Sales onboarding is the process of integrating new sales reps into your company. When done correctly, it can be a valuable investment in the success of your sales team and overall revenue.
Sales onboarding has been an essential topic in sales since the 1980s. It is a process that helps new sales reps feel at home with their company and get up to speed quickly on both sales skills and organizational knowledge.
In this blog post, you will learn six key facts about onboarding, so take notes and get started!
Sales onboarding is an integral part of sales training, and it's the process that brings new sales reps into your organization and helps them gain the knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed to succeed in sales.
Sales onboarding has been an essential topic in sales since the 1980s. It is a process that helps new sales reps feel at home with their company and get up to speed quickly on both sales skills and organizational knowledge.
Onboarding is the method companies use to bring new sales reps into their organization and help them gain the skills, knowledge, and behaviors needed to perform effectively and reach their goals.
It provides information about existing consumers, which helps salespeople get to know their customers better. It allows them to learn more about current users and broaden when it comes to commercial possibilities for new prospects.
Setting up programs for new sales reps creates an inclusive environment where those are entering or changing roles feel supported as they integrate into their team.
Creating an onboarding program tailored to your salespeople' and company executives' needs while also being in line with the demands of your business leads to tremendous success in the field.
Setting Up For Success
Onboarding provides information about existing consumers, which helps reps get to know their customers better. It allows them to learn more about current users and broaden their thinking regarding new commercial possibilities.
When managers are informed of any gaps that newly hired employees may have, they can work with these individuals throughout this period until they become productive members of the company workforce. This way will be no surprises later down the line.
Improved retention and recruitment rates
Today's competitive job market has job seekers that are more educated and critical of their potential employers than ever before.
If a talented salesperson is thinking about joining your team, the onboarding and training programs may significantly impact their success. You stand out as an employer that values and invests in its staff if you provide a robust onboarding and training program.
That salesperson may be more likely to stay with you for longer if they are treated well on the way in. It's a win-win.
Increased rep engagement
Sales representatives who are highly committed to their job go beyond and above for their clients, develop client lists, assist other sales reps, and contribute ideas for improvement.
These highly engaged workers are company advocates as well as an essential aspect of your sales department. Sales reps who are more involved in their sales job will contribute to your sales department and, with that, the company as a whole.
This leads to salespeople who stay longer and provide better results.
Sales reps who are not familiar with sales tools or software may find it challenging to switch from their previous employer's sales process and procedures.
New sales hires may resist changing what they know for something new, especially if the change means learning a different sales method than before
Follow the three R's and three C's
Sales managers should focus on each component equally when it comes to sales training objectives. Setting up an onboarding program created with your salespeople' and company executives' needs in mind is an essential part of success.
By being sensitive to these individuals during this period until they become productive members of the team, there will be no unpleasant surprises later, which could potentially negatively affect their job performance or lack thereof.
It demonstrates that you place value on building relationships between employees and help make stronger teams overall.
Creating a plan will benefit both the individuals responsible and the organization at large because by doing so, we are showing we care about what happens during this process which starts from the day.
It's essential for both parties involved -new employees and hiring managers-to agree on clear goals related to tasks like assignments, timelines, expected results, milestones in business development.
There are six critical components of sales training that new sales reps need to be successful: Retention, Ramp time, Results and Cut the Content Overload, Coach for sales success, and cloud-enabled.
Retention: ‘
salespeople need to know that they can come back and get support when needed. This is, so sales reps don't feel abandoned, ignored, or forgotten.
Onboarding is a sales rep's first encounter with a firm, and as the saying goes, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
According to an O.C. Tanner research, "69 percent of employees are more likely to stick with their employer for three years if they had a fantastic onboarding experience." It would be unfortunate to start on the wrong foot by having an ill-conceived approach to integrating.
Ramp Time:
Sales managers should be patient and understand new sales reps' progress. Sales training should not be stressful, and sales managers need to consider how much information their new salesperson can handle at once?
Agents need a chance for ramping up slowly until they are comfortable with the routine before being expected to meet the quota. Salespeople need to know that they will have time to learn the product's sales process before jumping into complete velocity sales.
Results:
Salespeople need this because it's vital for them and their managers to see how effective onboarding has been in helping new hires get results faster than usual. Sales training programs must help sales reps understand their roles in the customer's buying process.
Sales managers should focus on each component equally regarding sales training objectives. Your role as manager is to provide content that has been tested in real-life situations then presented clearly and concisely without overwhelming them,
Cut the Content Overload:
Too much content is worse than not enough, especially if you overload your new hires with information before giving them a chance to learn what they like, don't like, or consider relevant for them as individuals.
Learning about all of your products at once is overwhelming, so instead, we should only provide critical pieces of information when needed (i.e., content should be selected carefully).
Coach for Sales Success:
You must have open lines of communication during this stage so both parties can keep each other informed about what went well, what didn't go well, and how sales managers can get sales reps to meet their goals.
Giving sales reps a coach helps ensure everyone gets along smoothly throughout training periods by creating structure while still allowing room for exploration or personalization, which can help encourage creativity.
A coach also serves as an excellent mentor provides tools and techniques specifically designed around developing skills essential for success at any given time (e-learning platforms.)
Cloud-Enabled:
Technology is essential for sales success because you need the right tools to help your new hires perform well and efficiently. Ensure all training materials are cloud accessible, so salespeople have access at any time, anywhere.
Sales reps should be able to learn sales training material on the go, anytime, anywhere. There are many advantages of onboarding for both sales reps and sales managers that allow them to experience success in their roles all around.
This is why employers take advantage of this opportunity by developing a strategy during this period.
Using cloud-based software allows companies to be flexible regarding what tools are used depending on where your salespeople are located geographically around the world. This makes communication easier between sales reps and sales managers.
1. Start the Sales Enablement Process Before Day One
The sales enablement process should begin before a salesperson starts their first day of work. This will help them get familiar with the sales training program and give management an idea of what each sales rep needs to succeed in their role.
Sales reps need content that has been tested in real-life situations then presented clearly and concisely without overwhelming them, which will lead to better results.
For example, you can expect your new salespeople to finish product information given by different teams to have all the knowledge on hand when talking with potential customers or internal stakeholders involved in the sales cycle for specific products.
Give sales reps access from any device to learn anytime, anywhere while still providing feedback whenever needed (i.e., e-learning platforms).
You can also plan onboarding programs before day one by setting up meetings with HR, sales managers, and other key stakeholders, so everyone is on the same page about what needs to be done for training to go smoothly.
This process will help set expectations from the start, which means sales reps are more likely to succeed with a solid foundation of knowledge.
This way, customers won't end up waiting around while salespeople catch up on required information, which could hurt customer relationships down the line if trust has already been broken.
2. Follow a Formal Onboarding Process
A guide can help sales managers and new employees get accustomed to their roles while ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Formalizing sales training programs helps make them more consistent, efficient and effective.
This type of training should be company-wide (sales & marketing) so that information flows smoothly throughout the organization, ultimately leading to better results for customers and during outreach efforts.
It's essential to go through each step to prevent any confusion or misunderstandings down the line (with sales reps and management). A formalized program includes: -
Setting up meetings before day one - Offering resources like an online learning platform with self-guided tutorials, checklists, sales resources, and other material - Creating a guide for both sales reps and managers to follow.
This can be used throughout the entire training process - Allowing sales reps to have access from any device that works best with their schedule; completing this step will help set expectations from day one so new employees feel more comfortable.
This means less time looking through all sales materials while figuring out where everything should go etc.
3. Establish Expectations and Provide Training and Support
Training sales reps take time and effort, but it's also essential for them to know precisely what is expected of them right from the start.
This will help sales reps stay focused on specific tasks while giving sales managers piece-of-mind, knowing onboarding has been completed successfully. This way, everyone involved in the sales cycle knows their role within the sales team,
Making outreach efforts more efficient when customers are ready to purchase products/services. During the training phase, you'll want to go through all aspects of your company, including: - Goals & KPIs - Customer insights
Sales processes throughout different departments during the sale cycle. The last thing a new hire wants is uncertainty about expectations or where they fit into the sales process, which can cause sales reps to be less productive and potentially not reach their full potential.
Establishing expectations during onboarding also means sales managers should take the time to equip new hires with all necessary tools (i.e., CRM, social media management platforms, email marketing software etc. so they're able to perform their job correctly.
This is especially important since you'll want sales reps focusing on customer outreach efforts instead of figuring out where everything goes or how it works throughout the organization.
Providing training will help them get acclimated into the company much faster rather than having employees who are "winging" it for the first few months at a job. Sales managers need to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to sales onboarding.
They should create a sales training guide for managers that outlines all necessary sales cycle steps to monitor where new hires are in process and jump in if any questions come up along the way, which could slow down outreach efforts.
It's also crucial for sales reps to openly communicate with management without feeling like they'll get reprimanded or fired because mistakes happen during the training period, especially during the first few months at the job!
This is why creating an open dialogue between everyone involved will help keep things moving forward while being more efficient over time.
4. Have New Reps Shadow Senior Reps
Sales managers must let sales reps take the lead during sales training to develop their own sales style. This is why new hires must have a chance to shadow senior sales team members while getting acclimated into company culture and picking up tips & tricks.
Having a seasoned rep show them around office space, introduce processes that work best within the organization, etc.. will help set expectations from day one about what should be accomplished while at a job.
This helps increase productivity throughout the onboarding process. Having someone walk through all aspects of the sales cycle with your guide means less time figuring out where everything goes or how different systems work.
5. Evaluate Early Performance
Evaluating sales rep’s performance during the onboarding process will help sales managers understand what areas they excel in and their weaknesses.
This is extremely important because it also helps sales managers figure out which territories sales reps should focus on, whether they can be promoted etc.
While evaluating new hires can seem intimidating at first, especially if you've never done so before, once you get used to doing this throughout the training phase with everyone who joins your team, there's no reason why this shouldn't be a part of everyone's routine.
Monitoring how quickly sales reps learn about all aspects of the company, including processes within different departments, will help determine the best course of action moving forward rather than waiting until the end-of-year sales performance review.
Monitoring sales reps' progress throughout onboarding will also help plan for the organization's future growth since the sales manager can determine how many new hires they should make to support the increasing customer base.
By doing so, you'll not only establish a good foundation for success but be able to prepare yourself from day one if things don't go according to plan or the sales rep doesn't have what it takes at the end of the sales cycle either!
6. Invest in Continuous Improvement
During onboarding, sales managers need to do their best to constantly improve the sales training process by listening intently for any concerns or gaps that new hires might have with the current sales coaching system.
This is why it's crucial sales managers communicate regularly about what works and doesn't work when it comes to the onboarding phase so they can make changes, like adding additional steps if needed, before things go too far down the road.
Once a company gets used to one routine, whether good or bad, changing anything will likely meet some resistance from reps.
Since this has become part of the everyday schedule at the office which means you'll need to be persistent for their buy-in, but once they see how much time saved these tweaks teams' overall productivity levels will go up.
Sales managers will finally have time to focus on other aspects of sales training that might also need improvement.
The onboarding process is one area sales managers can't afford to slack off in since it impacts sales reps' ability to reach their goals, whether they're new hires or veterans with the company, throughout the entire sales cycle.
After all, this initial phase contributes significantly towards the sales rep's performance during the end-of-year review, which means taking extra steps:-
like adding additional members to the team who know how best to accomplish specific tasks, assigning mentors for those struggling more than others etc. make a world of difference when it comes down to success or failure.
Sales onboarding is essential for sales reps and sales managers because it helps salespeople gain the skills, knowledge, and behaviors needed to perform effectively and reach their goals.
Sales training programs should focus on each component equally when providing content tested in real-life situations then presented clearly and concisely without overwhelming them, which will lead to better results for both parties involved.
Sales managers should be patient with new sales reps' progress and provide room for exploration or personalization during this stage so everyone can keep each other informed about what went well and what didn't go well.
A coach also serves as an excellent mentor provides tools and techniques designed explicitly around developing skills that are essential for success at any given time (e-learning platforms.
Sales reps should be able to learn sales material on the go, anytime, anywhere. Cloud-based software allows companies to be flexible regarding what tools are used depending on where your salespeople are located geographically around the world.
This makes communication easier between sales reps and sales managers for both parties involved in this process. Technology is an essential part of success because you need the right tools to help your new hires perform well and efficiently.
It makes sure all training materials are cloud accessible. Hence, salespeople have access from any device at any given time without worrying about filing or losing important documents.
The bottom line:- focused content paired with a coach can yield better results on how effective programs work, which is why employers should take advantage of this opportunity by developing a sales training program to help sales reps and sales managers reach their goals successfully.
