Top sales reps need special care and feeding; as mentioned in the last post, giving them too much space can be a prescription to lose them to the competition. Instead, create a strategy to keep them on your team.
The first call to action is evaluate flight risk of your current sales reps. Warning signs are often easy see. They include:
– conflicts or arguments with management
– expressed or rumored grievances
– general lethargy or a change in behavior or attitude
– decreased sales activity
– missing meetings and unexcused absences
– decreasing forecasts
– decreasing performance
– rumors about discontent
– threats of quitting.
This flight risk list should be reviewed and updated annually and more often in vulnerable periods when market share is at risk. Create awareness with senior management of their vulnerability.
Here are some strategies to retain your top reps:
1. Enrich their jobs. Additional responsibilities such as extra leadership opportunities and responsibilities can make their jobs more meaningful. Solicit their advice on important issues or invite them to be part of an advisory board where they can offer expertise on a formal basis and be recognized as valued leaders.
2. Career Development. Top reps tend to be strategic and this carries over to how they manage their career and their needs for development. The performance review process is a great time to explore the aspirations and goals of your best reps; this process of listening to their goals is meaningful almost by itself, while the proactive follow-up through out the year can help create a long term employee.
3. Give senior reps a chance to mentor others. Mentoring offers them a stake in the company while they can benefit other sales reps. Mentoring may also provide an opportunity for extra compensation. It is worth it.
4. Additional and long term compensation. Provide pay packages superior to the market for top reps including special pay premiums, stock options, or bonuses. A few extra dollars could save you a lot of heartache.
5. Hire and train mangers to speak the language of the senior reps. Nothing is more frustrating to top sales reps than when management “does not get it”. This applies to first level sales management and to the managers above them. The best way for management to learn the language is to get out of headquarters and visit the remote offices and clients.
6. Provide challenging work. Top sales reps want work that is interesting, challenging, and that has an impact. Involve them in the business.
7. Work relationships. Top sales reps stay when they have strong relationships with others they work with. Encourage team building and project assignments involving work with peers.
8. Recognition. People tend to stay when they feel that their contributions are appreciated by others. Compensation provides recognition, but other forms of non-monetary recognition are also important such as praise, awards, and the words “thank you”. This should be done at company meetings, in writing, and on the job. I have read that the ratio of praise to constructive criticism should optimally be in a five to one ratio.
9. Work/life balance. For some people, personal priorities or circumstances make the difference between leaving and staying. Individuals will stay with a company that cares about their health, family, and personal needs. For example, many companies are providing flexible schedules, remote work locations, and are experimenting with other ways to help individuals manage their work and personal life issues. In a tight job market, flexibility and creativity is needed.
10. Communications. Effective communications strengthen employee identification with the company and builds trust.
11. Effective Management. Good managers actively listen, set clear performance expectations, support performance, and give feedback along with recognition. They take a personal interest in the needs and expectations of their reps. Large spans of control can work to counter these goals, by the way.
12. Finally, treat retention as an on-going priority. This retention strategy challenges us to focus on retention as a daily task, rather than on reactive attempts to reverse surprise resignations.
John Bradley Jackson
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Please visit my website at www.firstbestordifferent.com