The induction process for new salespeople
New salespeople will need to familiarise themselves with your business – its products or services, its employees and its customers. You should plan an induction process that you can also use for any sales staff you recruit in the future.
Your induction process should cover the following:
Your industry – give them the basic knowledge they’ll need about your business sector, your position in it, and most importantly, who your competitors are.
Your products – make sure they’re completely familiar with the goods or services you supply – and how these might differ from the rest of the marketplace.
Your customers – provide them with lists or databases of customers so that they know the types of individuals or organisations that you cater for.
Your business objectives – explain to them where you want the business to go. Are there any new markets into which you aim to move or types of custom you want to attract? How do you intend to get there?
Some salespeople will need a longer induction process than others. If a recruit is new to your business sector, they’ll need more coaching than someone who has worked in your industry for several years.
Consider accompanying a new salesperson on their first few visits to current or prospective customers so that you can make introductions and observe how well they are settling in.
For further information about hiring new staff, see advertising a job and interviewing candidates.
Manage your sales team
It’s important that your sales staff are managed properly and given direction to allow each salesperson to achieve maximum results and fulfil their potential.
Begin with the basics and develop a sales strategy that everyone is aware of. This should make clear what your objectives are. For example, is the priority to target new or existing businesses? Which products or services are you most keen to promote? See establishing your sales objectives.
Your staff should be clear on what their roles are within the sales team. It’s usual to allocate responsibility so that one member of staff looks after a particular account, product or service or territory. This allows customers to build a relationship with a particular account manager.
Use data such as sales-activity reports to keep track of how well your sales staff are performing and combine these with reviews where you can discuss results face-to-face. This will give you the chance to address any problems or issues.
Feedback from your sales staff can be very valuable in shaping business direction because of the close contact they have with customers. Of all the staff within your business, they are likely to have the best idea of what your customers want.