Training New Salespeople

Peady’s Selling Engagement sponsored by IRD Prospector

Welcome to this week’s post on sales and selling success.

I remember my first week of selling. My sales manager took me into his office, welcomed me to the team, told me he had high expectations and gave me my new “client list”; a copy of the local Yellow Pages!

Apart from a reassuring pat on the shoulder, that was it, my induction and training was over, time to sell young man. 

Via trial and error, I made it through my probationary period and started to get results.

Sound familiar? Can you identify with this situation?

The alternative?

Thankfully a lot has changed. Today’s sales manager is fully aware of the importance of an effective induction process. That said improvements can always be made.
I believe that new salespeople will learn best if they’re doing what you need them to do – plenty of practical application, real world scenarios and coaching to ensure maximum impact during those first critical months. In other words, setting them up for success.

What a new salesperson induction covers

Your induction process should cover the following:

  • Your industry. The basic knowledge they’ll need about the industry, your position in it and who your competitors are.
  • Your products or services. What you do that’s different, your competitive advantage. 
  • Your clients or customers. An overview of your customer profile. What customer or client type “fits” best.
  • Your business objectives. Where the business is going. Short and longer-term goals. How will the company get there?

My top 4 induction activities

  1. Clearly explain and define the expectations. To be successful, new team members need to be aware of what success looks like and what’s expected of them every step of the way. Give them an introduction to their new role, a detailed overview of the induction program and a look at what their future looks like with the company. 
  2. Give them time with your best performer(s). That doesn’t necessarily mean going into the field with them. Pair them up with a senior (and successful) team member to allow mentoring and guidance using real world information. This is more valuable coming from your key people than a company manual.
  3. Immerse them into the role. Induction must have a practical stage! Often sales managers keep new employees “in the office” far too long.  Ensure the new team member meets her customer base. This gives them a real-world perspective of the role. Provide personalised in-field support and coaching.   
  4. Provide sales training. I put this at number 4 for a reason. Once the new hire understands the role, the expectations and has met some customers this is the perfect time to develop the skills they need. Ensure the training is relevant, real-world and tailored to your business.

The induction process for new salespeople requires high levels of preparation after all you’ve invested significant time and resources recruiting them so it’s important to activate them from day one. Give them loads of practical application, real world scenarios and good authentic coaching to ensure maximum impact. 

Until next week, good selling!
 

About the author 

Stephen Pead is a media industry veteran of 30 years with significant experience in direct sales, sales management and general management. He is based in Sydney and specialises in helping SME’s market their businesses more effectively and providing training for salespeople and sales managers.

He can be contacted at [email protected]

 

 
 

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