Study after study shows that companies with a structured onboarding process significantly increase their new hire productivity and retention.
Yet many companies still don't invest the time and effort into creating great onboarding experiences for their new starters.
According to a study by the Aberdeen Group, companies with a strong onboarding process experience 54% greater new hire productivity
The proper onboarding process is vital for outbound sales or business development roles, as it can take anywhere from 6-9 Months to get that new hire to perform at optimal levels.
With so much time and money invested into the recruitment process upfront, it makes sense to ensure your onboarding process is effective so that your people hit the ground running.
But what does a good onboarding process look like? Here are six tips to get you started.
1. Provide your new sales hires with a clear understanding of the importance of their role, key responsibilities, and performance expectations from the beginning. Role clarity is crucial, and ambiguity here can quickly lead to reduced job satisfaction, productivity, and engagement.
2. Provide effective product and sales training, and give your reps access to case studies, customer interviews and industry trends to ensure they understand why your key customers buy your products and services as early as possible. Product training isn't enough; they need a deep understanding of why people buy or choose your organisation.
3. Assign a mentor or coach to the new sales rep who can provide guidance and support them in learning the ropes. Let them spend time on actual calls or meetings with highly experienced reps, expose them to positive examples early, and coach them regularly.
4. Create a support system for new sales reps with access to the resources they need, including sales tools, technology, pricing, collateral, proposal templates etc. and go to contacts in teams such as marketing and customer service. It's essential that they can access these resources quickly and easily.
5. Build a sense of community with new sales reps by involving them in group meetings, planning sessions and social events from the get-go. You want them to feel connected and integrated with the team quickly.
6. Remember to give your new sales reps as much autonomy as possible and empower them to make decisions and take ownership of their role early on. Nothing is worse than feeling micro-managed in a new position. You need to trust you've hired the right person and let them get on with it, when someone feels trusted, it's amazing what they will contribute.
A study by the Brandon Hall Group found that companies with a structured onboarding program see a 60% increase in new hire retention.
Effective onboarding is a crucial part of your recruitment process, especially if you want your people to be successful and stick around for the long haul. Invest some time into creating a unique and comprehensive onboarding experience for your new starters and watch their performance skyrocket.
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