EVOLVE CORPORATE
SALES TRAINING
Event 3 of 3 in B2B Sales Summer School Series
Today’s Speakers
Scott SantucciPrincipal Analyst and Research DirectorForrester Research@scottsantucci
Jarrett O’BrienSr. Product Marketing ManagerJive Software@jarrettobrien
Making Leaders Successful Every Day
Sales Onboarding in the 21st CenturyScott Santucci, Research Director Sales Enablement
© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 6
Your onboarding process is too complicated
› Your clients are complex – you cannot artificially make them simpler
› Current approaches to make each step “simple” complicate the whole process
To fix it – make it simple; but simple is hard
› Understanding the when end to end process is challenging when their isn’t clarity about what onboarding is to begin with
› Make things simple by removing the complications in the way of your sales people performing the tasks they need to accomplish
But when you do, its really effective and easy to run
› Companies who even simplify pockets experience noticeable results
› A focus on continuous improvement is critical to unlocking breakthrough returns
Cutting to the chase- What we will cover
VP of Broken Things
Your current state
Mismanaged complexity creates bottlenecks to growth initiatives
Complexity coping strategies
“Show up and throw up”
“Heroic effort”
Let’s design out the complexity
AudienceMessengerMessage
+
What is a selling system?
Product / BU Heads“Make sure you feature my stuff”
CEO“Make it productive”
Human Resources“Highlight the culture, our benefits and know
our policies”
Finance“Make it cost
effective”
IT“Train them on the
key systems”
Sales“Get them out into the
field as fast as possible”
YOU
© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 12
Picking the wrong onboarding strategy…
› “Look at how many sales people we enrolled last year”› “Look how many days we cut out of the process”› “Look at the accreditation program we rolled out” › “Look at how wonderful our net promoter scores are”
Can be career limiting.
© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 13
What is sales onboarding?
› Agree on what it is… › Not just on how to measure it…› Or how to execute it.
13
Average sales
performance
Trained on processes
and products / services
Released from course
Number of attendees
© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 14
The key questions you need to answer
› Who is your executive sponsor, really?
› Why is onboarding important (to each of your stakeholders)?
› What is the agreed upon, verifiable definition of an on-boarded salesperson? What benefits are costs measured against?
› When are reps expected to be on-boarded?
› How much resource is at your disposal? How long do you have the reps for?
› Where does on-boarding need to be executed? Where do reps get the reinforcement they need once they are released from the class?
14
PSST… This is a “take away” to set up a charter
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & Enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
A reference process model
Recruiting Process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Current state - Recruiting
• Massive variability of hiring practices from different geographies and regions.
• Multiplied by different beliefs by hiring managers about what makes a good seller.
• Compounded by varied backgrounds, experiences, and demographics.
It’s not as straightforward as you would think
W-2
“Account Rep”40 different versions of the job
description
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Current state – Welcome aboard
• Policy information.• Benefits information.• Welcome letter.
A lot of missed opportunity
IdleMany reps can wait as long as 1 month in their job before going
through any kind of training.
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Current state – Is this onboarding?
• Systems training.• Policy and benefits
review.• Products training, done
differently by product owners.
• Selling methodology training.
• Culture training.• Meet and greets.• Maybe some tests.• Measured by number of
attendees or net promoter scores.
More like waterboarding
AuditBy overall minutes less than 5%
is about customers.
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401Coaching
Development
NewHire
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Current state – Release to gen pop
• Little or no basis for basic performance guidelines.
• Some online courses – tend to be hard for new hires to select.
• Navigating and accessing resources is difficult.
• Virtually isolated if working remotely.
• Territory assignments differ.
• Lots of possible approaches to choose from, little guidance.
You’re on your own kid
Self Service?Imagine navigating 40M
pieces of content
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Current state – Coaching?
• Little consistency of coaching across sales managers.
• Sales managers lack coaching training – inconsistency across sales force.
• Front line sales managers often lack guidelines about where to apply their time.
• Lack of a clear handoff between onboarding and manager – who owns getting the sales person over the hump?
You so, um… why don’t you do … this?
InconsistencySome sales managers focus on
developing, others administration, others on closing.
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Current state – Development
• No clear linkages across onboarding, coaching, and development.
• Inconsistency in material and content from onboarding programs to development.
• No clear flight path agenda.
When does onboarding stop and development begin?
Frayed connectionsLack of clear handoffs puts
sales people in no mans land.
AudienceMessengerMessage
+
Who has the power?
Your new rep will only be successful if he adds value to those buyers
A gap in preparation
GapHow are you preparing your sales people to add value to
those executives?
How to be a HERO
A HERO’s view of Onboarding
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
21st Century- Messenger Archetypes
• Incoming classes grouped into archetypes.
• More alignment in hiring process.
• Far easier to get agreement and discuss requirements.
Use the 80-20 rule to reduce class variability
ArchetypeA simple, easy way to get
agreement on incoming class and specs.
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
21st Century- The welcome kit
• Pushing administrative type training to just in time, learn as you go.
• Making capability training available to new hires before start date.
• Lighter weight material, greater use of multi-media.
Pushing “just in time” training to online courseware
Just in timeModular, testable courseware
prior to onboarding event
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
21st Century Onboarding
• Agree on specific activities required in the field – what will reps be able to do when they’re released back to their managers?
• Identify and agree on realistic sales objectives to be achieved.
• Get laser focused on achieving those behavioral objectives.
Maximizes on site time for active dialog, role playing, and experiences
EngagementPush lecture type or one way
content to online.
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
21st century sales communities
• Appointed concierges / developmental coaches that are different than managers
• Moderated sessions: chats, webinars, discussion threads.
• Point systems and incentives for contributions.
Find ways to keep classes together – sharing information
CommunityBirds of a feather flock together
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
21st Century Coaching
• Clear delineation of roles • Specific – and non-
overlapping responsibilities. • Light weight coaching
framework shared by both coach and employee – reinforced by systems.
Reinforce learning on an ongoing basis
ClarityPurpose driven roles and
responsibilities
Concierge
Manager
A reference process model
Recruiting process
NewHire
Onboarding
Human Resources
Training & enablement
Sales Leadership & Training
101
201
301
401NewHire Coaching
Development
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
21st Century development
• Defined mastery tracks based on real research on top performers and buyer interactions.
• Heavy emphasis on “just in time” sessions with rep led reinforcement sessions.
• Brought together by regional experiential on site sessions with people at similar developmental stages.
Modular, practical material that maps to archetypes – not a syllabus
ModularPackaged programs and modules
that are prescribed and administered
© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
What to do
1. Define clear goals and objectives for onboarding
2. Determine executive sponsor and establish core definitions and governing principles
3. Baseline the current state using the reference model
4. Interview attendees and sales managers to identify problem areas – use 4 sales objectives to structure feedback
5. Select “low hanging fruit” options to address immediately – then move on to more complex tasks.
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Thank youScott Santucci
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SOCIAL BUSINESS: JIVE FOR SALES
© Jive confidential46
14% reduction in sales support needs
23% reduction in rep ramp time
8% increase in the number of deals
© Jive confidential47
48 © Jive confidential
Reference Process Model + Social Business
Human
Resources
No “ideal candidates” Shared candidate profiles
Hidden best practices Sales leadership council
No consistency Seamless hire process/transition
49 © Jive confidential
New Hire: Getting StartedHuman
Resources
50 © Jive confidential
Reference Process Model + Social Business
Training &
Enablement
Static training / LMS Turned social & experiential
No guidelines / access Training concierge
Isolated at a desk Part of the team
51 © Jive confidential
Mobile Content & Video Training &
Enablement
52 © Jive confidential
Reference Process Model + Social Business
Leadership &
Coaching
Manager inconsistency Shared cadence
New hire burden Mentorship & shared learning
Isolated at a desk Part of the team
53 © Jive confidential
Gamified Mentor ProgramsLeadership &
Coaching
Business InitiativeNeeded to bolster revenues and streamline communications with dealer network.
Results• Faster sales cycles• Sales rep retention increased 13%• Sales revenue attainment increased
by 30% (goals met at 4 months vs. 6)• Saved $213k by mirroring 5 live
events in online community• Improved sales channel satisfaction• Improved channel support• Total members: 4,594
30% decrease in time to meet revenue goals.
Learn More
Connect with Scott and others in the Jive Community:https://community.jivesoftware.com/community/socbiz/sales
Scott SantucciForrester Research@scottsantucci
Jarrett O’BrienJive Software@jarrettobrien
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