Tag: SALES TRAINING

Top 10 Skills SaaS Sales Reps Need to Succeed in 2025

Posted on by Nick Mann

Recent data shows that there are more than 42,000 SaaS companies worldwide, with 12,400 in the US alone. With fierce competition, hiring salespeople with the right skillset has never been more important. For this post, we’ll look at the top 10 skills SaaS sales reps need in 2025 so you’ll know what to focus on when making your hiring decisions.

Let’s jump right in.

1. A Data-Driven Sales Approach

On this blog, we’ve talked countless times about how the “going with your gut” approach is, for the most part, now antiquated and is a quick way for reps to get themselves in trouble. Not that there isn’t a need for some level of intuition, but basing decisions on sound, concrete data rather than instinct is by far the better approach in 2025.

Looking at things like lead generation sources, customer patterns and trends, and pipeline metrics almost always leads to smarter decisions, which, in turn, puts reps in a position to thrive.

2. An In-Depth Understanding of AI

AI has saturated nearly every aspect of business and life. So it should come as no surprise that being proficient in AI is one of the vital skills SaaS sales reps need to win in our modern era.

From AI-driven analytics to lead scoring to automated outreach, there is a wide array of use cases, with that number growing every day. To truly thrive in this type of position, it’s best to find SaaS sales reps who understand the ins and outs of AI and continually look for new ways for it to help them perform at their best.

3. Tech Stack Building Skills

Because your salespeople are selling software as a service, it only makes sense that they themselves should be adept at using the right mix of software to do their job at a high level.

If one SaaS sales rep has an amazing tech stack that allows them to fire on all cylinders and maximize productivity, the odds of them succeeding are infinitely higher than another rep who haphazardly uses any old tools. So keep this in mind when making your hiring decisions.

4. Excellent Virtual Communication

Back in the day, sales communication was largely done face-to-face or on the phone. But today’s digital landscape has forever changed that, and now the most successful reps are capable of seamlessly interacting with customers across a variety of virtual platforms.

Whether it’s through email, social media, a messenger, video calls, or any other platform, a rep should be able to communicate clearly and concisely. They should also bring the same level of expertise and charisma that they would through more traditional mediums.

5. Advanced Presentation Skills (With Case Studies)

Although the need for presentation skills is nothing new, the caliber of those presentation skills needs to be significantly higher than it used to be. Also, SaaS salespeople need to connect the dots for leads with real-life case studies.

Often, the key to getting a lead over the hump is to show them firsthand how other customers have implemented your product and how it’s been the catalyst for improvement (with quantifiable data).

A good example is this customer story from appointment scheduling platform Calendly, which showcases how one client saw a dramatic spike in ROI after using their product.

6. Storytelling Abilities

This piggybacks on advanced presentation skills but speaks to the importance of consultative selling, where a rep advises a customer on which product is right for them rather than using aggressive sales tactics.

Storytelling is particularly effective because it doesn’t just involve rattling off a list of features, but builds easy-to-follow narratives about how your product makes a customer’s life easier. It’s perfect for tapping into a lead’s emotions and helps them see the big picture to influence their buying decision.

7. Proficiency with Internal Digital Collaboration Tools

Earlier, I mentioned the importance of a SaaS salesperson being able to assemble a quality tech stack, mainly for customer interactions. But it’s equally important that they’re proficient with internal tools like project management software, video conferencing platforms, Google Drive, and so on.

That’s because this allows them to seamlessly interact with other team members across different departments (like marketing, for example) to increase the chances of closing more deals.

8. Strategic Prospecting

In such a competitive market, you can’t afford to have your SaaS salespeople chasing after weak leads with small odds of converting. Instead, they need to focus their efforts on only the hottest leads who are primed and ready to buy.

That’s why strategic prospecting is another of the skills SaaS sales reps need in 2025. One of the best ways to ensure consistent high lead quality is with lead scoring to rate leads based on specific actions like the ones below.

9. Intimate SaaS Product Knowledge

This skill goes without saying. But I wanted to mention that to be at the forefront of your industry, it’s not enough for salespeople to just understand the basics of your SaaS product.

They need to see the big picture and know how it can fit the unique needs of every lead they interact with. That’s why intensive, hands-on training is ideal during onboarding.

10. Resilience and the Ability to Seamlessly Handle Objections

These soft skills have always been important, but with the level of skepticism that many of today’s leads have, they’re essential. Therefore, it’s smart to use a data-driven sales hiring tool to quantify how a candidate stacks up before making your decision.

Focusing on the Vital Skills SaaS Sales Reps Need

There are certain inherent skills that a salesperson will always need, such as product knowledge and resilience. But others, like AI knowledge and data proficiency, are undeniably vital to success in 2025. Having a firm grasp on these specific skills should give you a one-up in recruiting, so you’ll know which candidates are likely to be your greatest assets.

Speaking of finding top talent, be sure to use the Sales Skills Assessment to find the best of the best, with 95% accuracy in predicting future success.

The Importance of Continuous Learning in Sales Team Development

Posted on by Nick Mann

You’ve just hired a new salesperson who shows a ton of potential. You’ve gotten them successfully onboarded, and they have a solid grasp of your products, industry, and culture. They’re achieving positive results, meeting or even exceeding your expectations. In situations like these, it’s easy to become complacent and take your foot off the gas with the rep’s development. But most experts warn against this, saying continuous learning is critical for fully developing your sales team.

Here’s why, along with plenty of research-backed data to fully illuminate the importance of continuous learning in the sales profession.

First, the Stats

Before I dive into the details, let me provide a basic overview of the specific benefits continuous learning can have for sales teams.

According to HubSpot, “Companies with continuous sales training reap as high as 50% higher net sales per employee than companies without.” Let that sink in for a second. 50%!

That alone should be enough to pique the interest of any sales leader and clearly shows that prioritizing ongoing learning can have an immense impact on sales.

Next, an SHRM survey found that “More than 8 in 10 hiring managers believe salesperson training helps attract the right candidates.” Further, the study says “76% of salespeople are more likely to stay with a company that offers continuous training.”

Additionally, Lorman Education Services states, “74% of salespeople are willing to learn new skills or re-train to remain employable,” and “87% of millennials believe learning and development in the workplace is important.”

Crunching these numbers together tells us a few key things about continuous learning:

  • It can send sales soaring
  • It’s integral for attracting and retaining elite sales reps
  • The majority of salespeople are willing to continuously learn, with most feeling it’s important to their career progression

Now that we have an understanding of the data behind why continuous learning makes sense, let’s further unpack some specific applications.

Mastering Product Knowledge

I’m always a proponent of hiring candidates who can sell and then teaching them the industry and product, rather than hiring those who know the industry and product and then teaching them how to sell.

That said, having a firm command of your product line is always vitally important. To truly optimize the customer journey, offer great demos, and perfectly match leads with the right products, your reps need to know your products inside and out.

While most can learn the essentials fairly quickly, mastering product knowledge takes time. And given the continuous new iterations and developments that are par for the course for most products these days, it’s something that never ends.

This is especially true for companies that offer a wide range of solutions, like Mailchimp, for example. Check out what they currently offer — everything from email marketing and SMS marketing to audience management and marketing automation. And let’s not forget that they cater to several different industries, where the applications of the solutions can differ.

One of the biggest reasons to invest in continuous learning is so that reps know every last detail of your products and stay on top of new developments as they unfold.

Staying Ahead of Market Changes

Just as products are in perpetual evolution, so is the market itself. New technology, customer trends, sales techniques, and competitor strategies are constantly emerging at a rapid speed. For sales teams that take a “one-and-done approach” to learning that ends after initial onboarding, they’re unlikely to be equipped to thrive in our dynamic sales world.

However, those who place a strong emphasis on continuous learning in sales team development should remain agile enough to 1) see market changes happen in advance and 2) seamlessly adapt. If you’re one of the brands that fall under this category, you’re almost guaranteed to have an advantage over a large portion of competitors who lag behind.

Learning and Refining Sales Strategies

One of the most exciting things about sales is that there’s no ceiling. A good salesperson can become great, and a great salesperson can become elite. No matter how skilled a rep is, they can always take it further and continuously improve their craft.

When continuous learning is baked into your sales team’s mindset, your reps are in a position to learn new sales strategies that unfold and refine their existing ones. And with a wide array of comprehensive educational sales programs available, there’s really no excuse to not work this into the fold.

Here are just a few examples of some professional sales training courses currently offered by Dale Carnegie Training.

And if you’re looking for the be-all and end-all guide to sales training programs, I suggest reading this post from HubSpot.

Building Knowledge and Confidence

There’s one last, but critically important, aspect of building a growth-centric culture. Helping your sales team continually build their knowledge, as well as their confidence.

Think of it like this.

A huge part of mastering sales is simply “having salespeople get their reps in.” The more times a salesperson goes over a product, rehearses a demo, works on their pitch, and so on, the more comfortable they’re going to feel when they’re interacting with a lead.

In other words, there’s a clear correlation between practice and confidence.

When continuous learning is part of a salesperson’s job description, the more knowledge they’ll gain and the more confident they’ll be. And given that confidence is considered by many to be a core competency of high-performing sales reps, you can see why this is so important for thriving in this profession.

The Foundation of Sales Excellence: Continuous Learning

From increased sales to salesperson attraction and retention to mastering product knowledge to staying at the forefront of your market, there’s no denying the impact continuous learning can have on your sales team. That’s why I can’t stress enough the importance of going beyond initial onboarding and firmly ingraining ongoing growth into the fabric of your culture.

To find elite-level reps that you can train and develop, register with HireDNA today. We make it simple to attract, recruit, and retain the best sales talent, faster using science-based, data-backed technology.

The First 90 Days: A Blueprint for New Hire Retention Success

Posted on by Nick Mann

The first 90 days after hiring a new salesperson are make or break. Make them feel welcome, get them up-to-speed quickly with efficient onboarding, and help them build team connections, and you stand a much greater chance of new hire retention.

On the other hand, failing to check these boxes can put them at far greater risk of premature turnover. Poor onboarding in particular is problematic, as 80% of new hires who receive lackluster onboarding say they plan to quit soon.

In this post, I’ll offer a simple blueprint for the first 90 days of a new salesperson’s tenure so you can get them plugged into your team, equip them for success, and dramatically increase new hire retention.

Create a Welcome Package

First impressions are everything. If you go out of your way to make a new sales rep feel welcome and quickly get their bearings, it sets a positive tone moving forward.

One of the best ways to do this is by creating a standard welcome package for every new hire, which “is a collection of paperwork, resources, information, and welcome items.” Here are some common things you may want to include:

  • A welcome letter
  • Team member directory
  • Office and parking lot layout information
  • An overview of your company culture
  • WiFi login info
  • Workplace policies
  • Recommended local restaurants and shops

You may also want to include some gifts like company apparel, books, or a gift card to get started out on the right foot. Here’s an example of what Salesforce includes in its welcome package.

For a detailed overview of how to create your own custom welcome package, I suggest reading this post from HR software company Eddy.

Offer Structured, Phased Onboarding

Research has found that “organizations with strong employee onboarding can increase retention by 82%.” However, a large number of today’s companies (36%) lack a structured onboarding process.

These numbers tell us that, by default, optimizing your onboarding process should put your brand in the top two-thirds, and there should be a tangible impact on retention. More specifically, it’s best to develop a structured onboarding system that moves in phases, allowing salespeople to gradually grow and build their skills without overwhelming them.

Here’s a simple example of what it may look like where phases are broken down into 30-day increments.

During the first 30 days, there’s a focus on the basics like understanding your company’s mission, learning the ins and outs of products, and identifying priorities. From 30 – 60 days, a rep is expected to gain three new accounts and manage three existing accounts. And from 60 – 90 days, a rep prepares for mid-level accounts, builds on their product knowledge, and so on.

Again, this is an oversimplified version of onboarding, but it shows how having a clearly defined system that lays the groundwork for incremental progress can help get a salesperson firing on all cylinders.

Have Routine Check-Ins

Whether it’s keeping tabs on a new salesperson’s progress, answering questions or concerns, or just chatting about their overall experience, maintaining a clear line of communication should go a long way in helping a rep reach their full potential while also providing a positive experience. This is especially important during the first 30 days when a person is just learning the ropes and should help any minor issues from escalating into larger ones.

Ideally, you’ll have a dedicated senior team member check in at regular intervals with each new hire. And always be sure that you 1) have an open door policy where reps know they can promptly get in touch with someone whenever they need to and 2) encourage them to initiate a discussion.

This brings us to the final part of the new hire retention formula.

Facilitate Relationship-Building

Another common barrier to retention is a lack of connectedness or, in many cases, loneliness — something that’s become quite common in the modern workplace. And we’re not just talking about remote workers. In total, 82% of employees said they felt lonely at work during a 2022 study.

Needless to say, if someone feels like they’re on an island, they’re unlikely to experience a high level of job satisfaction. When this happens at scale, it can create a serious turnover problem.

In terms of a solution, it largely boils down to being proactive about facilitating relationship-building. I like what The Harvard Business Review has to say about it.

“Building relationships during their first year can help new hires feel less isolated and more confident. New hires, in partnership with their manager, should identify 7-10 people — superiors, peers, direct reports, and internal and external customers — whose success they will contribute to, or who will contribute to their success. The new hire should then craft plans to connect with each stakeholder, one-on-one, during their first year.”

While your game plan doesn’t necessarily have to be as comprehensive as this, creating strong relationships should be a priority and is integral to building a winning culture.

New Hire Retention: Making the First 90 Days Count

With a third of salespeople quitting their jobs within the first 90 days, this is a critical time to go above and beyond. While there’s a lot that goes into maximizing new hire retention, four key areas to focus on are properly welcoming new salespeople, providing them with adequate onboarding, maintaining close communication, and helping them truly become part of the team.

By checking these boxes, you can help them get plugged in and fully integrated with the least amount of friction. In turn, you can reap the rewards of low turnover by reducing recruiting costs, strengthening company culture, boosting morale, and much more.

And if you’re looking to recruit the best of the best salespeople in your industry, check out the Objective Management Group sales assessment. It focuses on core competencies to find candidates who are not only great salespeople but who are equipped to thrive in your unique selling environment.

Using Data for Informed Sales Coaching: Metrics that Matter

Posted on by Nick Mann

No matter how skilled, experienced, or flat-out amazing a salesperson is, there’s always room for improvement. For perspective, studies have found that companies that invest in informed sales coaching see 8% more annual revenue, a 28% higher win rate, and 88% more productivity.

But how do you decide which specific areas of sales coaching to focus on?

For this post, I’d like to share the three core areas we base our evaluation process on for existing sales employees to facilitate optimal coaching and development programs.

3 Core Areas for Informed Sales Coaching

Let me start by saying there are a nearly endless number of factors that can impact a salesperson’s performance. Everything from product knowledge to negotiation skills to sales technology comprehension plays a role in a rep’s results.

But to streamline sales coaching, there are three core areas that we zero in on:

  • Will to Sell
  • Sales DNA
  • Tactical competencies

“Will to Sell measures an individual’s sales-specific drive to succeed, Sales DNA measures the core underlying beliefs and actions that either support or limit sales success, and Tactical Competencies measure skills and abilities necessary throughout the sales lifecycle.”

Within each area are individual competencies that go more granular. With Will to Sell, for example, there’s desire, commitment, outlook, responsibility, and motivation. Here’s a full breakdown.

The key to truly understanding where a rep is currently at and how to deliver the best sales coaching starts with assessing each of these core areas and quantifying the results. In other words, it’s all about the data.

Once you’re armed with this information, you can customize your sales coaching accordingly to address their weaknesses and develop better overall habits.

With that said, let’s fully unpack the three core areas for informed sales coaching and look at how you can objectively analyze an existing rep’s performance.

Will to Sell

Having a strong Will to Sell is an essential precursor to success. You could argue that regardless of how knowledgeable and skilled a rep is, they likely won’t reach their full potential without the Will to Sell.

Again, measuring this involves analyzing five main competencies:

  • Desire
  • Commitment
  • Outlook
  • Responsibility
  • Motivation

Here’s an example of how these competencies can be objectively measured using an assessment like the Objective Management Group Sales Assessment.

In this example, a rep scored:

  • A score of 86 for desire
  • A 70 for commitment
  • A 75 for outlook
  • A 67 for responsibility
  • A 72 for motivation

By these numbers, the rep meets or exceeds their target for each competency. However, considering that the rep barely reached their target of 75 for outlook, that would be the primary area of focus for sales training.

This is only a mock example, of course, but it shows which specific competencies are most important with the Will to Sell and how you could use data to objectively assess those competencies.

Sales DNA

The next core competency is what we call Sales DNA, “which measures a salesperson’s beliefs and actions that support or limit success in sales. Salespeople are often unaware of how their biases can negatively impact their interactions with customers.”

Under the umbrella of Sales DNA are six core competencies:

  • Doesn’t need approval
  • Stays in the moment
  • Supportive beliefs
  • Supportive buy cycle
  • Comfortable discussing money
  • Handles rejection

Here’s an example of how these competencies could be evaluated objectively.

According to the results, this salesperson exceeds their target in all competencies. However, stays in the moment, supportive beliefs, and supportive buy cycle are just barely above target, indicating that these could potentially be areas of focus for informed sales coaching.

Tactical

The third and final area is Tactical, which includes several competencies, including:

  • Hunting
  • Reaching decision-makers
  • Relationship building
  • Consultative selling
  • Selling value
  • Qualifying
  • Presentation approach
  • Closing
  • Sales process
  • Sales technology

Here’s an example of how you could measure a salesperson’s Tactical competencies.

Among the first six competencies, hunting is the only one that’s below target. That means it would be a critical area of focus for sales training. Otherwise, everything looks quite good.

As for the other four remaining competencies, closing, sales process, and sales technology scores are all lower than they should be. Therefore, those would also be important points of emphasis.

Putting the Pieces Together

Now let’s zoom out and come up with a tailored approach for the mock salesperson from this example.

According to the results, a sales trainer would want to focus on the following:

  • Will to Sell – Outlook
  • Sales DNA – Stays in the moment, supportive beliefs, and supportive buy cycle
  • Tactical – Hunting, closing, sales process, and sales technology

Keep in mind that the competencies from Will to Sell and Sales DNA were all on target or better, which means they wouldn’t be top priority. The four Tactical competencies, however, were all below target, which means they should receive top priority.

From there, the sales coaching team could come up with an individualized game plan to improve these areas of weakness and get the rep to where they need to be. Again, this is an arbitrary example, but it clearly shows which specific competencies you should analyze and how objective data can be utilized to fully understand a rep’s current abilities and figure out the best approach for enhancing their performance.

Optimizing Your Talent with Informed Sales Coaching

Sales coaching should never take a one-size-fits-all approach. Every rep is different, with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and each is at a different stage in their sales career.

That’s why you need to 1) identify core competencies to focus on and 2) objectively measure how a rep is currently performing in those areas. From there, you can tailor your sales coaching to laser focus on the areas that need the most improvement. Also, you’ll know where a rep is thriving so you can refine those areas even more to help them reach their absolute peak potential.

To learn more about the sales skills assessment featured above, check out the Objective Management Group Sales Assessment.

The Science of Persuasion: Training Sales Teams to Influence Buyers

Posted on by Nick Mann

When you break it all down, selling is simply explaining how your product solves a problem and persuading a lead to buy. Of course, there’s a lot that goes into that, but if your salespeople know how to effectively persuade leads, their jobs become much easier. And that’s what I’m going to tackle in this post — training sales teams on the science of persuasion.

Below are the best of the best strategies using proven psychology to win over more customers.

Seek to Form a Genuine Connection First

There’s a Harvard Business Review article that’s nearly 14 years old but offers timeless advice about the importance of salesperson-lead connections.

“The most product-knowledgeable salesperson is not necessarily the most persuasive one because it takes more than logic and reason to change buyers’ opinions. A personal connection must be forged.”

I think this hits the nail right on the head. A critical precursor to anything else is first establishing a solid connection. Otherwise, it’s going to be an uphill battle the rest of the way. If, however, legitimate rapport is made from the start, the rest will often fall into place.

It’s not rocket science. If the human element comes into play, it:

  • Makes leads open up to explain their needs and pain points so a rep can properly address them
  • Makes leads more open to a rep’s input
  • Lowers a lead’s resistance

So while salespeople obviously need to be knowledgeable, I can’t stress enough the importance of connection-building, and it should receive top priority in the psychology of persuasion.

Leverage Reciprocity

One of the leaders in exploring psychology within the context of sales and marketing is Robert Cialdini, who in 1984 published a book called Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. One of Cialdini’s main principles in the book is reciprocity, meaning if you give a lead something unexpected, they will often feel inclined (consciously or unconsciously) to return the favor.

While the entirety behind this concept would take a long time to fully unpack, the gist is that there’s a natural tendency with human nature to repay someone. Otherwise, it creates what’s called an unequal exchange.

Say, for instance, when a salesperson reaches out to an early-stage lead, they provide them with free research report data and don’t ask for anything in return. This action would plant a seed and set the stage for reciprocity where the lead would likely feel compelled to return the favor.

While this doesn’t necessarily mean the favor will be buying, reciprocity taps into powerful human psychology that can be extremely potent for influencing buyers. Therefore, it’s something I strongly recommend training sales teams on.

Deepen Trust with Social Proof

“The principle of social proof states that people will look to the behaviors and actions of others to determine their own, especially when they are certain,” writes technology thought leader Rahul Vashneya. “This is extremely applicable to the buyer journey of your customers since at that particular stage, they’re looking out for social proof by all means to back up the decision they’re about to make.”

Say, for instance, a lead has moved through the awareness stage and is now in the consideration stage where they’re seriously thinking of buying your product.

This would be the perfect time for your rep to provide social proof and confirm that buying your product would, in fact, be a smart decision.

Here’s an example of how scheduling app Calendly uses social proof to win over more leads. First, they have concrete data that tangibly illustrates how effective using their app is.

Second, they reference leading organizations that use and love Calendly.

Third, they have multiple customer stories…

…as well as videos that give firsthand accounts of real customers using Calendly and how it’s been beneficial.

All a salesperson has to do is choose a relevant customer story to share with a lead in the consideration stage to reinforce Calendly’s value and help connect the dots of how it can help their company. As long as it’s the right social proof at the right time, this can have a profound impact, often raising the conversion rate substantially.

To quantify, one study found that social proof increased conversions by 15%.

Create a Sense of Urgency to Encourage Leads to Take Action

Let’s say that a rep has successfully moved a lead through the majority of the sales funnel. They’ve answered their core questions, addressed pain points, handled objections, and so on.

They’re now at the point where they can realistically close the deal. But how can they significantly increase the chances of a lead converting rather than taking more time to “think about it?”

One of the most effective strategies is creating a sense of urgency to motivate leads to go ahead and pull the trigger instead of mulling it over. A simple example would be offering a limited-time discount where a lead can save money by purchasing right away. However, you can use pretty much anything that provides added value and incentive.

Do this effectively, and you can leverage the powerful psychological concept of urgency that gets a greater number of leads to take action.

Just note that you don’t want to go overboard with it to the point that your reps become too pushy. When this happens, it may sour leads and do more harm than good. Creating a sense of urgency is a bit of an art, but when done right can have a huge impact.

Training Sales Teams with Proven Psychology

Regardless of what you’re selling or what industry you’re in, the same concepts of sales persuasion apply across the board. Properly training sales teams on techniques like connection-building, reciprocity, social proof, and sense of urgency should ensure they check all the right boxes as they attempt to move leads through the sales funnel.

That way, they can create a better customer experience end-to-end and should be able to ultimately close more deals.

Speaking of sales teams, if you’re looking to assemble a team of elite professionals, check out The OMG Sales Assessment. 92% of candidates recommended by this assessment go on to reach the top half of their sales force.

Investing in Salesperson Training Can Have Up to 353% ROI: Why it Pays to Develop Your Talent

Posted on by hiredna

In a previous post, I mentioned that it typically takes about 11 months for a new salesperson to become fully productive and around 15 months to become a top performer. That’s one of the main reasons why salesperson training is so important. It accelerates ramp time and helps reps reach their full potential more quickly and succeed in a competitive environment.

But this brings up a pressing question. What exactly is the ROI of salesperson training? And how much can you expect to get back for every $1 you invest?

That’s what I’ll discuss in this post.

Looking at 2020 Data

Let’s cut right to the chase. A 2020 study by Southern New Hampshire University found that salesperson training can have an ROI of up to 353%. And a separate 2020 study by the Sales Management Association found “teams that invest in sales training and development are 57% more effective than teams that don’t.”

That’s really impressive!

While this isn’t to say that every company will see results of this magnitude, as lower-performing teams only see an ROI of 4%, this shows the sky-high potential of properly investing in the development of your sales team.

To quantify even further, the monetary return for salesperson training is as much as $4.53 for every dollar invested. Again, this is on the high end of the spectrum, and you can’t automatically assume it will be this much for every company, but many businesses do see this amount of return, which is extremely promising.

Other Compelling Data

To add a bit more perspective to the picture, let me mention a few other statistics that illuminate things further.

Research by Clear Company found that “68% of salespeople say training and development is the most important workplace policy. Although numerous factors contribute to the success of salespeople, such as having the requisite skillset and a guided sales process, more than two-thirds believe salesperson training is the number one factor. Conversely, “reps cited lack of skills and training and development as the main reasons they chose to voluntarily leave their positions. And 40% of employees who receive poor sales training will leave their positions within the first year.”

employee turnover

This speaks to the correlation between inadequate salesperson training and turnover — something that’s absolutely toxic to establishing a winning sales team and to overall company culture. By looking at the big picture, it’s clear just how vital it is to develop your talent, and shows that it helps in multiple ways. Both in getting more out of your salespeople in their day-to-day operations and in reducing turnover.

The Core Benefits of Salesperson Training

At this point, I think we can agree that, when done right, sales training pays off. And we’ve looked at quantifiable data that tells us just how profitable it can be. But what are some specific ways that it produces this type of ROI?

Besides a shorter ramp time, as I mentioned earlier, there are four core benefits that lead to your company earning more money.

First, the better your sales reps are at doing their jobs, the greater the number of deals they’ll inevitably be a part of. From more effective prospecting to lead outreach to lead nurturing, salespeople should become more skilled at this essential aspect of their job, which, in turn, should maximize the number of chances they have to convert.

Next, salesperson training sets the stage for reps to boost the average profit margin per deal. As Modern Sales Training points out, “the best sales teams have learned how important it is to differentiate themselves to build value inside their deals, and building that value is a hot topic for sales training.” The better trained your salespeople are, the more perceived value they can bring to your products or services, which allows them to sell at a premium price.

Third, having well-trained reps naturally makes it easier to close more deals. After all, your salespeople will be in a better position to build rapport with leads, address their pain points, overcome objections, and so on, ultimately letting leads know why they should choose your company over a competitor. As a result, your competitive winning percentage should increase, and you’ll be better able to stand out even in a saturated market.

Finally, there’s the higher retention rate that tends to come along with robust sales training, which I touched on previously. I think Modern Sales Training articulates this phenomenon perfectly with this quote.

“All people want to feel like they’re improving themselves and increasing their skills. If people feel like they have learned all they can learn at your company, they will start to look for another challenge elsewhere.” Smart organizations recognize this and “create sales learning paths for their reps to always have the opportunity for growth, to challenge themselves, and give them the chance to improve their sales skills which will earn them more money.”

By putting your team in a position to succeed and leverage their full potential, most salespeople can’t help but feel more inclined to stick around for longer. And it often instills a deep sense of loyalty, which can strengthen your overall culture.

Why It Literally Pays to Develop Your Talent

Most sales leaders know that salesperson training is important and has value. But not all understand just how big of an impact it can have. With some companies seeing an ROI of up to 353% or $4.53 for every $1 spent, it’s well worth the effort and can pay dividends in the long run.

And if you’re looking to find dream candidates using a proven science-based approach, check out HireDNA. This cutting-edge software allows you to attract and retain top industry talent, with over 90% of candidates climbing to the top of the sales force within their first year.

Onboarding Remote Salespeople vs. In-House Salespeople: Strategies to Win at Each

Posted on by hiredna

A growing number of today’s sales companies have a mix of both in-house and remote salespeople. In fact, recent data from HubSpot found that 46% of sales companies now implement a hybrid model. While there will certainly be some overlap between onboarding remote salespeople and in-house salespeople, each demands its own unique strategies.

With that said, here’s how to handle each.

Onboarding Remote Salespeople

Convert Traditional Onboarding Materials into a Digital Format

The first order of business for sales leaders making the shift to remote onboarding is to take the traditional onboarding materials you’ve been using over the years and make them easily accessible for remote reps. This may sound obvious, but it’s one of the biggest stumbling blocks among sales trainers just getting their feet wet. After all, if there’s a major gulf between the materials your remote salespeople access and what your regular in-house reps access, it’s guaranteed to create friction. That’s why you want to ensure there’s complete homogeneity between the two.

So how exactly do you go about this?

I suggest taking inventory of essential onboarding materials, such as your employee handbook, company policies, company culture outline, and so on, and creating a digital packet that’s accessible through an online portal. This is a great starting point and will provide a cornerstone of online resources for all your remote reps to help them get their bearings.

Create a Series of Onboarding Videos

One of the biggest barriers to successfully onboarding remote salespeople is the lack of personal touch they don’t get like they would with face-to-face, in-person training. While it’s impossible to completely replicate the in-house experience, you can get pretty close by creating a series of onboarding videos. And when done correctly with iterations over time, this can help you create a consistent, repeatable process that adds the personal touch with minimal time expenditure.

Fortunately, this is easy to do with a platform like Bitable.

With it, you can create high-quality, professional videos using pre-made templates. Bitable lets you record training videos, screen-capture videos, and animated training videos with ease. That way, you can build a series of onboarding videos in sequential order that fluidly moves remote salespeople through the process step-by-step. And if they ever need to reference a particular topic, they can always go back and review it.

Build a Tech Stack

Needless to say, tech plays an integral role in a remote salesperson’s day-to-day activities. So right out of the gate, you’ll want to supply each rep with a comprehensive tech stack that can be accessed from a single digital location, such as an online portal. This may include communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, project management tools like Trello and Asana, and CRM tools like HubSpot and Pipedrive.

Here’s a detailed example of what a tech stack may look like for inbound sales teams.

The key is to provide a standardized tech stack to create a uniform digital onboarding experience and also provide the requisite training on each to reduce the learning curve (something that can be done through online training videos as I just mentioned).

Onboarding In-house Salespeople

Use a Milestone-Based Process

One of the biggest advantages to onboarding in-house salespeople the “old school” way is that you’re heavily involved with their development and can keep close tabs on their progress. To streamline in-house onboarding and help new reps realize their full potential in the quickest amount of time, I suggest using a milestone-based process.

Here’s what top corporate sales training company The Brooks Group has to say about it.

“A formal, milestone-based onboarding process provides the framework to give reps everything they need to succeed within your sales organization within an appropriate time frame. A successful onboarding process:

  • Sets time-based goals for content and skills mastery
  • Establishes expectations for new rep participation in the process
  • Guides both the representative and the manager through the process
  • Includes clear checkpoints to measure progress”

While you’ll want to use a milestone-based process to a certain degree when onboarding remote salespeople as well, you’ll really want to emphasize it when onboarding in-house reps for the simple fact that it’s so easy to track everything firsthand. Also, it helps standardize the process to ensure everyone is on the same page and prevent disparities from hurting your overall sales system.

Give New In-house Reps a Mentor

In a previous post, I mentioned that it typically takes around nine months for a new rep to become competent to perform and 15 months to become a top performer.

But I also mentioned that a strong sales onboarding process can reduce this time by as much as half. One of the best ways to do that is to assign a mentor to each salesperson — someone who personally oversees their development and primes them for success.

Just like you want to use tech to your advantage to aid in onboarding remote salespeople, you’ll want to use the face-to-face nature of in-house onboarding to your advantage here. By assigning each new rep their own mentor who they can shadow, ask questions, and turn to for support, it naturally creates a framework that accelerates progress. Not to mention it helps create a more close-knit culture that benefits everyone.

For a detailed overview of sales mentorship and guidance on how to set up a formal program, I suggest reading this article from HubSpot.

Winning at Both Types of Salesperson Onboarding

With close to half of today’s sales companies having a mix of remote and in-house salespeople, it’s incredibly important to offer effective onboarding for both. Again, this largely boils down to capitalizing on the opportunities of each, and implementing the specific strategies mentioned above should help you do just that.

And if you’re looking to fill your talent pipeline with elite salespeople in your industry, check out HireDNA. It can help you find both sales candidates and sales leaders, with 92% of recommended candidates becoming top performers within one year.