Why 47% of sales hires fail

5 reasons why salespeople fail and likewise why 53% succeed.

1) Few salespeople fail because of too little opportunity

  • See that the new hire stacks the odds in their favour by building a broad pipeline. This is urgent, and the earlier it’s done the better. Get them to identify how they create this depth of opportunity. Many companies work on a 5 x 1 coverage.
  • If the new starters’ selling opportunity is confined to too small a number of prospective companies to sell into – then as a leader or manager, you need to determine how this can be opened up.

2) Today more effort is required for each sale

  • The digital age together with an advanced and convoluted business climate brings a more complex and dynamic selling environment.
  • Your new hire needs to do more in less time
  • They must operate from day 1 with a sense of urgency and intensity.
  • What he or she does now will lay the foundation for success or failure 6+ months down-stream

3) Your prospective buyer is getting smarter

  • Today’s buyer is more informed than ever and sick of mediocre sales interactions.
  • Your new hire cannot rock up and wing it. The seller must be more informed and their knowledge-set up to the minute. The messages they peddled 2 years ago have probably passed their sell-by date.
  • Equip your sales hire with knowledge – drill down through detail – when he or she cannot answer you, you know you have reached their limit.

4) Rigour around fundamentals

  • Benefits, ROI, why do anything, why you, why now – what has the customer said? Do you have influencers and who is your sponsor? This separates those who win the order from those who come in second.
  • Complex solutions are not sold “solo” – your new hire must get those other people involved in, fully on board, supportive and backing their sales campaigns.
  • Do try to give your new hire a live opportunity – this will give you the chance to see what the hire is like in action when engaged in a sales cycle.

5) Social selling

  • Does your new hire’s on-line presence compromise or complement your company brand? Google them, browse their LinkedIn profile, Twitter, Facebook etc
  • Advanced social seller or novice? How will your new hire leverage social media?
  • Establish ground rules about their usage.

Want to know more… read our FREE PDF white paper “How salespeople can best approach their first 100 days”.