A few weeks back, SiriusDecisions hosted their annual Sales Leadership Exchange and unveiled a new Onboarding Model that outlined a framework for onboarding sales reps. Why the focus on sales? Because every organization is working hard to achieve quota and hit revenue targets, but they can’t do this without well-trained, competent sellers. And according to Jim Ninivaggi, Research Director at SiriusDecisions, “the war for sales talent has just begun.”
A recent study by SiriusDecisions found these key challenges that every sales leader looking for top talent will face:
- Attracting and Hiring the Right Talent
- Onboarding: Measuring Time to Competency and Time to Productivity
- Ongoing Development and Retention
The Lifetime Value of a Sales Rep
Finding the right talent to fill a sales position can be an arduous task in itself, but this is just the beginning of the process to get a rep ramped and ready to sell. Once the new salesperson steps into the office, he or she must acquire a fluent understanding of the company strategy, go-to-market message, products and solutions, customers, the marketplace… and the list goes on.
Not only does this process take patience, but it also takes a lot of time – an average of 6-10 months, studies show. If this isn’t alarming enough, research also finds that a seller stays with an organization for an average of 18-24 months. So if the seller you hired ramps quickly, you’re looking at 18 months of optimal selling time… not exactly a lifetime. If you were wondering why SiriusDecisions is placing so much emphasis on sales onboarding, hopefully those statistics help provide clarity as to why ramping new reps is critical.
During our webinar with Jim Ninivaggi of SiriusDecisions, we’ll discuss the lifetime productivity of a seller and how to ensure you’re supporting your sales team in the best possible manner – with processes, frameworks and technology.
To join our webcast on April 1, please register here.
The post The Race Is On To Onboard Your Sellers. Are You Ready? appeared first on SAVO.
