A successful sales onboarding process sets sales reps up for success. It also decreases sales ramp up time, or the amount of time it takes new sales reps to be fully trained and prepared from the time they were hired. And best of all, it can help increase win rates, among other benefits.
So how do you implement a successful sales onboarding program?
There’s the HR and administrative part of the onboarding—where sales reps fill in all the necessary paperwork, are given the office tour, get settled in their work areas, etc. What we want to focus on—and what will ultimately spell sales success—is the sales-focused onboarding.
Here are 11 strategies to consider when designing your sales onboarding program.
1. Standardize the Process
The first thing to remember is to standardize the process. Why? This makes sure that your onboarding program becomes an organized, repeatable, sustainable process that can be used for the long-term. Create a framework that’s designed to provide everything your sales reps would need. Put everything in writing so sales reps have something to refer to every now and then. You can’t expect them to remember everything. And make sure to standardize all onboarding materials—from paperwork to manuals.
Standardizing the process also means organizing the timetable for your onboarding. For one, set milestones for the training: “What should be taught by when?” “What should sales reps know by the first month?” “What courses need to be completed by the first two weeks?” But it’s important to remember that a sales onboarding can’t be rushed. While some would argue that two to four weeks of training would suffice, we think that a comprehensive onboarding would naturally take much longer—anywhere from three to even 12 months. It would all depend on the structure and size of your business and organization. But big or small company, do not rush your onboarding! Invest the time, resources, and patience to see your trainees “graduate” and transition into highly competitive sales reps.
2. Introduce the Company and its Culture
Sales reps need to acclimate to their new work environment. They need to know everything about your company, like goals, history, vision mission, values, management and leadership, competitive differentiation, market space, and other pertinent information that can help them understand your company and how it functions. It’s important for them to meet and start engaging with both management and coworkers to begin building rapport and dynamics.
3. Instill Brand and Technical Knowledge
Sales reps need to know your product(s) and/or service(s) inside out. They need to know every feature, every benefit, and even the flaws, if any. They need to understand and know by heart your value offering or proposition. They also need to understand brand management—from image to messaging. You want all sales reps to be consistent in representing your brand.
They also need knowledge on the tools and technology you use for your systems and processes. A CRM, for example, is a staple in any sales team. Make sure their onboarding includes training on how to use your tech.
4. Establish the Market
Who is your target market? Your buyer personas? What’s your ideal customer profile? What are the markets you serve? Sales reps need to know who to target for a sale—and how to engage them.
5. Do a Walk-Through of the Entire Sales Cycle
Sales reps need to see the entire sales cycle, not just parts of it. Walk them through your whole sales process, and make them understand what needs to be done in each step.
This also involves laying down the sales plans and playbooks. Sales managers at this point begin their coaching—and this should spark the learning culture within the team. Basically, if you were to put a title on the module it would be: “This is What You Need to Do to Make a Sale.”
6. Establish Expectations and Standards
All companies have business goals; your sales reps need to know yours so they know what needs to be done. You have to establish your expectations, and be very, very specific about them. Never be vague about your goals and targets!
Sales reps work better if they know what’s expected of them. They should also know the standards you keep. Show them what good is like, and what great is. (What’s a good presentation? What’s a great presentation?) Show them what success looks like.
7. Keep it Interesting
“I love lectures!”—says no one ever. Make sure you vary your formats for training so that not everything looks and sounds like a class lecture. Why not try gamification, for example?
8. Introduce Hands-On Mentorship
There are many ways to introduce hands-on mentorship. One is through shadowing. New reps can also watch “how it’s done” and learn from the senior reps. Have them observe how the seasoned reps operate—how they make sales and cold calls, negotiate, present or pitch, attend to clients, and more. And encourage the new reps to ask questions regarding any of the things they observe.
9. Integrate with Other Departments
At this point, you introduce sales enablement to the new reps. They need to see how the other teams operate in relation to sales—and how they (sales reps) should collaborate with everybody else. Sales reps can get holistic training if you integrate them with other departments. The more the sales reps understand how everything is correlated and how everything should be synergized to work efficiently, the more effective they will be.
10. Regularly Evaluate
It’s crucial to evaluate the early stages. You will see the initial progress and problems—and intervene at critical times. But don’t stop there. Regularly evaluate your reps’ progress to see if the program is on track.
This means that you should also keep an open mind and be flexible about your sales onboarding program—and make changes to it when and where necessary. Maybe some courses are outdated? Perhaps some processes can be automated? You need to evaluate your program and ask yourself, “Is the onboarding program meeting its goals?”
11. Keep it Ongoing
What really makes sales onboarding successful is what the company does after the formal process. They keep the trainings ongoing; they don’t stop. Sales reps should have regular access to trainings, one-on-ones, and coaching sessions—formal or informal. These will not only reinforce what they’ve been taught during onboarding, they will also create opportunities for more learning.
Sales onboarding can be a very meticulous process. But if you invest the time, money, and resources to create a highly effective program, you will consistently reap its many rewards.
Photos from Pexels. Main photo by Rebrand Cities
