The sales industry is known for its particularly high turnover rate. Since the cost of replacing a sales rep can amount to 50K you need to be asking yourself “What can I be doing to retain my staff?”
The disruption of a team member leaving the company can have a negative impact on your productivity levels and this will incur costs until the person is replaced and trained up to the same level. But losing a member of the sales team doesn’t just cost your business, it also hurts your team’s morale.
Let’s take a look at top tips on how to retain your sales team:
Promote your company culture
76% of employers state that ensuring a positive cultural fit is essential for staff retention. With that in mind, it’s important to consider how the culture is born. Largely it develops from the way that employees interact, but it tends to stem from the process of “values blueprinting” where leaders establish the values that are most important to the organisation. These then act as guidelines for how business is to be conducted and gives potential recruits an idea of what they can expect from working for the company.
Hiring individuals who are a good fit for the culture will ensure they are suited to work with current employees and will be satisfied with the working environment. The values of the business should continue to be promoted so that employees’ actions are aligned with the organisation-wide goals. Your company culture should be used as a tool to make employees excited to come into work.
Training from the beginning, to middle, and the end
So, you’ve hired the right individual, you believe they’re going to be a great addition to the team, now how can you make their induction seamless? A well-planned onboarding process will strengthen the new joiner’s understanding of the value system and help to keep them both focused and productive. This process should include pre and post-call debriefs, which are a great opportunity to demonstrate active listening.
Continuing the learning beyond the probation period will help your sales team feel like an asset to the company and prevent them from viewing their jobs as a stagnant career. As a sales manager, you need to translate to your team why they should engage in training by communicating what the personal benefits are.
Quarterly reviews
A one-to-one session with your staff will give a good indication as to what motivates them personally. It’s also a chance for employees to feel heard and share their ideas through an open dialogue rather than a one-way conversation. As many as 69% of millennials are regularly asking for feedback from their manager not just because they want positive feedback, but because it opens up the discussion to areas of improvement.
The SMART feedback model is an easy-to-follow structure that will keep your team motivated and challenged. It looks at setting small and attainable goals, which can be instrumental in tracking their progress and planning work in the months ahead.
Tracking out a career path
Goals are also useful to measure if an individual is on track with their desired career path. According to a Harvard Business Review study, 70% of the salespeople who left for a promotion were top performers at the company, which means that failure to outline a career path with your sales team could lead to a loss of your top talent. How can you support your team’s career development?
Once their goals have been set the next step is to outline how they can reach them. Personal goals are far more likely to enhance their engagement, so don’t make the mistake of focusing solely on their pipeline. Encourage self-development activities – these will ignite their intrinsic motivation which is much more powerful than extrinsic motivators, such as money. Lastly, you need to understand that every employee will have their own unique career path.
Listen to your team
It is vital to hear what your sales team have to say, even if you do not action every suggestion they make. This builds a positive work relationship and creates a space where you can have fun and hit targets. While quarterly reviews give your staff the chance to raise issues, by adopting an open-door policy you can address problems before they escalate. These discussions can inspire innovation and highlight how the team could work better together, which after all is the main goal.
Your staff have the power to drive the positive cultural identity of your business, so it’s important that you empower your people.
We are here to help you recruit top talent
At BMS Performance, we understand how difficult it can be to attract and retain top-performing salespeople. That’s why we’re on hand to help you grow your sales team or train your existing talent.
Get in touch with our highly experienced sales teams today for advice.