I answered the phone this afternoon and an earnest voice said, \u201cHello, Mr. Harrison?\u00a0 This is Chris (last name eliminated), and I\u2019m your new representative with (Company X).\u00a0 I\u2019m calling to introduce myself, and to see if we could set up a time to chat, so I could learn about your business and we could see if (Company X) could do more for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Company X is a vendor with whom I have done business for six years.\u00a0 I\u2019m loyal to them because they provide a service that helps me a lot.\u00a0 I spend quite a bit of money with them, and I\u2019m sure that when Chris looked at my account, he figured he had a pretty solid customer and a good sales call.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019m sure that my response was a huge surprise to him (and it might be to you, as well).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Chris, but that wouldn\u2019t be a good use of my time or yours,\u201d I told him.\u00a0 Chris was clearly shocked, so I decided to explain more fully.\u00a0 \u201cYou see, I get a call just like this every six months from your company.\u00a0 About every six months, more or less, I have a new rep who wants to spend time being a \u2018resource\u2019 to me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had several of these conversations, and I just don\u2019t have the time for another.\u00a0 I\u2019m already buying what I need from your company, so there\u2019s no upsell potential for you.\u00a0 I wish you the best, I have your contact information, and if I need you, I\u2019ll call.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cWell, I do appreciate your candor.\u201d\u00a0 I told him, \u201cI\u2019m not trying to be rude.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you what \u2013 call me on your one-year anniversary, and I\u2019ll give you all the time you want.\u201d\u00a0 Chris was disappointed \u2013 but I meant what I said.\u00a0 And I doubt, based on past performance, that I\u2019ll get that call on his one-year anniversary.<\/p>\n
Turnover in sales is a sales killer and a relationship killer.\u00a0 Sooner or later your customers get tired of hearing, \u201cI\u2019m your new salesperson.\u201d\u00a0 Or, for those salespeople that jump jobs and are saying, \u201cI\u2019m now with a new company,\u201d your customers get tired of that as well.\u00a0 In both cases, credibility and relationships are the victims.<\/p>\n
The reason I wouldn\u2019t speak with Chris was exactly as I told him \u2013 it wouldn\u2019t be a good use of my time.\u00a0 History shows that by the time he\u2019s getting it figured out, he\u2019ll be gone, and I\u2019ll be getting a call from yet another new salesperson.\u00a0 I like to train salespeople \u2013 but only when I\u2019m paid to do so.<\/p>\n
Here are the raw facts.\u00a0 There is a learning curve for salespeople in any job.\u00a0 Stats say that salespeople reach basic competence in six months, become profitable for the hiring company between month 12 and month 18, and don\u2019t reach full productivity until year three or year four.\u00a0 When salespeople change jobs inside that 3-year window (or worse, the 1-year window), that tells me that they don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to reach full productivity.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, excess turnover is a problem for our profession, but there are a few things that salespeople, sales managers, and company owners can do to curb it.<\/p>\n
For Salespeople:<\/strong><\/p>\n I answered the phone this afternoon and an earnest voice said, \u201cHello, Mr. Harrison?\u00a0 This is Chris (last name eliminated), and I\u2019m your new representative with (Company X).\u00a0 I\u2019m calling to introduce myself, and to see if we could set up a time to chat, so I could learn about your business and we could see if (Company X) could do more for you.\u201d Company X is a vendor with whom I have done business for six years.\u00a0 I\u2019m loyal to them because they provide a service that helps me a lot.\u00a0 I spend quite a bit of money with them, and I\u2019m sure that when Chris looked at my account, he figured he had a pretty solid customer and a good sales call.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019m sure that my response was a huge surprise to him (and it might be to you, as well). \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Chris, but that wouldn\u2019t be a good use of my time or yours,\u201d I told him.\u00a0 Chris was clearly shocked, so I decided to explain more fully.\u00a0 \u201cYou see, I get a call just like this every six months from your company.\u00a0 About every six months, more or less, I have a new rep who wants to spend time being a \u2018resource\u2019 to me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had several of these conversations, and I just don\u2019t have the time for another.\u00a0 I\u2019m already buying what I need from your company, so there\u2019s no upsell potential for you.\u00a0 I wish you the best, I have your contact information, and if I need you, I\u2019ll call.\u201d He said, \u201cWell, I do appreciate your candor.\u201d\u00a0 I told him, \u201cI\u2019m not trying to be rude.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you what \u2013 call me on your one-year anniversary, and I\u2019ll give you all the time you want.\u201d\u00a0 Chris was disappointed \u2013 but I meant what I said.\u00a0 And I doubt, based on past performance, that I\u2019ll get that call on his one-year anniversary. Turnover in sales is a sales killer and a relationship killer.\u00a0 Sooner or later your customers get tired of hearing, \u201cI\u2019m your new salesperson.\u201d\u00a0 Or, for those salespeople that jump jobs and are saying, \u201cI\u2019m now with a new company,\u201d your customers get tired of that as well.\u00a0 In both cases, credibility and relationships are the victims. The reason I wouldn\u2019t speak with Chris was exactly as I told him \u2013 it wouldn\u2019t be a good use of my time.\u00a0 History shows that by the time he\u2019s getting it figured out, he\u2019ll be gone, and I\u2019ll be getting a call from yet another new salesperson.\u00a0 I like to train salespeople \u2013 but only when I\u2019m paid to do so. Here are the raw facts.\u00a0 There is a learning curve for salespeople in any job.\u00a0 Stats say that salespeople reach basic competence in six months, become profitable for the hiring company between month 12 and month 18, and don\u2019t reach full productivity until year three or year four.\u00a0 When salespeople change jobs inside that 3-year window (or worse, the 1-year window), that tells me that they don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to reach full productivity. Ultimately, excess turnover is a problem for our profession, but there are a few things that salespeople, sales managers, and company owners can do to curb it. For Salespeople: Stand and fight: There are many \u201cstated\u201d reasons for salespeople short-timing on a job; however, the main reason is that things get a bit tough and the salesperson bails.\u00a0 Sales isn\u2019t always an easy career \u2013 but the best, most successful salespeople fight through the problems and emerge victorious on the other side. Stop chasing shiny objects: One of the biggest reasons for turnover is that salespeople chase.\u00a0 What do they chase?\u00a0 Shiny objects. Or, to put it another way, the new opportunity that seems oh-so-much-better than the current job.\u00a0 More money, better technology, different territory, etc.\u00a0 I recently interviewed a guy who said that he was a \u2018chaser of the best technology in my space at any given time.\u2019\u00a0 This was to explain six job changes in the last ten years, none of which produced significantly better results or income.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong; I know that there are times when the only way to advance your career is to make a change \u2013 but those changes should be infrequent and well thought out. For Sales Managers: Hire smart: Too many hires are simply future turnover in the making.\u00a0 Sales managers, lacking a good basis or tools for hiring, simply do \u2018gut hires\u2019 that don\u2019t produce results.\u00a0 Lower turnover is the result of good hiring practices. Coach before firing: Once you have hired someone, you owe it to yourself, as well as to your hire, to give them every reasonable opportunity to succeed.\u00a0 That means that termination should be a last resort, not a first; the first resort is to troubleshoot and coach your salesperson\u2019s performance.\u00a0 Only when you can honestly look at yourself in the mirror and say that you gave them an honest shot should you terminate. For Company Owners: Take a long term approach: Building a quality sales force isn\u2019t something that happens week by week, or necessarily quarter by quarter.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that happens over the long haul.\u00a0 In the case of the sales rep that contacted me, I\u2019m sure that ownership or upper management has set up a set of standards that basically wash out new sales reps after about six months, hence my frequent calls from new reps. Hire a quality sales manager: Quality sales managers have the skills of coaching and improving sales performance; they are drivers of the sales effort rather than passengers.\u00a0 If that\u2019s not your sales manager, it\u2019s time to rethink (and maybe invest in coaching or training for that person). Turnover has many costs, but it doesn\u2019t have to be a sales killer.\u00a0 The right approach to building a sales force can greatly reduce turnover \u2013 which puts profit on your bottom line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1649,1814],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8747"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8747"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8752,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8747\/revisions\/8752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nFor Sales Managers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\nFor Company Owners:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\nTurnover has many costs, but it doesn\u2019t have to be a sales killer.\u00a0 The right approach to building a sales force can greatly reduce turnover \u2013 which puts profit on your bottom line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"