Next month, we will be publishing a new guide entitled The First 90 Days – How to Get Your New Sales Hires Producing, Fast. Here is a teaser from the introduction.
Most companies take months or even years to determine whether a new hire is successful, but often all the evidence to indicate whether a rep is a keeper or not exists in the reps first 90 days on the job. What happens in this critical timeframe will usually dictate the success or failure of the new rep, so after investing a great deal of time and effort to find a new sales hire, it is vitally important a ton of sense to make sure they not only develop, but begin producing as quickly as possible.
Here is a list of things the sales manager can do in the first 90 days of hiring a new rep to make sure they start producing results fast:
– equip the rep with tools and equipment (includes computers, phones, access to critical systems)
– provide company orientation (values, history, departments, etc)
– train the rep on key aspects of selling (sales approach, customers, market, trends and competition)
– walk through forecasting methodologies and systems
– hand over territory plans and data
– assign a mentor/coach who will work to develop the rep’s effectiveness in the field
– provide product and service demonstration (live if possible)
– take on tours of customer sites and provide introductions to key customers
– introduce internal support team
– shadow the rep on calls and presentations to ensure they are operating effectively and developing
* set expectations and objectives for 30, 60 and 90 days (plans, deals, leads and pipeline of qualified opps as well as MBO’s such as meetings, campaigns, and calls)
* meet regularly to grade behaviour and activities, provide constructive feedback, ensure goals are being met and proactively address any issues that arise
The rep has certain obligations as well if they are to achieve optimal production quickly:
– develop relationships with the internal support team
– create the territory and strategic account plans
– network with customers to understand why and how they buy
– practice presenting
– meet with prospects and advance opportunities
– speak with partners to learn about how you can help each other and to gather market intelligence
– ask for help from your manager and peers where necessary
– ask for constructive feedback wherever possible
Stay tuned to obtain the full guide when it becomes available in March.
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Eliot Burdett
CEO at Peak Sales Recruiting
Before Peak, Eliot spent more than 20 years building and leading companies, where he took the lead in recruiting and managing high performance sales teams. He co-founded Ventrada Systems (mobile applications) and GlobalX (e-commerce software). He was also Vice President of Sales for PointShot Wireless.
Eliot received his B. Comm. from Carleton University and has been honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Award winner.
He co-authored Sales Recruiting 2.0, How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast and provides regular insights on sales team management and hiring on the Peak Sales Recruiting Blog.
Latest posts by Eliot Burdett (see all)
- 20 Of Our Favorite Books About Sales Management and Sales Leadership – October 20, 2023
- How To Make Progress On Your Sales Goal Without A Sales Leader – September 15, 2021
- Augment Your Recruiting Strategy During “The Great Resignation” – July 26, 2021
numbers. Is one of your reps doing poorly because it is summer, because of the economy or simply because of bad luck? It is sometimes hard to know.
How many times have you decided you needed to add sales reps to your team or make some changes and gone to your recruiting function only to find that there is no one you could hire immediately? While your company receives job applications all the time, these are usually from unemployed people who didn’t cut it elsewhere or people who have never sold much of anything and naturally, you don’t feel overly enthusiastic about pegging your hopes on them. Searching for great sales people, evaluating them and courting them to join your company takes time and meanwhile you sales goals that need to be met.