Challenges and Opportunities in Sales New Hire Onboarding & Training
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Knowledge. Performance. Impact. Cross-Functional Teaming Challenges and Opportunities in Sales New Hire Training September 2014
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CEOs are continuing to look at bringing costs into alignment while at the same time looking for ways to grow their organization. As a result, a lot of activity continues within the sales team. Sales leaders are looking to increase the competitiveness of their sales team as the economy continues to slog along. One area under increased scrutiny is the onboarding process within client-facing teams. On one hand, the new hires need to perform quickly and hit their quota as fast as possible. On the other hand, they need to understand what customer’s need and how to communicate the value of products and services. While this is an age old problem, today’s solution to this challenge is anything but routine — especially when learning and sales leaders are struggling with justifying the investments being made in new hire onboarding activities and explaining how those activities clearly link to improved competitiveness at the point of sale. In this webinar, Sales Enablement Principal Consultant Brian Lambert and Training Consultant Greg Renner will share real-world examples and provide insights on: - Orchestrating a new hire onboarding process that decreases ramp up time of new hires - Understanding how learning and sales leaders are taking a top-down and bottom-up approach to help new hires achieve more immediate sales results - Defining the often overlooked critical links within the process, and how companies are looking to manage friction points in the process - Getting in front of the likely onboarding “mandates” from above, or from product groups, or business units
Transcript of Challenges and Opportunities in Sales New Hire Onboarding & Training
Knowledge. Performance. Impact.
Cross-Functional Teaming Challenges and Opportunities in Sales New Hire Training
September 2014
Your PRESENTERS
Brian Lambert “Sales Guy”
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Greg Renner “Learning Guy”
Topics for TODAY
• Trends in Sales Enablement
• What Sales VPs are looking for in a new hire training
program
• Why are sales leaders starting to focus on new hire
training (again)?
• How to go about it
• Important considerations
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Defining SALES ENABLEMENT
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GP Strategies Sales Enablement
Business to Business
Business to Consumer
Channel / Partner
1. Improve win rates
2. Improve penetration
3. Improve market share
1. Improve loyalty
2. Improve interactions
3. Improve cart size
1. Improve sales volume
2. Improve product knowledge
3. Improve communications
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“SALES” has changed dramatically in last 100 years
What’s the impact to you?
It means the definition of “adding value” to your CEO has evolved, too. 5
From: INDUSTRIAL AGE To: INFORMATION AGE
From: SILOED EFFORTS To: CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ENDEAVORS
Trends in SALES ENABLEMENT
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IMPROVE SALESPERSON
PRODUCTIVITY
IMPROVE PRODUCT
LAUNCHES
IMPROVE SALES
KICKOFFS
IMPROVE SALES
MANAGEMENT SKILLS
New Hire Training
Hiring Process
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & Enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
New
Advanced
Mastery
Reinforce
Coaching
Development
BUSINESS OUTCOME:
Decreased
Ramp Up Time
Reference Process Model
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How Sales VPs Think About NEW HIRE TRAINING
• The business problem we’re tackling…
– Sales reps are not effectively engaging senior/executive buyers to sell the
higher value portfolio and address critical business issues
• The experience we want to create…
– The learning experience must be anchored with the customer perspective
• The results we want to drive…
– Learning isn’t learning unless behavior actually changes in the intended way
• The accountability we require…
– The effectiveness of this solution rests on the reinforcement of the new
behaviors from sales leaders and sales managers
• The success we’re looking to achieve…
– We will measure this by linking sales objectives to our sales process and
tracking additional metrics in a pilot (and then a broader roll out)
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The Type of Reps We Want To EQUIP
1. Driven. Thrives in a variable compensation model. Wants to win and exceed quota by getting
ahead of the RFP and selling to executives. Doesn’t rely on inbound order taking.
2. Specialist. Market and product depth. Consultative approach from someone who knows the
industry, competitors, products, and how to sell solutions vs. products.
3. Sells a vision. Able to communicate the business pattern that client can address in their
market and then successfully relate that business pattern into a specific problem the client is
experiencing, while articulating at a high level what their world could look like after working
with our company.
4. Empathetic. Fully understands the customers’ business and the role we play today and can
play in the future, does not need a “smart guy” in the room to explain to the customer “what a
widget is.”
5. Executive Presence. Able to hold a conversation with the executive owner of a business
problem. Comfortable engaging at the highest levels: has an elevator speech of how we can
add value/ the “so what.”
6. Challenger-like. Passionate about helping the client and our company become more
successful. Brings new insights around a way of working.
7. Execution-Oriented. Frames out a high level initiative with the client by leveraging the gated
approach. Understands how we implement. Applies process and discipline to ensure things get
done on time.
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SALES VPS are Recognizing Many Variables Exist
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Regions have unique needs.
Aligning critical sales roles to achieve the business strategy requires a tops-down view of the
new hire training experience that is logical and practical to a variety of stakeholders.
New hires need help to fill the funnel and accelerate the sales process.
While there are many points of view on what new hire salespeople need to know, the new hire
experience should help them fill their pipeline and execute the sales process.
Cross-functional teaming is required.
Creating a shared vision of both the “what” and the “how” of new hire training requires
a practical governance approach.
We need to do more with less.
Create more efficiencies across the learning function, while staying business relevant to
a variety of stakeholders.
New hire sales conversations are critical to our sales strategy.
Setting and delivering on high expectations in the new hire experience requires management
support of selling behaviors in the field.
The Business PROBLEM
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Bottom line: Many new hire training programs create more confusion than clarity
Sellers Aren’t Equipped Buyers Get Confused
Traditional HR/Learning “Answer”
Let’s create a new training course!
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What We Often Hear From SALES LEADERS and SALES REPS
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New hires
suffering
information
overload
New hire
behaviors and
manager actions
aren’t tied to
go-forward
sales strategy
No ability to scale
delivery of new hire
enablement across
regions with
consistency
New hires
wasting selling
time with
inefficient process
& content
Lack of
accountability and
measurement of
impact across
internal groups that
impact new hire
programs
Inconsistent New Hire Training = Wasted Investment
New hire
enablement
developed and
delivered
subjectively
in silos
Which Begs the Question: New Hire Training For What?
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Course Service Program
• Refresh
• Outputs
• Isolated department
• Content done
• “Train people”
• Optimization
• Project(s)
• Small team
• Project complete
• “Roll out x”
• Transformation
• Ongoing Result(s)
• Large cross-functional team
• Business results achieved
• “New way of working”
Focus
Scope
Involvement
Success
Approach
Sales VPs WANT
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BUSINESS OUTCOME:
Decreased
Ramp-Up Time
End
State
Productive and competitive
new hires
Sales VPs and Sales Execs
A globally consistent and
scalable new hire training program
Decreased ramp-up time as
measured by X, Y, and Z
Marketing, sales, regional learning,
technology, HR, and executive team
“Let’s follow design principles”
Ownership
Focus
Measures
Stakeholders
Approach
Blending Tops-Down, with Bottoms-Up is HARD
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How to Work to
“Do the Right Things”
ENGAGEMENT
DELIVERY
BRACKISH WATER /
GRAY AREA • Co-defining success
• Co-tackling root cause problems
• Relevance, timeliness, context
• Blending know-how
How to Work to
“Do Things Right”
What Must NEW HIRES Accomplish Anyway?
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VP of Sales Says: “The right conversation with the right buyer at the right
altitude level about the right things – as fast as possible”
Decreasing Ramp UP TIME
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New Hires (To What?)
“We need our new hires to help us grow the company”
INPUTS
• Expectations • Role definitions • HR content • Interview/selection
results • Manager approach • Recruiting collateral
OUTPUTS
• Increase engagement • Increase employee
satisfaction • Gain traction in role • Improve office
performance against scorecard
• Decrease turnover rates
• Measure: Decreased Ramp Up Time • Identify objectives/goals that support the
business strategy • Transform the new hire experience
New Hires (From What?)
RESOURCES
• Capabilities (Training) • Partners (Internal and External Vendors) • Technology (LMS, Other)
INVESTORS Executive Team
To Be Successful, You Have to Think “CONSULTING & SERVICES”
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ACT 1: GETTING STARTED
ACT 2: ACCELERATING MOMENTUM
“Consulting” “Services”
KEY QUESTIONS The Team Needs to Be Able to Answer
1. What experience do we want to create for new hires?
2. What do our customers expect out of new associates?
3. How do we manage the short term and long term at the same time?
4. How will we define our “salesperson of the future”?
5. What assets are needed to sales reps (and their managers) get to future state?
6. What’s the role of management in new hire success?
7. Who needs to know what and when? How do we ask or tell them?
8. How will we anchor new ways of working?
9. How do we sell others on what we’re doing, and “declare victory” for progress?
10. How should we measure success?
11. How do we make this work consistently and repeatedly?
12. How does technology factor into helping new associates be successful (with our customers)?
13. How do we factor in the reality in the trenches?
14. How do we align to HR/Legal requirements?
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?
A NEW HIRE Service Framework /Architecture
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HO
W D
O W
E K
EE
P T
WO
HA
ND
S
ON
TH
E W
HE
EL
?
HOW DO WE OPERATIONALIZE THIS?
WHO GET’S TO DECIDE WHAT?
WHAT IS THE NEW HIRE EXPERIENCE?
Orient Immerse Reinforce Sustain
In Summary: A New Way of Working (SALES & LEARNING)
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INSIDE-OUT OUTSIDE-IN
From Here To Here
• Operational excellence • Fragmented view of products • Overly product focused • Operational bias • Siloed thinking • Internally focused measures • Micro-management • Ad-hoc process • Reactive decision making
• Profitable growth • Comprehensive solutions • Market focus • Customer satisfaction • Cross-functional work • Revenue measures • Coaching employees • Disciplined processes • Systems thinking
SKILLS
MINDSET
CONTENT
TOOLS
PROCESS
Success = Aligned
Key Takeaways
1. Deploying a “service” extends beyond creating isolated
training courses
2. Solutions must be integrated with operations
3. Be watchful of the pull towards “jumping to the solution”
4. Don’t be afraid to look at the whole organization to
align/enroll the support you need to be successful
5. Develop skills to think like an “architect” as well as a
“plumber”
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© 2014 GP Strategies Corporation. All rights reserved. GP Strategies, GP Strategies and logo design, BlessingWhite, Rovsing Dynamics, Asentus, Information Horizons, PMC, Sandy, Bath Consultancy Group, Academy of Training, Martonhouse,
Via Training, Beneast Training, Ultra, RWD, Communication Consulting, Option Six, Milsom, Clutterbuck Associates, PerformTech, Future Perfect, Smallpeice Enterprises, Prospero Learning Solutions, Lorien Engineering Solutions, GPiLEARN,
GPCALCS, GPSteam, EtaPRO, and VirtualPlant are trademarks or registered trademarks of GP Strategies Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Proprietary to GP Strategies Corporation
gpstrategies.com
Brian Lambert, PhD [email protected]
703.447.5865 http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianlambert/
Twitter: @DrBrianLambert
Greg Renner [email protected]
410-336-5239
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