How was your 2017? Did you kick ass, or are you trying to forget it and simply move forward to a (hopefully) better 2018? If your company’s performance was so-so, please read on because maybe you simply have a people issue. And that can be solved.
Our clients had a phenomenal year in 2017. For some I would say best ever. Big growth, accolades and awards, great press, highest ever profits – these are some of the achievements.
A common denominator and main contributing factor to that success is that we worked together to ensure the right people were in the right seats on the bus, particularly in sales roles.
Why people matter
In recent years there has been a lot of emphasis on establishing and perfecting formal sales processes. We do it for our clients, so I am not knocking this at all. But sometimes managers think that if they develop an iron-clad sales process, it is going to work even if the team is composed of less-than-stellar producers.
Guess what. It won’t. Its like a football team having an amazing playbook, but all its players are mediocre. They might do better than expected, but won’t make the playoffs.
The point is, you need excellent talent to execute your revenue process correctly.
Recruitment is always an issue
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t struggle with recruitment to some degree. This is backed up with plenty of empirical data. For example, Forbes asserts that 46 percent of newly hired sales professionals fail within 18 months. CSO Insights states that 25 percent churn per year is normal.
This is a whole lot of wasted time and money, don’t you agree?
And these statistics measure the bare minimum: did the salesperson stay, or did they get fired or quit? This doesn’t count the millions of salespeople who aren’t bad enough to fire but still flounder about most of the time. They miss quota, but hiring someone to replace them is just a giant pain.
Good sales help can be hard to find, but my team and I have had astonishing results with our recruitment process.
Volohaus has sourced over 500 sales professionals – but that’s not the impressive thing
We just passed the 500 mark of sales professionals hired for our customers. We are not a bulk RPO (recruitment process outsourcing) firm that hires hundreds, mind you. These were individually vetted people, not a herd of human spaghetti thrown against the wall.
500 hires is pretty cool, but the really impressive stat is that a full 72 percent of these hires have STAYED AT LEAST A YEAR AND HIT QUOTA.
I don’t know anyone else that can claim that.
We have a proprietary hiring process which emphasizes cultural fit. I won’t reveal all the secret sauce, but it involves the way we advertise, where we advertise, and the types of skills (hard and soft) that we filter by. Its also how we interview, using a 4-step process which uncovers elements most recruiters don’t see.
This results in better candidates. And our vetting process then refines things further.
Accountability
Once we hire, the job continues. This is in contrast to most firms, who simply manage the recruitment and then wash their hands of the new salesperson.
The distinguishing factor is accountability. We instill it in the recruit’s mind at the beginning of the process to set the right expectations. We continue to push it through the development of a success plan, training cycle, and follow-up interviews.
We do everything possible to make sure they succeed.
Free check-up
If your 2017 was less than stellar and you want someone to give you a different perspective as to why, please contact me. It could be you have a people problem, and Volohaus can help solve that.
No high-pressure bullshit – let’s simply have a chat about what the future should look like for your company and how to get there.
If you like what I have to say and want to hire me, great. If you feel now is not the right time, that’s okay too. At least we will both learn something!
Over to you.
–Shaun
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