Onboarding just isn’t the same as it once was. With the internet, sales training professionals are able to access a plethora of resources all on their own. With just a bit of research, new sales reps and training and enablement professionals can quickly become experts on a new company and its products — before they even step foot in the office or attend a virtual info session.
However, despite ample access to knowledge, this doesn’t mean the new recruits know the ins and outs of sales right off the bat. It takes finesse and deep industry knowledge to be a sales superstar, and even veteran reps with photographic memories and perfect track records need time to become experts on their new organization and its products and services.
Therefore, properly onboarding new recruits is as crucial as ever. Unfortunately, many companies still fall prey to these five common sales onboarding blunders:
1.) Impromptu Sales Onboarding.
One of the biggest mistakes is failing to create a succinct plan for the onboarding process. Instead, HR professionals, sales trainers and managers simply “wing it.” Information packets are thrown together and tossed at new recruits. People from various departments file in and out of a classroom, administering day after day of “death by PowerPoint” until employees’ heads explode from the information overload.
The obvious (and only) solution is for different departments to develop, coordinate and deliver a formal pre-boarding and sales onboarding program — one that: (A.) introduces employees to the company, not only to its policies, but also to its culture and people in order to drive that critical early engagement that often makes or breaks successful sales onboarding; and (B.) provides job-related training that enables the new reps for sales success.
Leave the “improv” to your local comedy troupe!
2.) Instant Onboarding.
“Alright so you’ve got your cubicle, laptop and the latest software — looks like you’re all set with onboarding! Go get ‘em, Tiger!” If you rely on this sort of “instant sales onboarding” — i.e., no sales onboarding at all — good luck.
While eventually a rep may be able to teach themselves enough to be proficient, this type of “onboarding” will likely result in reps practicing in front of prospects. Your sales team holds a wealth of industry and product knowledge about what works and what doesn’t, and you’re missing out if you fail to leverage their expertise!
3.) No Coordination.
If the various departments do not properly coordinate their efforts, logistics can derail the learning process. For example, if pre-boarding activities aren’t synced with those of sales onboarding, you may have HR personnel repeatedly plucking employees from presentations and role-playing sessions to fill out paperwork or tour the facilities. At a minimum, this will lengthen your sales onboarding time.
4.) Information Overload.
Trying to deliver a month’s worth of learning in a few days is like trying to fill a sieve. The contents leak out as fast as you fill it. Unfortunately, “cramming” is standard operating procedure at many organizations.
This is where modern learning tools come to the rescue. These tools allow employees to learn on their own time and to access relevant information whenever, wherever. In addition, these platforms reinforce training through repetition, so employees don’t forget what they learned.
5.) No checkpoints.
Too many sales onboarding programs lack checkpoints — periodic assessments of employees’ progress to determine how well they’re doing. Without them, new reps will move from one learning experience to another without any guidelines — without anyone knowing whether they’re learning and retaining the information and ramping up according to schedule.
At a minimum, you need to track the performance of new employees relative to key dates. You want to be able to say, “From the date this new rep began her onboarding, she has attended X hours of classroom training, participated in Y hours of video role-playing exercises, and passed Z number of tests. I anticipate that she’ll be certified in A, B and C products by [date], and will be ‘sales ready’ by [date].”
Don’t Make the Same Mistakes!
If you approach sales onboarding strategically and use modern learning tools to execute, then these five mistakes are completely avoidable. By doing this, you can help your sales professionals become the best they can be.
A version of this post was originally published on the Allego Blog. You can read the original post here.