I was reading a short article the other day where the topic of sales force turnover was mentioned. The article indicated that sales force turnover was always a bad thing. Well, I am here to say that some sales force turnover is a good thing. Anytime someone leaves, it affords you the opportunity to upgrade your talent. I suppose most employers look at it differently, though, if they don’t have a predictive tool to hire salespeople correctly. And, the negative statistics are staggering.
- 90% of hiring decisions are made in the interview
- But in traditional interviewing is only 14% accurate
- As many as 30 million people have secured a job by lying on their resume
The worst part of all is that the cost to the company of making a mistake and hiring the wrong salesperson will cost the company between three times and five times that individual’s annual compensation. No wonder employers hang on to bad salespeople way too long.
I am here to tell you that if you want to reach the highest level possible, you must embrace sales force turnover, set high expectation, raise the bar if you will, and eliminate tolerance for mediocrity. And then follow these easy steps to hiring right.
- Write the killer ad that is descriptive and specific: What do you need the candidate to demonstrate they can do well?
- Use a predictive assessment to get an objective read of the candidate
- Follow a disciplined, scripted process for interviewing
What do you think? Do you believe sales force turnover is good?
At Braveheart Sales Performance, we use the Objective Management Group battery of assessments because they are the only assessments on the market that are predictive and valid for salespeople. These assessments are followed by a disciplined approach for initial interviews – consistent scorecards and question templates. Finally, Braveheart helps create clear-cut and comprehensive on-boarding programs to give the new hire the best chance for success. If you want to know how you can embrace sales force turnover and upgrade your sales team contact us at info@staging.braveheartsales.com or at 614-641-0600.
© Copyright Gretchen Gordon All Rights Reserved
10 Comments
Absolutely agree! I’ve used Gretchen’s solutions before and she is spot on!!!!
Thanks Mike!
The only constant in life and business is change, and without it, there can be no forward movement. A sales organization serves one critical purpose for an enterprise, to grow profitable revenue. This is accomplished in two ways – through the acquisition of new customers and new business and secondly, through the cultivation of long term partnerships and collboration with the existing base of customers. These purposes and efforts require two different types of sales personalities and hiring profiles.
As strategy changes and evolves over time for business enterprises, it is important to have that strategy drive the kinds of hiring decisions made. Changing the mix of the sales organization is an essentail element of continuous improvement; the sales organization needs both hunters and farmers. Strategic planning will help to determine the right mix for the right strategy.
You made a great point. Thanks!
You mentioned that traditional interviewing is only 14% accurate. Don’t you think that therein lies the problem? There is a process known as the LAB Profile which relies on how people say things instead of what they say. It’s much more accurate. If the cost is as high as you say it is for hiring the wrong person, then learning to use this process can save you thousands. You can google it if you are interested.
Thanks for the idea! I will have to check it out.
[…] Sales Force Turnover: Good or Bad? (braveheartselling.com) […]
Alot of what is stated in the above comments is indeed true and interesting. Yet, I am a firm believer in CULTIVATING your sales assets and having a REGULAR evaluation of your team. Training is one item that many firms side step and see as a waste of time & especially money. This is WRONG. My 30 years of experience have taught me to constantly train your staff, tell them how much each sales visit costs for instance (do all owners actually know?) and lead them to achieve the desired targets. Hiring and firing is not always pleasant, and today you can find pros who can walk into a firm, spend 30 days cutting rust off and building a strong sales force.
To conclude, I have seen CV’s written by my staff that exceeded what I had achieved in my lifetime, let alone themselves in 5 years!!!
Thanks for sharing!
[…] common mistake is promoting the best salesperson to sales manager. This situation frequently ends in disaster; you have […]