How To Successfully Integrate New Sales Staff

It is important to ensure a high level of motivation is maintained when integrating new sales staff into the company and staff retention remains good. New staff attending sales training courses often talk about how well they feel they have been included into the company.

If you have gone to the effort of recruiting new sales people don’t make the mistake of not making enough effort to integrate them into the company?

Many new sales people frequently get the impression that the intense interest shown in them as a job applicant soon fades when they actually begin work. Consequently early motivation is lost and they think about handing in their notice.

Incorporation is successful only if, at the end of the introductory period, the new sales person is fully aware of his responsibilities in the sales department. Also, if you have managed to iron out any gaps in the salesperson’s knowledge and ability. Lastly if the sales person has formed a bond with the business, knows the company attitude and how it works.

Here are two methods of integrating new sales representatives, particularly favoured by sales managers. The motto behind this is that “The good ones cope and it does not do the others any harm”. This attitude can be dangerous. Sales managers who have worked for a specific company for years often have no idea of the f information a new sales person requires in the initial stages.  

Failures on the sales front early on, are not automatically attributable to a lack of qualifications and enthusiasm; often these can be put down to a lack of information “The sparing strategy”

The sales person is spared initially - the sales manager does not give him any concrete tasks to fulfill, but recommends instead that he has a look around and makes himself useful wherever possible. This leads to a debilitating under use of the sales person’s abilities. New sales staff are extremely keen to make their mark. Overloading a new salesperson in the initial stages has fewer detrimental effects than under loading him.

Draw up an induction programme that stipulates the order in which the new sales executive will take on responsibilities, and the length of time he will have to come to grips with each one. Make a note of any additional sales training and development a sales person needs and how these will be achieved.

Have a feedback discussion at the end of each element of the induction programme.  Apply the following rule to the content of such discussions - “Whenever possible give positive feedback and praise the sales person’s positive conduct.” Of course, you should also use feedback discussions to criticise certain things. Be charitable, so as not to put the new sales person on the defensive.

Tell your new sales person that making mistakes at the beginning is not disastrous, since it aids the learning process. Make it obvious to the sales person that mistakes made during the induction period will in no way affect his later overall assessment.

During the feedback discussions, encourage the new sales executive to make suggestions about his own work. The aim of the induction programme is to allow the sales representative to show initiative. Initiative cannot encouraged early enough. The process of continual improvement should also be encouraged. Initially new sales people are keen to learn and develop new skills only to become entrenched within months in the same techniques. This reduces their potential to continue to develop. Discuss an ongoing development plan and regularly review their sales training requirements.

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