Lee Salz is a Featured Columnist for The Business Journals.
When a sales candidate accepts a job offer, everyone is all smiles. Those smiles can quickly turn to frowns if you are making any of these sales onboarding mistakes.
1. Not having an onboarding program
When salespeople aren’t performing as expected, few trace the issue back to how the salesperson was assimilated into the organization. Yet, that is oftentimes the root cause of the problem.
Keep in mind that the output of an effective hiring process is not a great salesperson, but rather someone with the potential to be great in your organization. Sales onboarding programs help to ensure that potential becomes reality.
2. Not having onboarding objectives
Many executives, once they recognize the prudence of having a sales onboarding program, begin the initiative by creating content. Meetings are held with key stakeholders and the core focus is on the curriculum — what will be put into the program. Content can be created for an eternity and still not prepare the salesperson to sell effectively for the company.