclimate sales reps to the organizational culture i.e. rules, regulation, etc. not their job to focus on selling.

CEOs – Yes, we know CEOs are busy, but company culture, goals, objectives and vision stem from the desk of the CEO. Who better to be involved in onboarding than the person setting the tone for the organization? The CEO’s involvement will depend on the size of the company. The bigger the organization, the less likely the CEO will have to allocate to each new hire. To help alleviate this problem, hire in “classes” if you can. For example, bring on five or more reps at a time and onboard them all together. Involving the CEO will help reps to sell with the long-term in mind versus their wallet.

VPs of Sales – These folks have the vision, too, but they also lead the charge in meeting goals, objective and numbers. Who better to motivate? VPs have vested interest in ensuring the successful and accelerated onboarding of new reps. After all, it’s their job on the line if goals are not achieved. They definitely should be hands-on in the process and direct high-level strategies to ensure goals are achieved.

Investing in structuring your organization’s onboarding process for new sales hires will result in a positive ROI in terms of employee retention and satisfaction. And that translates into revenue generation.

Interested in a thorough evaluation of your sales rep onboarding process? Revecent can complete an analysis of your organization’s onboarding strategy to identify what’s working well and areas for improvement. Request a consult now and start seeing powerful results. 

HireDNA is a national sales recruiting firm specializing in helping technology and professional service companies recruit, train and manage high-performance sales teams. 

Our approach centers on four principles proven to maximize sales performance: deploy an effective sales system, hire and develop the right talent, empower teams with the right tools and drive accountability with effective sales leadership. Contact us today to see how we can help your organization’s sales team exceed expectations.

Sales Recruiting Tips to Attract and Hire Top Sales Talent

Learn how to recruit and retain top sales talent to grow your business. 

Sales has never been more popular, successful recruiting practices never more needed.  Here’s why we can say that with such confidence. According to the latest U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey, there are more job openings each month than new hires. This is great news, right? Yes, but we know that growing workforce requirements have companies competing to recruit and land top sales talent. This need, combined with the knowledge of the high cost associated with sales turnover (an average $97,690 per employee loss, according to DePaul University’s Center for Sales Leadership’s Sales Effectiveness & Sales Acceleration Survey), has companies focusing on improving their sales recruiting practices for good reason. Here are some insights we’ve learned over the past ten years of recruiting sales professionals at all levels.  

How Do You Find Top Talent?

Talented salespeople are crucial to any organization. They help build the brand, grow the business and establish a positive company culture. We can all agree that finding the right sales talent is important for ensuring long-term business success. Recruiting top talent, however, requires more than just posting ads to job boards. You need a current, multifaceted, proactive approach to attract, engage and hire the best candidates, and your competitors know this. Here are some ways to draw the sales talent your organization needs.

Solicit Referrals – You won’t get the right candidates if no one knows you are hiring and what you are looking for. Ask your networks, live and online, to refer candidates. Your top employees can also be a good resource for finding new candidates, as they know your company and the skillset required. You can reward your sales team for referrals that result in a successful hire.

Network Creatively – You don’t have to get your next employee referral at a networking meeting. Highly motivated people attend seminars, training classes and other events to advance their knowledge and careers. Participate in these events, as they provide a wide pool of talent. Request business cards from professionals who impress you. Even if they are not currently searching for a position, they might be in the future, or they might know someone who is.

Harness Social Media – According to LinkedIn, socially engaged companies are 58 percent more likely to attract top talent. So use social media to promote your company brand and build professional relationships. LinkedIn in particular is a potential goldmine of talent waiting to be discovered and professionals eager to give referrals. Do your contacts have any sales reps that they would recommend based on their professional or customer experience with them? You won’t know until you ask.

Maximize Your ATS – Your applicant tracking system (ATS) is a powerful ally. Tools such as Bullhorn and iCIMS can help you manage a talent acquisition process that works. Create a database of salespeople you’ve met through business interactions or networking that can be accessed whenever there are job openings. The database should include not only candidates you’ve previously spoken to, but also ones you wish to contact in the future. FREE HIRING MISTAKE CALCULATOR
HOW MUCH IS A BAD HIRE COSTING YOU?

How Do You Recruit Top Sales Talent?

The best way to hire and retain sales talent is to provide a company culture where employees want to work and where they feel valued. Sales reps are drawn to companies that value their sales force and provide the critical tools and resources needed to be successful. Over and over, we’ve seen that the recruitment process makes the first impression when it comes to a company’s culture and values. We know that developing a structured and efficient recruitment process that enables companies to find the best fit for their job openings, as well as providing candidates with a positive experience with the company, is key in recruiting top sales performers.  

Be Specific – Candidates want to know what they are getting themselves into. Create a targeted job description with ideal criteria and essential qualifications. Be sure to include the kind of information that will entice top producers. Remember, hiring goes both ways – your candidates are going to interview you as you interview them. And don’t be shy about telling job seekers about your compensation plan – which means you need a structured one in place that you will be able to explain clearly.

Prioritize Motivation – Don’t limit your talent pool. Many companies limit their access to top talent with four simple words: “previous industry experience required.” An ambitious sales rep with a strong desire to succeed can be trained on product knowledge and soft skills regardless of industry.  

Measure Sales Capabilities – Use a sales-specific assessment to measure the candidate’s core sales skills and competencies to ensure they are the right fit for your organization and sales environment.

Communicate Proactively – Candidates should receive clear, consistent, timely and upfront information on their application status during the hiring process. Poor communication post-interview can create a negative company impression and lead to losing good candidates. Slow communication can have the same effect, especially if the lag is a result of slow decision making.

Share Onboarding Processes and Growth Potential – Discuss your company’s onboarding strategy. Let candidates know they will have resources and support during their initial time with the company. Talk about the candidate’s current skillset, along with a clear training and development plan for growth opportunities. 

You’re facing challenges as you build your sales team. We understand that. But they are not insurmountable challenges. With the right people on the job, your organization can find and hire the right sales force the right way. Get the support you need now to avoid scrambling for talent later.  

HireDNA experts recruit, train, equip and manage high-performance sales teams to accelerate revenue growth. Contact us today to see how we can help your organization’s sales team exceed expectations.

Sales Enablement: Recruitment through Retirement

Learn how your sales enablement strategy should evolve. 

We’ve discussed the importance of having a sales enablement strategy over our last couple of posts. Specifically, we talked about how your sales enablement strategy creates a process for providing your sales force with information, content and tools to sell more effectively. It is the foundation for the customer experience with your company’s sales cycle. As sales enablement continues to evolve, we know it’s important to review your sales enablement methodologies at each stage of your sales reps’ career, recruitment through retirement.

Recruitment


Ongoing growth of the US economy has lead to an increasing number of sales jobs.  However according to the 2017 HireRight Benchmark Report, 62 percent of the human resource professionals surveyed reported “finding qualified job candidates” as their top business challenge. (“It’s hard to find good help these days,” right?) This is partially due to the need for sales reps to not only have successful soft and sales skills but also problem-solving and technical knowledge.

Proactively pursuing candidates can be an effective way to recruit top talent to your sales force. But data-driven analytics partnered with traditional candidate screening methodologies can assist companies in predicting a rep’s performance and organizational compatibility.


Onboarding

“Onboarding may be the most critical time in an employee’s experience at a company – one that has a long-lasting impact on engagement, performance and retention,” according to research from Harvard Business Review. This is spot on. We know successful onboarding programs include training on company and product information, sales resources and processes, customer acquisition markets and company tools.

We also know that out-of-the box training programs are largely unsuccessful due to their failure to address unique skills and organizational sales processes. The onboarding program ideally should be a combination of online, instructor-led and hands-on practical training to facilitate a sales rep’s success.

Early Career

As your sales reps’ career matures, it’s important to have formal mentoring and coaching programs in place for ongoing feedback and support. If you don’t, processes become too loosey goosey. We’ve seen this happen, and it basically sets the rep up to fail. Mentoring and coaching allow reps to develop competencies and proficiencies in a helpful, positive environment. A sales performance evaluation during this stage of the reps’ career can help to identify their strengths and weakness to determine what skills to focus on to maximize results

Mid Career

We know from experience that it can be difficult to continuously provide what reps need to succeed, especially if you’re a smaller business or you’re wearing too many hats. But ongoing observation, evaluation and communication with your sales reps are important even after they are seasoned. Ensuring that reps continue to have access to relevant customer data, industry reports, online content and tools is important to successful customer interactions. Periodic evaluations of your sales team, processes and systems will help to maximize effectiveness and maintain a winning sales culture.

End Stage Career

What’s interesting about this stage is the number of clients we see who drop the sales enablement ball because there’s the assumption that sales veterans already know what they’re doing. Why waste time and money? Besides, they are going to be leaving soon, right?

The truth is, using sales enablement strategies not only creates a better customer sales experience and process, it also has an added benefit of positively impacting retention. Ongoing training, periodic evaluations and sales performance reviews ensure seasoned reps remain in top form. Top sales reps are more likely to remain with a company invested and committed to their ongoing success. Veteran reps appreciate how the sales enablement strategy helps them exceed quota and close rates.

Adopting or refining your sales enablement process can improve sales performance and accelerate revenue growth. If your company’s sales are stagnant or declining, Revecent can evaluate your sales enablement lifecycle to determine where efficiencies can be made. Request a consult now and start seeing powerful results. 

Revecent experts recruit, train, equip and manage high-performance sales teams to accelerate revenue growth. Contact us today to see how we can help your organization’s sales team exceed expectations.

4 Actionable Sales Recruiting Tips That Gets Results

“Hi, Aaron! I hope you’re well. I’ve left you a few messages – I just want to see if you’re still interestedin our Account Executive role. Please give me a call when you have a moment. Hope to hear back from you.”

Does this email sound familiar to you? Have you ever identified the perfect candidate, who seemed very interested in your open sales position, and all of a sudden something changes and they accept another offer?

In today’s highly competitive market, the demand for top producing sales professionals is much greater than the supply. How can your company attract and land the sales talent your organization needs?

Let’s break down four things your company should be doing.

Present A Clear And Concise Comp Plan In The Beginning

No need to sugar coat anything here – it is going to be hard to attract top performing sales people without a competitive and incentivizing compensation plan.

At the end of the day, strong sales people are programmed to drive results that directly impacts their income.  Clearly communicating the sales quota, the OTE (On Target Earnings) and the structure of it all offers the is key. 

In turn, understanding what the candidate is currently earning and how their incentive compensation is structured should be discussed early in the process so time is not wasted on either one’s end.

To lure top talent, you should share past sales’ quota achievements by current sales reps. Demonstrating the potential for high earnings is a great step towards separating your opportunity from the rest of the pack.

Don’t shy away from having the money conversation during the interview process. It shouldn’t be taboo, in fact, we encourage it!

Have a Recruiting Strategy & Organized Interview Process

Having a concise and structured recruiting process is the foundation to hiring qualified candidates faster. Having a game plan in place at the beginning of this process gives you clarity on the type of sales person you need, the experience you need them to have, and where you are going to find them.

A defined recruiting process will help make your candidate search a much smoother process. It enables you to be more efficient by asking the right questions, so you get the insights that you need to make the right hiring decision.

It also makes you appear more professional to your candidate and reassure them that your company could be the right opportunity for them.

Act Fast

Timing is everything when it comes to landing high caliber talent.

Countless companies miss out on salespeople that would’ve been perfect but they simply took too long to make an offer.

We’re not saying that you shouldn’t do your due diligence. You should take the time to determine if the candidate is a good fit for your needs, but we highly recommend consolidating multiple interviews into one day. Candidates actually prefer this so they don’t have to take too much time off work.

How efficient you are when it comes to identifying, assessing, and selecting the best salespeople will have a tremendous impact on your ability to hit your sales targets.

Recruiting Is Sales

Companies with the best sales teams understand the recruiting process is just as much about them selling themselves to the candidates, as it is the candidates selling themselves to company.

Top performing sales people are looking to join an organization that is going to get them where they would like to be in their career professionally and financially. How you communicate why anyone should want to join your sales team is critical to your success in attracting top talent.

Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal sales candidate and ask, “What is it about this opportunity that will benefit me and my career the most?” and be sure to clearly articulate that during the interview process.

Recruiting A-player sales talent is difficult, but not impossible

Talented salespeople are used to receiving numerous job offers. To attract the best talent, you must have a structured recruiting process, which demonstrates why the role would be an excellent opportunity to advance their career.

Join us on Tuesday, May 9th for our exclusive webinar with our CEO @Anwar Allen to revamp your Sales Recruiting strategy!

Tired of Sales Turnover? 6 Tips to Hire & Retain Top Sales Performers

Have you ever been disappointed by hiring a salesperson that didn’t work out?

If the answer is yes, you’re not alone. Finding “rock star”  salespeople that fit your culture and consistently reach their numbers is hard to come by.

In fact, according to an assessment of over one million sales candidates by the Objective Management Group, only 26% of sales professionals are successful. That means 3 out of every 4 candidates hired in 2017 will not meet their goals.  

To help you overcome these costly hiring challenges, here are six tips for selecting, hiring and retaining top sales performers. 


1. Create the Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate profile should provide a detailed account of the skills, experience, personality characteristics and other qualifications that are essential to the position. More than a job description, the candidate profile serves as an internal document used to evaluate each candidate to accurately score compatibility. 

Criteria to include:

  • Ideal location 
  • Product/industry knowledge 
  • Personality characteristics
  • Selling skills (hunter, farmer, consultative sell, etc.) 
  • Compensation range and structure
  • Travel requirements
  • Quotas and performance goals

To ensure everyone is on the same page, outline your ideal candidate profile with your hiring team before you begin the recruiting process. Recruiting will run more smoothly and you will know exactly what type of candidate you’re looking for. 


2. Develop Your Recruitment Strategy

In today’s competitive landscape, it’s becoming harder to find quality sales talent. Be sure to have well-defined strategy in place. Know exactly how you plan to pursue, attract, and select your candidates. 

Your recruitment strategy should demonstrate your value to candidates and show why the opportunity you are offering is better than your competitors. 

Here are some things to consider when demonstrating your value: 

  • Are your products top-of-the-line in your industry?
  • Is your compensation package highly competitive?
  • Can you offer a top performing territory?
  • Do you provide a great sales environment with a winning culture?

Remember, quality salespeople are also examining your organization to determine if it’s the right fit for them. 


3. Take Time to Proactively Source Candidates

It’s no secret successful salespeople are rarely searching job boards to find their next opportunity. Posting your job description and waiting for candidates to pour in won’t get you the results you’re looking for.

Tactfully pursuing candidates is a great way to gain an edge in your market. It gives you the opportunity to expand your potential candidate pool, and puts you in a better position to recruit the best talent available.

LinkedIn is a great tool to use for sourcing candidates.  Use the search capabilities to enter the criteria from your ideal candidate profile.

Although sourcing can be time-consuming, it’s worth the effort. While every person you connect with may be a viable candidate, but this correspondence should not be viewed as a waste of time. Making new connections and asking for referrals will help to expand your network and fill positions in the future. 


4. Use a Sales Assessment to Screen Candidates 

Sales assessments are most effective when used at the beginning of your screening process. It allows you to quickly weed out candidates who aren’t a fit.
 

Personality assessments are great, but they only provide one piece of the puzzle. Using an assessment specifically for sales will help to identify the sales DNA of your candidates to accurately gauge selling skills.

Use an assessment that allows for customization to the sales role. For example; are you looking for a hunter with great prospecting skills or a farmer who quickly builds relationships. Know what skills are most important to you and make sure your candidate possesses them.  

If you are recruiting for sales positions and need help identifying the right person to hire, sign up for a Free Trial Assessment


5. Prepare for the Interview Process

One of the biggest mistakes hiring managers make is not adequately planning for the interview process. Preparing questions in advance is a great way to ensure your interviews are well-organized and you’re able to collect all the necessary information to make the right hiring decision. 

As you begin to outline your interview process, start by determining what steps your process will include. Be sure to also consider:

  • What interview format is best (phone, Skype, in-person, etc.)
  • Who will be involved in each step of the process?
  • What are your objectives and goals for each interview?
  • What are next steps after each phase is completed?  

Having a defined interview process will keep candidates engaged and will allow for faster hiring decisions. There’s nothing more frustrating than losing a great candidate to another offer because you moved too slow. 


6. Provide a Structured Onboarding Program

Did you know 35% of companies spend $0 on onboarding?(source

The average cost of a bad sales hire exceeds $115,000. An onboarding program to ensure your new hire’s success must be a top priority. In fact, organizations with a standardized onboarding process experience 54% greater new hire productivity, in addition to a 50% greater new hire retention.

When done right, your onboarding program should provide your new salespeople with the right tools, knowledge, and resources to be successful. It should be tailored to the needs of the individual and tie into a long-term developmental program that provides continuous coaching and training. 

Your onboarding program should include a 30-60-90 day plan that focuses training on your industry, tools, products, and processes. An effective onboarding program will maximize new hire potential by preparing them for success. 


Break the cycle of high sales turnover by having a systematic approach for hiring and retaining top sales talent. 

Not hitting your Sales Goals? 3 Tips for Record Sales in 2017

Entering the New Year, many executives are reflecting on how to increase revenues.

If you’re coming off an excellent 2016 you may be looking at how to replicate your success, and if it wasn’t such a great year you are probably trying to figure out how to right the ship.

No matter the case, CEOs and Sales Executives want to improve and grow their annual revenues.

To make 2017 your best sales year yet, here are 3 insights to help you exceed your goals.


Put an Actionable Sales Process in Place

Companies with a documented sales process close more deals – it’s that simple. According to Salesforce, businesses with a sales playbook are 33% more likely to be high-performers, yet 40% don’t have a sales playbook. 

With a documented sales process, your sales representatives are armed with actionable steps to systematically navigate and execute the sales process. Clarity on next steps will help to speed up the sales cycle, improve productivity and increase closing efficiency.

When creating or optimizing your sales process, make sure to cover these 3 critical areas:

  • Outline your sales process: Outlining and documenting your sales process gets your team on the same page. Aligning your sales process to your buyer’s needs will define what actions need to be taken in order to attract and close new business.
  • Define your steps and KPIs: It’s important to define the steps, stages, and key performance indicators ( KPIs ) for success. It’s great to have sales goals, but without clear steps to meet those goals, you’ll struggle to get there.
  • Automate your sales process: Leveraging a CRM tool is the best way to streamline your sales process, track activity, and manage your pipeline. Tailoring the platform to your unique sales process will help to automate sales – increasing your team’s efficiency. 

Example of a sales process.

How effective is your sales process? Schedule a free sales process evaluation


Recruit the Right Salespeople

On average 67% of all salespeople fail to meet their sales quota. This is an expensive problem to fix, but the best way to increase your odds of boosting sales is to have the right people with the right skills for YOUR sales system.

Here are 5 steps to take to ensure you select and hire the best talent for your team. 

1. Define your ideal candidate profile: Before you begin recruiting, it’s important to understand your ideal candidate. Work with your team to understand the specific competencies, product knowledge, and personality traits that are needed to be successful. This profile will serve as your benchmark and qualification criteria for evaluating candidates.

2. Consider your recruitment strategy: You’ve established your ideal candidate profile, you need to map your scouting strategy. Defining your approach creates clarity to identify, attract, and select the right candidate for your needs.

3. Structure your interview process: Before you begin scheduling phone and in-person interviews, you should collaborate with other relevant stakeholders to determine what you want to learn about your candidates on the front-end. Like most things in life, being prepared is half the battle for a smoother process. Use the candidate profile to get a clear idea of the qualifications you’re seeking to add to your team. Let it guide you to ask specific questions that will give you deeper insights into your candidate’s relevant experience and compatibility with your sales environment.

4. Incorporate a sales skills assessment: To accurately predict sales performance it’s going to require more than a personality test. Sales skills assessments will measure the candidate’s sales DNA to ensure you hire the perfect match for your business and sales environment. Include the assessment at the beginning of your screening process to dramatically reduce the time and energy spent interviewing unqualified candidates. Choose an assessment that is customizable to your ideal candidate profile and sales environment to get a true gauge on compatibility.

5. Don’t stop once you’ve given an offer: Your onboarding and training program will play a considerable role in the success of your new hire. You should begin developing your on-boarding program prior to making a hiring decision.  Your on-boarding program should define the tools and resources needed for success. Providing the proper support and setting clear objectives will go a long way to accelerating ramp-up and reducing turnover.
How much is a bad sales hire costing you? Check out this sales hiring mistake calculator.


Implement the Right Tools and Technology

Utilizing the right technology will help to automate your sales process, increase sales productivity and improve efficiency. 

The importance of choosing the right technology cannot be understated. Using the right tools to track metrics and analytics will provide valuable information to help you make informed decisions.

With the wide variety of technologies available, below are 3 steps to help you determine the right option for your needs.  

  • Define requirements: Not all tools are created equal. Clearly defining your user and technical requirements will help you determine the features and functionality your sales team requires.
  • Keep the future in mind: Whatever technology you choose, consider your needs down the line. If your business grows exponentially, will that tool scale with you? Companies that only consider their present needs may end up requiring a more robust platform in future. In most cases it’s better to over buy and turn on new features as you need them, rather than migrating to a new system at a later time.
  • Plan your implementation and user training: Many organizations purchase a new system, but fail to establish an actionable plan for how to roll it out to their team. Not taking the time to properly plan your implementation and training needs will often lead to low adoption and improper use. For your team to use your sales tools effectively, it’s important to provide them with instructions and best practices. 

With your actionable sales process, the right team, and the appropriate technologies in place, you are well on your way to executing your vision and surpassing your sales goals in 2017 .

The New England Patriots and How to Build a Successful Sales Team

The New England Patriots is an excellent model for what a well-oiled machine is supposed to look like. Since Bill Belichick has been at the reigns, The Pats has perennially been a 12-win team. That includes one year with Matt Cassel at Quarterback, and this past season with Tom Brady serving a 4-game suspension). Over the course of 17 seasons, Belichick has won 14 division titles, racked up 26 postseason wins (the most postseason wins by an NFL head coach), 7 AFC championship games, and 5 Super Bowls.

There are many things people can say about the “hoodie”, but one thing no one can discount is his level of consistency.

Outside of his short and dry responses to questions from the media, Belichick’s process-oriented approach to the game has contributed a lot to New England’s dominance.

Let’s take a look at a few principles that organizations can learn from the New England Patriots when building a high performing sales system. 


Know your Strengths

The Patriots have never been perfect. The Patriots won Super Bowl 51 with a flawed defense against a high octane offense in the Atlanta Falcons. Identifying and leveraging their strengths over their weakness is what Belichick and his staff do well.

On the offensive side of the ball, they were missing their superstar Tight-End, Rob Gronkowski for the last half of the season. They didn’t have a dynamic receiver like Antonio Brown or Odell Beckham Jr. to cover the slack. They didn’t have a dominating defense like the Giants or the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom”, yet they still found ways to win.

What’s their secret?

Belichick and his staff have a great track record of identifying and leveraging their strengths over their weakness.

Taking an honest assessment of what your sales force does well gives you clarity of what to do in the long run. It allows you to have a bird’s eye view of your sales operations, and take inventory on what actions should be taken to improve efficiently.

The Patriot coaching staff understands there is no way they can be great at everything.

Understanding the DNA of your sales team will help you determine how to build around your weaknesses, what skills your salespeople need to be trained on, and the adjustments to the sales process to overcome your deficiencies.


Create A Sales Plan That Aligns With Your Goals

“In their eyes, Belichick was playing a very strategic, intricate game of chess while everybody else was playing checkers.” – Curtis Martin on how much his former teammates loved Belichick.

In sales, your version of winning the Super Bowl is to meet your sales quota for the year.

No other team in NFL history has attained the level of success as New England. At the core of what influences their operation is the effectiveness of their system.

They approach each season by starting with the end goal in mind. Being clear on what your goals are and the benchmarks you need to achieve are crucial. Belichick and his staff stay on top of what the trends in the league are and adjust their tactics accordingly.

One of the biggest perks to having a clear and concise system, is everyone understands their role and responsibilities.

The Patriots attention to detail and preparation stands out from a lot of other NFL organizations. They lean heavily on data and analytics and utilize their insights to develop their strategy. In contrast, the San Diego Chargers, who have experienced some success over the years have struggled to sustain it.

When asked about his thoughts about analytics and how it effects his game plan, Chargers coach Mike McCoy said that it didn’t. McCoy said, “I’m going to go with my gut decision on those things. No one can tell me on a piece of paper this is the right thing or the wrong thing to do.” Well, we all saw how that turned out. The Chargers ended up with a 5-11 record, they requested to relocate cities, and McCoy lost his job.

Relying on your gut instincts and not having a clear sales plan or playbook is a recipe for disaster.

Having a documented sales process and system is at the core of growing your business. It allows you to be clear about who the right people are for your team’s unique needs and creates transparency for your team.


Have The Right Players and Personnel

“You go to the draft board and think, ‘Here’s a nose tackle. Who needs a nose tackle?’ Well, eight teams in front of you need a nose tackle, and there’s [only] two nose tackles. It’s something you have to figure out where you can get the players to play in your system.” – Coach Belichick

Although it’s Belichick that gets all the accolades as being one of the greatest coaches ever, he didn’t do it alone. New England has some of the best analytics and coaches in the game.

Ernie Adams has served as the Director of Football Research for 16 seasons. Belichick and Adams regularly conduct a deep analysis of game film, stats and trends. These insights are used to develop plays and schemes, prioritize draft picks and determine who they should go after in free agency.   

In your sales organization, you need someone you can lean on to advise on the types of sales professionals you need for your system. 

Now, you may be saying to yourself, it’s easy to be successful when you have an elite Quarterback to execute the game plan. It’s easy to forget that the 5-time Super Bowl MVP wasn’t supposed to be here. Tom Brady was a backup QB, who was drafted in the 6th round of the 2001 draft.

What Belichick and his team understand more than anything, is strength is NOT the same as talent. When Brady was coming out of college, scouts said that Tom lacked the tools to be a starting Quarterback in the NFL. It turned out that what he lacked in talent he was able to overcompensate for with his football IQ.

The difference between the New England approach to free agency and others is that The Patriots focus on selecting the RIGHT player for their system, not necessarily the best.

When the Pats decided to upgrade their wide receiver core this past offseason, Belichick could’ve easily splurged. Mohamed Sanu, was a big name in free agency last season, but Belichick ended up signing Chris Hogan. Sanu ended up signing with Atlanta for $32 million with $14 million guaranteed (653 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns), while Hogan signed a 3-year $12 million dollar deal (680 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns). Who got the better deal?

No matter what your feelings are about the Patriots, their close to 20-years of dominance is unparalleled, especially in the salary cap era. New England’s ability to assess their strengths, recruit and train players that fit their system, and the uncanny ability to abstain from investing too much in low return free agents is the crux of their longevity.   

Everybody wants to have a team full of “Rock Star salespeople”. The truth is, the sum is always greater than the parts, and nobody does that better than the New England Patriots.

By creating and defining a sales system, identifying and building around your strengths, creating a recruiting strategy to attract and retain the right salespeople for YOURorganization, and having the right tools and technology in place, you’re in a great position to exceed your sales targets.