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.
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:
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.
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