Episode #172: Expectations Of Newly Hired Salespeople

e they people new to sales or new to that company, there is always a delay in new salespeople producing results. Sales leaders often have unrealistic expectations around how much a new person to the business can produce. If they are already selling in that industry, product or service area and have an existing client base, then it is reasonable to expect them to get results pretty promptly. In this day and age in Japan though where hiring new salespeople is like finding a lucky clover, we are often making compromises over who we hire. Recruiting companies are charging us 40% fees of the first year base salary, so the cost element of the new person drives up the pressure to have them perform. The money is going out like a flood with the new hire and their revenues are coming in like a trickle. The issue is further compounded if you need English speaking sales staff, because they cost more in terms of base salary in the initial costs.

Companies set themselves up for failure as well by giving the new salespeople superficial training. The expectation is they already know how to sell, so all they need is product knowledge training. There are usually two or three client visits with the sales manager, to show the newcomer how we do it around here. There are problems aplenty with this way of doing things.

Very few Japanese salespeople have ever been trained in how to sell. They join companies, get a microscopic amount of OJT – On The Job Training – and then have to work it out for themselves. This is who you are hiring. Sending them off to get proper sales training is by far the best way to get them up to speed quickly. They will learn how to get permission to ask questions, how to design the best questions, skills on how to offer the solution, techniques for dealing with objections and direction on how to close the sale.

Given the absolute vast majority of Japanese salespeople ask no qualifying questions of the buyer, the newbie will be miles ahead from the outset. Instead of going into a pitch like everyone else and playing hit and miss with the product catalogue or the flyers, they will be zeroing in on what the client needs and only discussing that in the time allotted to them.

Setting targets for new people is also often a ridiculous exercise in fantasies. The sales leader makes up a number, based on who actually knows what and then pushes the new person to make that number. This is very disheartening for the new person, because often that number is way too large for a first year target.

In our case, we try to add a little more science to the affair. We have this big spread sheet, that lists all the salespeople down the left side and across the top list each quarter since they started. Everyone has a day one and that is the equal starting point for comparison. By doing this you can work up averages of revenue production quarter by quarter. This then translates into what would be an average for year one, year two etc.

Knowing what is realistic to expect for a year one performance allows us to take some pressure off the new person and instead work on encouraging them. This becomes important when the other side of the coin to recruit and the difficulties therein is the retain side. If we pile on too much pressure in the early stages the salesperson comes to believe they can’t succeed where they are and they quit. By this time, they have some degree of product knowledge, hopefully some substantial sales training and a connection with some clients. We don’t want that package walking out the door. We lose time and money when that happens and it makes our operation look unstable and unreliable to clients.

A bit more science behind expectations, solid training to ensure more success and a lot of positive encouragement are the factors needed for onboarding new salespeople. All terribly obvious and unremarkable stuff – but are you doing it?