What does great Sales Onboarding look like?

Matt Garman
1 May, 2020

When we’re able to resume business and whatever that may look like, we know for certain everything will have changed.  Our customers, our routes to market, even where we buy our coffee on the way to our desks will be different.

It’s inevitable that businesses will see staff changes through downsizing, re-imagining how they work and the usual ebb and flow.   Good onboarding will be even more important when hiring new salespeople.  Businesses will not have the economic capacity to wait for their new hire to get up to speed.  A new salesperson will need to be fully conversant with company values, products, sales processes and best practice in the shortest time possible.

It is always good practice to introduce a new hire to your business products and process ahead of their first day.  I call this DMINUS30.  Literally day 1 in your office, minus the thirty days while they serve out their notice.  To get them embedded quickly into your culture and business, make your sales information available and include them in communications to staff.

DMINUS30 gives them the luxury of time to absorb what you do, how you do it and what will be expected of them.  It allows the new starter to be highly proficient in your products and services and speak your language.

Slow or poor onboarding is costly, ineffective and soaks up the time of your management team and top performers while a new starter ‘learns the ropes’. DMINUS30 onboarding allows a new starter to have a great foundation on day 1 – they can still shadow your top performers, but they won’t be a drain on their patience.

Statistics report that 1 in 3 sales hires fail and poor onboarding is a common reason.  While this might have been accepted as a calculated risk before the current challenges, it certainly can’t be accepted now.  Businesses will have to be super careful in their expenditure, curtailing anything without a demonstrable or quick return, if they are to start recouping the extreme losses from the last three months.

So how do you organise a new starter to get on board before their first day?

Ideally, you send them a logon to your SalesEnabla with their letter of offer and when they accept the position, you give them access to it. SalesEnabla allows them to see your best practice in every customer scenario, your values and beliefs, your competitors and in depth, current information on your products and services.  Everything they would start to absorb on their first day, while trying to look like they knew what they were doing and coping with the reality of needing to prove their worth quickly.

DMINUS30 gives them free time to learn your business in the safety and calm of their own space. No pressure, no interference, no juggling new personalities and trying to fit in. It gives them a minimum 30 day start on regular onboarding starting on day 1.

Whether you have SalesEnabla or not, every business is able to practice good onboarding.  SalesEnabla makes it easy, one logon for access to everything you want them to know but even without it, it’s important to provide as much information as you can, in whatever format you have.

A new starter who presents on the first day primed with your business information, knows what’s expected of them and their role in your business is set up for success.  When you give your new starter the confidence and ability to succeed by giving them the tools they need before they start as well as a clear roadmap, you’re also giving your top performers support and helping your business to grow.

Now, more than ever before, it’s vital to make sure every pound spent is meaningful. There’s no economic room for risky behaviour and good onboarding will help ensure every new hire pulls their weight and adds value to your business.