How to retain your Best Sellers with you in 2017: In every business, there are commercial “stars”. You know those who always explode all the records and who constantly surprise you by their effectiveness? These salespeople are autonomous, enjoy the challenges and always seek to evolve. Losing one can cost you dear: some US companies in B to B even estimate the cost of losing a commercial “star” to a million dollars! That is why it is essential to make these people want to stay in your business so that they do not seek to play the game of competition … Here are 8 tips of loyalty of the salesmen.
8 Tips to Retain Your Best Sellers with You
1 – Review their goal system. It is necessary to revise it or to remove it. Indeed, this type of salesman seems to be able to achieve all the objectives that are given to him, but when he reaches a ceiling of bonuses that has been fixed to him, it does not really give 100%. This could translate into long-term disinterest in the position, so it is better to set up excess premiums rewarding out performances to push him to do more and more.
2 – Give them more responsibilities. Your salespeople need to feel that they are important to the company and that they have opportunities for change. If you feel that one of your best people might consider leaving, give them more responsibility. Let us return in more detail with some examples:
- You feel that one of your collaborators is running in circles and sometimes seems bored in his work: offer him training and opportunities for progress.
- A salesperson is distinguished from the others by his results, motivation and managerial capacities: you can offer him a middle management position such as “Sales Manager” who will give him more responsibilities, importance, and a team to supervise.
- One of your vendors is very efficient but its profile rather entrepreneur lets you think that it could want to leave towards other horizons. Suggest that a product or service be managed, in order to keep its skills in-house and encourage them to stay.
- One of your best elements has moving projects, but you would not want to part with it. Analyze your prospects for development in the region it is targeting to consider possibly entrusting it with a local representative office. This allows you to keep your experience in-house and support your business development.
3 – Offer to pass on their know-how. This is a win-win point: your best performers are flattered to see that their competence is recognized and presents itself as a model for others. Recognition is the primary incentive for salespeople and encourages them to keep their jobs. In addition, best practices are passed on to your other salespeople in order to improve their performance.
However, this knowledge sharing must be organized, structured and regular to be truly effective. It is necessary to choose when, how, for what content and with what tools it will be put in place. For example, some of our customers use our Incentive platform to exchange video testimonials from top-performing salespersons where they give advice and best practices, or explain the strategy that led to the signing of a deal. This type of content is then shared to everyone on our application. For other clients, the transfer of knowledge is structured by the creation of groups dedicated to particular subjects.
4 – Make them spokespersons. Invite them to intervene and represent the company on your events (fairs, conferences, breakfasts,). This proves your gratitude and you are aware of their qualities. It is also a mark of confidence that can be highly appreciated by your successful salespeople: you show them the importance they have, which tends to increase their sense of belonging and their desire to stay.
5 – Integrate them into the company’s projects. Indeed, giving them weight in business decisions is a great way to recognize your best salespeople. These may be commercial projects, but also related projects relating to other services of the company. For example, invite one of your ‘stars’ to participate in the development of a product marketing project: your knowledge of the market, its players and products can be very useful to you. Moreover, you demonstrate once again that it is an indispensable link in the company, not just for its sales, but also for its skills and ideas.
6 – Listen to them regularly. The discussion allows you to feel the needs of everyone and even to anticipate a potential start to react quickly. Through interviews and exchanges, you can identify any problems encountered, discuss the position, motivations, what they think, what they would like in the future, desires for evolution, etc. . . . This is why you should not be satisfied with annual or quarterly interviews, but rather integrate formal or informal discussion into your daily life as a manager.
7 – Show them that they are the best. This type of salesman particularly likes to feel recognized and valued for his work. Organize competitions and regularly make rankings (with its name in the first) so that it feels valued. A high performing salesperson who knows that the whole company is aware will be more hesitant to leave and rebuild that leadership and recognition of others elsewhere. Consider also offering trophies, medals or performance badges. These small sympathetic rewards do not have monetary value but value the commercial. You can create them yourself and count them ‘by hand’, Or use a platform like Incentive to simply send a badge accompanied by a text of congratulations, and find the record of each on their profile. This system of “medals” represents a sort of hunt for the commercial and a value that he will lose nevertheless if he leaves the company. These small tools can therefore encourage your best sellers to keep their position.
8 – Follow them in real time. Insufficient follow-up can make you lose one of your best elements. Keep informed of their findings to advise and congratulate them at the right time. Accompany them daily and coach them when the need arises. The follow-up is seen as your interest: the more you follow them, the more they will feel important within the company.
The best way to retain your salespeople is to keep them motivated all year round. For that nothing is better than to set up a commercial challenge!
Hello everyone! This is Richard Daniels, a full-time passionate researcher & blogger. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics. He loves to write about economics, e-commerce, and business-related topics for students to assist them in their studies. That's the sole purpose of Business Study Notes.
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