So, the new hire is hired - now what?
From here it is critical to have a proper process to introduce the salesperson to your business and your sales strategy. Ramp up time for the new hire can vary depending on familiarity with the industry and years in sales, but it is worth noting that the first 90 days really do set the foundation for success.
As a starting block for putting a 90-day plan in place, Dave Kurlan from the Objective Management Group suggests that as a minimum you should be answering these questions for your new hire.
The importance of on-boarding
Even someone who is an A-player sales rep can’t be expected to know your unique business. You owe it to them, and your own organization, to ensure they have a thorough understanding of all of these things, even if some of them seem a little ‘basic’.
You should be able to identity and explain:
- Your sales process from prospect to solution
- The stages and milestones of the sales process
- Sales Pipeline Management – think qualifying prospects
- Your business’s positioning statement and unique value proposition
- Key product information for a few products
Documentation
If you don’t have all of the above factors accurately documented, how would you expect a new person to come on board and find success in the more efficient way possible? It wouldn’t be very fair would it? (And it is likely that your current sales reps aren’t doing as well as they could be if you had a better structure around your entire sales strategy.)
A solid on-boarding process makes for stronger sales
There are a few other factors that are critical for an effective on-boarding process – and this involves sales management being heavily involved in coaching and one-on-one training on a very regular basis. The KPIs that will be used to evaluate the new hire, must be explained at the outset. Communicating the expectations at the beginning of the on-boarding process for performance is critical to long term success.
If you would like a free guide to developing the first 90 Days, please send an Email with 90 Days in the subject line. We will send a PDF.
Would you like to learn more about understanding your sales organization? Click here.
Would you like to see how salespeople score in each of the 21 sales core competencies? Click here.
Maybe you are hiring salespeople and would like to learn about a tool that is predictive of sales success. Click here.
