Stopping the Revolving Door -
How to attract and retain sales professionals.

If you want to compete with corporate America for sales professionals, you have to be willing to offer matching incentives in order to attract and retain quality people. Companies have to give salespeople an incentive to stay with them, because it costs a fortune when they don't. The average cost of losing a salesperson with repeat and referral business ranges from $50,000 to $250,000. on up, per year. Just to replace one good salesperson can cost as much as $20,000 to $30,000 when the cost of recruiting and training is calculated. The biggest mistake business owners make is they don't accept the problem of sales turnover as a serious one. A company that relies on a sales department, must become more sophisticated in it's way of recruiting and screening. Here are a few ways to find good candidates:

• Recruit experienced salespeople from among the ranks of other sales fields, such as real estate, department stores, insurance and retail sales.
  
  
• Get involved in your industry associations where you can meet salespeople from competing companies and suppliers.
  
  
• Attend your target prospect's associations. You can prospect for new business as well as new sales recruits.
  
  
• Evaluate previous and current employees for selling skills or ask if they know of anyone who can sell. Try to think of creative ways to find people who will adapt well to selling your product. If a person has been successful selling another product or service, chances are they will be successful at selling yours. Also, senior management or the sales manager should spend 15-20 percent of their time recruiting. There will always be a need for quality salespeople. Either to replace someone in your company or to add to your existing sales force. Some suggestions for retaining sales professionals:
  
  
• Treat salespeople as a valuable commodity and offer low-cost "perks" that motivates them.
  
  
• Offer salary incentives. Long-time salespeople and those recruited from competing companies could be rewarded with monthly salaries contingent on bringing in a predetermined number of outside sales during the year. New recruits could earn a salary in addition to their sales during the first few months on the job, to eliminate the fear associated with a commissions-only position.
  
  
• Develop training program for all your salespeople. Many new salespeople fail because they are never taught how to sell the product. And veteran salespeople fall into ruts because they use antiquated selling methods.
  
  
• Provide days off, long weekends and holidays. It doesn't cost anything, and it's something offered in nearly every other industry.
  
  
• Schedule time for salespeople to make prospecting calls and contacts. If they go on the road regularly or are scheduled to "work the floor," mandate specific times for them to prospect for new business. It will result in more sales and increased profits for the salesperson and the company.
  
  
• Provide company cars or reimbursement programs for expenses such as entertainment, car payments, insurance, tolls and gas.
  
  
• Set up an organization system and require all salespeople to use it. Studies show that salespeople waste 50 percent to their time because they are unorganized.
  
  

Many factors contribute to the revolving door phenomenon at companies. Among them are poor initial screening processes,lack of solid training for the sales force, failure for owners to give managers the proper authority to oversee the sales staff and tolerating mediocre salespeople and practices. It is extremely important to thoroughly screen each candidate before he/she is offered a sales position. Have two or three managers interview every candidate, then make a group decision. The old saying holds true in this case,"Two heads are better than one." There is no place for gut reactions in the hiring of salespeople.Another big mistake companies make is offering to little of an incentive for a person to choose their company over another sales position. Often, the owner or manager never tells a recruit what the company has to offer. They don't tell a new candidate what will be expected of them, what their earning potential is, what extras come with the job and what their career path could be. High turnover effects all people and/or departments in an organization. New salespeople need to adjust to your companies policies or procedures and usually take other people's time to figure out how to "get things done." The next time you need a sales professional, ask yourself this question, "How are we at recruiting and retaining salespeople, and what could we do to make it better?"

Michael J. Galante is president of Galante & Company (Long Island), a sales training firm that specializes in in-house training programs and one-on-one coaching sessions.
For more information call 1-800-405-8889