Mastering Success: The Ultimate Guide to Sales Onboarding

Why invest a lot in sales onboarding when employees will eventually pick up their work and get along with the rest of the team eventually!

If this is how you think of onboarding then it's high time you change your ways of thinking. 

A study titled The State Of Sales Training & Onboarding says that if the onboarding or training process is unpleasant, sales representatives will leave their jobs. According to the study, 47% of account executives have quit their sales jobs as a result of inadequate training or a bad onboarding process.

So even now you have not understood the relevance of sales onboarding, this article is for you. 

In this article, we deal with sales onboarding, its importance, the goals it achieves, its benefits, and the sales onboarding checklist you must follow for successful employee integration.

So scroll down for more.

What is Sales Onboarding?

Sales onboarding is the process of welcoming a new salesperson to the organization and providing them all support and assistance in better understanding their work and the organization.

The process includes providing an overview of the company, the responsibilities and set of tasks to be fulfilled by the salesperson, the expected quotas and targets, sharing information about the market and customers, and introducing them to the team members.  

In short, sales onboarding helps a new employee adapt to the new environment quickly and ensure high performance and productivity in their job profile.   

Why is Sales Onboarding Important?

Even an experienced person might feel odd in a new environment. It is therefore the responsibility of the organization to ensure that their transition into the workspace is smooth. 

Giving a clear picture of the organization, its structure, operations, departments and functions, etc. helps a new hire understand the company, fostering a solid foundation for their integration into the team and alignment with the sales and operations planning process.

Briefing them about their job profile, the set of tasks that they must fulfill, how the responsibilities and duties are carried out and the future expectations from them will prepare them to face and handle the challenges of work well. 

When employees have a clear idea of what their job is and what is expected of them, we can say the work is half done. Onboarding simply helps a newcomer adapt to the new environment easily and get going as soon as possible

What are the Goals of Sales Onboarding

The sales onboarding process makes it a lot easier for the new employee and the organization at various levels. Here are a few goals that sales onboarding fulfills

Building an efficient sales onboarding plan helps the organization in creating a smooth relationship with its new employees. It creates a platform for communication from day one, fostering a positive environment that positively impacts the return on sales ratio. It creates a platform for communication from day one. 

Everything the company wants the employee to know is conveyed and the employee can ask all questions to clarify their doubts. Such open and clear communication will act as a foundation for future coordination and conversations. 

• Create a Sense of Belonging 

When organizations take their employees through a sales onboarding process it helps in creating a sense of belonging in them. Understanding the company and being introduced to the rest of the team will make them feel welcome. 

Such positive practices will ensure that it is easy for the new hire to find their set of friends and aid in building teamwork

• Understand the Responsibilities  

Most often new hires are clueless for months as to what is their set of work and what is expected of them. Such confusion can heavily impact their performance where they either underperform because of the vagueness at work or they can overwork and tire themselves in a race to prove their grit. 

Understanding their responsibilities and expectations, including how it relates to their OTE compensation, helps salesforce plan their strategy towards achieving their targets. 

• Prepare for the Task 

Employees are hired, not just get a set of work done. Their thoughts and ideas have a huge impact on the company's operations. Each employee will have a unique take on a job or challenge and hence, each employee must contribute to their job role. 

Sales onboarding helps new employees to be better prepared for the task and contributes to improving the efficiency of the current system. 

• Ensure Employee Engagement 

The productivity of an employee is seen much higher when they feel they belong in their workspace. In creating this sense of belongingness, sales onboarding also ensures that employees feel committed to their jobs and come forward to be part of the company’s operations. 

Employee engagement is the most crucial aspect in creating a healthy work environment and it is possible only when the employee feels part of the organization.

What are the Benefits of Sales Onboarding

From an employee and employer perspective, the sales onboarding process provides a lot of benefits. Here are a few to look into. 

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• Going through a sales onboarding process will help a new hire to seamlessly integrate into the organization. 

• Having clarity in their roles and responsibility prepare the new joiner to be better prepared for the challenges at work as well as meet the expectations. 

• Sales onboarding creates a platform for open communication where employers can share information they think is important for a new joiner and also for employees to clarify their doubts. 

• It will help employees feel connected and engaged to the organization from day one.  

• Knowing in advance the way the company works ensures better compliance with company policies and rules. 

• When employees receive a positive onboard experience it leads to positive employer branding. 

• When the new hire is well informed of the company and its work culture it will help keep them relaxed while starting. 

• Sales onboarding also helps new joiners become familiar with the tech and other resources that the company uses to streamline and optimize their operations.

• Especially for salesforce, providing tailored training and mentoring sessions will help in meeting the company’s expectations and achieving quotas.  

What are the Sales Onboarding Best Practices

When planning to build an efficient sales onboarding process, here are a few best practices you must follow. 

• Provide a company overview

Organizations must ensure that the sales onboarding process begins by providing a brief about the company overview. They must share key information about the company, its work culture, the industry, etc. to help the new joiner better prepare for the performance expectations, handle the sales competition, and close deals on time to achieve their quotas.   

• Help understand the target market and ICP 

Before starting a sales job the salesperson must be aware of the company’s product, its features, benefits, the ideal customer profile, and their target market. Organizations must share these relevant details to help salesforce better strategize their sales process for better lead generation, faster conversion rate, and closing of deals. 

• Support in lead generation 

The beginnings are always hard. Hence, sales managers must help the new employee to find potential clients, generate leads, etc. When entering a new organization with its niche way of getting things done, the new employees must be guided so that it's easy for them to understand the task at hand and upskill to meet the expectations. 

• Share Resources 

Sales team must develop a routine where they ensure that the new salesforce is well-informed about everything related to the product and market. Sharing customer testimonials, case studies, and other relevant information will help them have better clarity and in-depth knowledge about their role and responsibilities. 

• Streamline the process

Creating a sales onboarding checklist and ensuring that every key information is shared with the new joiner will help the sales team to integrate them into the team, understand the differences between sales enablement vs sales effectiveness, and streamline the process.. This helps the new members to familiarize themselves with the sales routine and fall on track easily. 

Building a set of sales onboarding best practices and evaluating them regularly will help the sales team determine its effectiveness and undergo changes if necessary. 

Conclusion

Sales is a competitive job. Therefore organizations must build a practice where their new sales members can pick up the sales ways of the organization easily, get into the groove seamlessly, and rise to the expectations and challenges, ultimately helping to improve sales performance.

Companies cannot expect from employees unless they provide the foundation from which employees can grow, thrive, and contribute to the organization, including the critical sales performance management process. Employees who feel they belong to the organization will not just give their effort and hard work to the organization but commitment, dedication, and trust that can take the company to bigger heights.