We always talk about sales onboarding on the blog—and how a successful one contributes to sales acceleration. Why is that? First let’s define sales onboarding: It is the process a company follows for preparing and training new sales reps.
Consider it an initiation. When new sales reps come in to join the team, they need to know what needs to be done so they can perform their jobs successfully. They need to learn the systems and processes that the whole team follows. They need to understand the rules of the organization. They even have to grasp the dynamics of the team.
What do you want to achieve with sales onboarding?
At the end of a sales onboarding process, you want:
- Sales reps who display technical knowledge of the company’s product(s) and/or service(s). Technical knowledge is a priority in sales onboarding: sales reps need to know everything and anything about what they’re selling.
- Sales reps who are prepared, confident, and ready to meet prospects and customers and start selling
- Sales reps who demonstrate key sales values: drive, determination, dedication, agility, flexibility, and resourcefulness
- Sales reps who understand the soft skills necessary for the job
- Sales reps who demonstrate potential and have the inclination for further learning and development
- Sales reps who are highly trained on the technical aspects of the job. An organization who uses a lot of tools and high technology, for example, needs tech-savvy sales reps.
In a nutshell: a successful sales onboarding sets sales reps up for success.
A successful (read: effective and efficient) sales onboarding has a key characteristic: It decreases sales ramp up time. This is the amount of time it takes new sales reps to be fully trained and prepared from the time they were hired. Average ramp up time is between 10 to 12 months. On average, new sales hires spend 10 weeks in training and development and only become productive after 11.2 months. That’s a long time for a company to wait before they get ROI on the training they spent on their new sales reps. With an efficient onboarding program, you can try to decrease sales ramp up time.
How long or short the whole onboarding program will be is dependent on the organization. Anywhere from four to eight weeks is acceptable for most companies; but some stretch the program to months—as much as six to 12 months. But what really makes sales onboarding successful is what the company does after the formal process. We will get into the nitty-gritty of this in Part 2 of this post.
It will require money and resources to train sales reps. How much a company invests in their sales onboarding program is completely their call. But we would advise that the process is given priority and allotted an appropriate budget. What you do during sales onboarding (and how you execute it) will determine a lot of things in your organization’s growth and—let’s face it—bottom line.
Why is sales onboarding important in sales acceleration?
These are the benefits of an effective sales onboarding program:
- Increases Workplace Productivity
Establishing a sales rep’s productivity begins in sales onboarding. When they receive the training, knowledge, and tools they need to perform their jobs, then sales reps will become more effective and efficient. - Acquires—and Retains—Great Talent
You know how difficult it is to find great sales talent? Only 3% of high-performing sales reps are active in the job market. This means that every company must be proactive in developing top talent and stepping up their sales onboarding game. But should high-performing sales reps be in the market, consider this: 49% of high-performing sales reps identify the availability of onboarding as “very to extremely important” when considering a new position.
A successful sales onboarding program also helps retain these high performers. Great employee onboarding can improve employee retention by 82%. That’s because employees are more engaged in their work and with their coworkers. They also know that they have been “set up for success” and see potential growth (and internal promotion). They are generally happier at their jobs. Sales reps are happy when they feel productive and see that their work is contributing to their personal success—and to the company’s too. - Lowers Turnovers
Here’s another stat to consider: The average sales development rep is only at “full productivity” (tenure minus onboarding time) for 15 months, and only 8% of SDRs stay in the role for 3-plus years. You don’t want a high sales rep turnover. You want your reps—especially the good ones—to stay. It keeps successful operations ongoing and is less disruptive and costly.
From recruiting and training costs to base salary and other employee compensation, on average, it costs sales organizations $97,960 to replace a sales rep. The opportunity cost of sales rep turnover exceeds $100,000 per seller—and this doesn’t factor in the possible revenue opportunities if sales retention were higher.
How does a successful sales onboarding help lower turnover? When onboarding is thought to need "major redesign," voluntary turnover rate increases from 7.9% to 14.2%. A negative onboarding experience results in new hires being 2x more likely to look for other opportunities.
Turnover is too high in 48% of sales organizations, and 60% consider themselves understaffed. Don’t let this happen to you. A great sales onboarding program helps retain top talent—and gives great ROI in the long run. - Strengthens Team Dynamics
With an efficient sales onboarding program, you get happy and productive sales reps and grateful sales managers. That’s a recipe for great team dynamics and sales success. When sales reps are trained to acclimate to their work environment, there’s better engagement and collaboration all around. Everyone is comfortable and confident in their roles in the organization.
You need sales reps to understand what’s expected of them and what they should contribute to the team. But you also need to show them that they have a support system within the team. They also need to see the bigger picture: what the company is trying to achieve and the importance of their role in accomplishing these goals. - Improves Brand Management
You’re able to better manage your brand if there’s consistency across all representatives of the brand (read: your sales reps). Sales reps are trained on how the brand is positioned, and how it’s best personified externally. Good brand management helps build brand value. - Increases Win Rates
This is perhaps the biggest advantage of a great sales onboarding program. Companies with effective sales onboarding improve quota attainment by 6.7%. Besides improving win rates, a proper sales onboarding program prevents you from missing good opportunities. Your sales reps know what to do in every sales situation; they can handle objections and put out fires.
So how do you implement a successful sales onboarding program? That’s in our next post.
Photos from Pexels
