You just started a new sales person after your last sales person walked out the door only after 6 months.  You ordered new business cards, set up an email address, put together some sales figures, printed a customer list, and gave them a stack of brochures.  They should be set to go, right?  This is the most common scenario for any company that has a high turnover in their sales teams.  In fact, it was the way I was on-boarded as several companies earlier in my career.

Most companies do not have the proper systems and processes in place for on-boarding new sales people and without them, the sales person is set up for failure from the beginning. What does it take to set the new sales person up for success?  I call it the 4-P’s and it is everything that should be given to a new sales person to hit the streets faster and produce an ROI for your company.

Position: How thorough is the job description?  Have all of the expectations been communicated? Are their support people in place? Have goals been set?  Does the sales person understand what their role is in the achievement of those goals?  Without a clear understanding of the sales position, the opportunity for misunderstanding of role and expectations can lead to frustration and lack of results.

Products: Has the new sales person been trained on your product or service and fully understand the value it can deliver to your customers?  Do they know the pricing?  Do they know your entire portfolio? Do you have technical expertise that can support the sales person? Are your marketing materials current?  The failure to properly train and even cross train your new sales person will destroy your credibility with customers.

People:  Who are the people that you want to deliver your product and service to? Do you know what an ideal customer looks like? Do your marketing materials speak to your target market?  Do you know your competition?  Do you know your differentiators?  Do you know how your customers buy?  The failure to understand your market will not develop a clear marketing and selling plan to follow.

Processes: What metrics do you have in place to measure success?  Is your CRM in place and the use of it mandated?  Can you document your customer buying process and what roles are responsible for the various stages and touch points?  Do you have support people for order entry, shipping, billing, and servicing so your sales person can stay in front of customers and new opportunities?  The failure to have proper support in place for customers will make your sales person get involved with non-selling activities and you will only get 20% of the selling effort you need.

To get a faster ROI out of your sales person, you need to take away any potential for misunderstanding, not knowing expectations, ruining you credibility, and not being able to measure success.  For help developing your 4-P’s, please contact us at SalesTechnik