A great sales on-boarding program can help your business increase its sales, cut down the turnaround time and support your salespeople as they work to meet their sales goals on time. But did you know that on-boarding is often ignored? Yes. A study by Aberdeen reveals that only about 50% of companies have an on-boarding plan ready for their new hires. And even if they do, the on-boarding program is too short, often not meeting all the needs of your new recruits. This post outlines the essentials of a great sales on-boarding program and provides insight into how you can go about building one.
Essentials of a successful on-boarding program for sales
A complete on-boarding program will cover the following areas
- Business and customer insight
- Role definition
- Sales processes & strategies
- Sales enablement tools & technology
- Measurement & metrics
- Training
- Business and customer insight
A successful on-boarding program should offer salespeople a complete insight into your business–it’s products/service offering and its customers. This is important because they should know what they are selling and to whom. In order to gain this insight, the business needs to provide access to all relevant data such as the most popular products/services, most likely buyer persona, the most effective medium for interaction with the buyer, etc. - Role definition
The role of the newly hired salesperson must be defined clearly. What were the reasons for the hire? What gaps are they filling in your sales department? What are the key aspects of their job in the organization? Be sure you have defined their specific role before you bring them on-board. - Sales processes & strategies
For the on-boarding program to add value to salespeople, it should spell out the sales process clearly. As a part of the sales process, the following elements should be defined
- Lead generation process–Define the activities that form a part of the lead gen process, their frequency and their rate of effectiveness
- Lead quality and scoring– Define the parameters on which leads are scored and classified as MQLs and SQLs and determine the appropriate follow up actions. Training on the all lead segmentation and scoring tools that are being used is necessary.
- Lead handover–Define the stage at which the lead moves over from marketing to the sales domain, the process of handover and the fate of leads that don’t close.
4. Sales enablement technology
Another important element of a good sales on-boarding program is having strong sales enablement tools and technologies in place and training the sales staff on them. Sales enablement technology includes tools that support salespeople to sell more, independently.
5. Metrics
It is important to know where the company stands in terms of its sales goals vis-a-vis where it should be. All sales goals should be clearly measurable. Also, the results of every sales activity should be quantified. Whether it’s a tradeshow, an email campaign or a social media sales campaign, there must be a way to measure effectiveness.
6. Training
Train your incumbent salespersons on all the tools and processes they will be using. This includes any sales enablement platform and CRM tools. Also, make sure you document all sales best practices and make them available to your new recruits during the on-boarding process.
A robust sales enablement platform can be your ally in building a great sales on-boarding program
Invest in a sales enablement platform that covers all of the above areas. Select one that offers you an unobstructed 360-degree view of your prospects and customers, has great lead-scoring and segmentation capabilities and offers ways to measure every activity undertaken by your salespeople.
But don’t forget that it is no substitute to an on-boarding program in itself
A great sales on-boarding program is much more than having a set of sales enablement tools in place. It is about training your salespersons to make the most of all the tools and processes made available to them.
Your sales on-boarding program is the stepping stone for your salespersons when they join your organization and serves as a guide for future action.
