Onboarding, Onramping

We call it onramping because that is truly what occurs with new sales hires.  This area is often overlooked or under-served by sales managers.  They often hire new salespeople, offer some product/service training and then turn them loose in the field. It is the sink or swim approach that leads to turnover. SellingPower.com reports on this fact in On-Boarding: The Most Overlooked Part of Hiring.  Here is why this topic is so important: Unfortunately, great sales on-boarding programs are still the exception, rather than the norm, says Stakenas. He says that most companies are missing an opportunity in the first three to six months of a new hire’s time to… Read More

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Onramping Is Everything

This ManageSmarter.com article – On-Board Your Sales Hires Faster – hits me where I live.  We ran into a serious issue with one of our customers where a salesperson we placed was terminated after 60 days.  I won’t go into specifics, but this gentleman never had a chance.  One anecdotal point – he never received business cards.  You get the picture. We are working with our customer this week to establish a formalized onramping program for the next salesperson in this role.  Much, or even all, of the problems that developed were due to this small company not understanding what needs to happen to successfully launch a new salesperson.  Some… Read More

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