A new sales person joins your team? He certainly has excellent capabilities, but he does not yet know the codes of your company policy and do not know exactly your product / service offer. To gain efficiency, he must receive training and support during his on boarding. It is only after this integration process that he will be able to invest and truly achieve his goals. A well optimized onboarding course can also serve your employer brand
Do you want your new recruits to perform? Do not neglect the integration path! Indeed, whether they are senior or junior, all salespeople need to find their bearings when they join a new company. The success of their integration, their onboarding, depends on their results on the ground. So do not skimp on the means and start preparations for integration several days in advance.
PREPARE THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEW COMMERCIAL OR HOW TO DESIGN YOUR ONBOARDING PROGRAM TO EASE THE INTEGRATION
Preparations for the integration of a new sales person include:
- The installation of his office with all the computer equipment and software required for the exercise of his activity.
- The preparation of the company documentation, for example, an institutional brochure or a welcome booklet for the new employee.
The documentation must be as complete and detailed as possible. You send it to the new comer before taking official service. It should focus on the following key points:
- The detailed presentation of the company (history, organization chart, values)
- The main products or services offered (put a focus on those that will be sold by the commercial)
- Key figures (turnover, best sellers, statistics that can be useful)
- Sales and communication techniques
- New approaches to marketing
By taking notes of these internal communication media, your sales representative has all the points on the sales pitch and the complete offer of your company. Similarly, it is essential that he understands the various elements that will make up his incentive compensation. Make sure that your new recruit appropriates the objectives that are set for them. Inform her about her compensation method, as is done at Google with the OKR system to boost her motivation.
Other examples: at Primeum, the integration course includes a meeting with the company's four managers and training on incentive compensation with top managers in each division in their first 30 days. In some companies, new employees take breakfast with the CEOs and are greeted by a HR. They also receive a beginner's guide allowing them to better understand their new framework.
SUCCEEDING THE INTEGRATION PATH OR HOW TO CONDUCT ONBOARDING
Onboarding can be defined as the process of integrating a new employee into a company. To make it a success, you have to organize and plan it down to the last detail. Indeed, according to a study conducted by Bersin By Deloitte in 2014, 4% of new employees leave their job after the first day when it is disastrous. You must therefore receive your new agent and, above all, maintain your motivation for at least the next three months!
Each day of onboarding must be assigned a set of specific tasks:
- Reception of the new recruit, mail of welcome, provision of the office, tour of the company (for the first day).
- Acquired knowledge of the company's essentials (for the next 48 hours).
- Refresher courses on sales techniques and sales pitch (for the next two weeks).
- Meetings of contact and exchanges with the manager (once a week during the whole process).
- Etc.
FOLLOW THE NEW SALES PERSON WHILE ITS INTEGRATION
According to the LinkedIn Integration Kit, monitoring and evaluation of onboarding should last between 30 and 90 days. This is an interactive period during which a sponsor, a coach or a manager follows the new salesperson in his activities. It ensures that:
- The objectives set for the new comer are well understood.
- The tools to achieve its objectives are made available to the recruit.
- The new collaborator can identify the fundamentals and principles on which they are evaluated and awarded.
The classic approach is to define a realistic goal in keeping with the emerging potential of the new collaborator. This objective must be measurable and quantifiable, complex enough to require the employee to go beyond. If this objective is too difficult to quantify and evaluate the first months to adapt it to the commercial, can be put in place a provisional commissioning system that will not take a risk to the over-expenditure of the bonus system if the objective was poorly calibrated.
Forms provided for this purpose can help the employee to self-assess, while the manager will use others to follow up at his level.
ASSESS THE QUALITY OF ONBOARDING
At the end of the onboarding period, your new comer is considered operational. As for you, you must make every effort to build loyalty. Ask him to evaluate the onboarding process with a questionnaire with questions such as:
- How did you find the onboarding course?
- What integration difficulties did you encounter?
- What do you propose to improve it?
- What do you think about your incentive compensation system?
This questionnaire can even lead to a report in which the employee evaluates with his new eye processes, how to operate, his onboarding in the company with his manager. This exchange stage must also leave room for a discussion on the objectives assigned to the employee. Finally, the training must be continuous, so that the agents can be upgraded and meet the new challenges imposed by market trends and changes in customer needs
You may also consult our article on valuing your employer brand with incentive compensation.
