The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

If you want elite sales performance from your new hire, have an elite onboarding process. 

You breathed that sigh of relief after you received a signature from a new hire. Satisfying, right? Now, you must put as much effort into their onboarding as you did into the interview process because hiring elite performers is only part of the overall equation. You expect elite performance from them, but it is not guaranteed.

This article was originally published on Sales & Marketing Management.

The 2018 NFL Draft will take place this week. I root for the Cleveland Browns. The team with the 1-31 record over the past two seasons. The team with one of the worst track records when it comes to evaluating and selecting talent. That’s my team!

Have you ever tried to fill a leaky bucket? Pouring water into the bucket while water leaks out from the bottom is a fruitless process and a waste of time. The net result is a partially-filled bucket!

Every sales organization could probably use more quality leads for their salespeople to set appointments with. This is one issue we deal with day in and day out with our inbound marketing clients. We help them generate new traffic to their website and convert that traffic into qualified, sales-ready leads. 

What it (inbound marketing) boils down to is creating unique, compelling content pieces that solve a problem, entertains, teaches, or answers a question that your best prospects are searching for online, asking their colleagues/network, or simply wondering, and oftentimes not telling you, in the sales process. These blog articles are published to your website via a blog (typically) and then guide readers to access even more in-depth content (like eBooks, whitepapers, infographics, etc.) in exchange for a little bit of information about themselves via a form.  This is the simplest way that you generate a website visitor into a lead. 

The Tour of Duty Framework

There are so many young people out there with innate talent and tremendous potential… but zero sales experience. 

For some sales managers who are naturally very strong in relationship talent, doing things every day to invest in relationships with their direct reports comes naturally. For the rest of us, we could use a little reminder to make sure we are taking the right actions that foster strong relationships with our people, and today’s software and app selection can help. 

Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, and Magellan.

These are legendary explorers who set out to discover the great unknown of our world! These men were brave, bold, and courageous. They feared nothing. They were willing to risk it all for the sake of discovering a new world!

People who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs, and they will have 12.5% higher productivity (Gallup.com).

You have a salesperson with loads of talent, and they have always been successful. Suddenly, they are underperforming, missing goals, and really off their game. Or, perhaps you have a new hire with a lot of talents. You are expecting a sales rock star, but they just aren’t doing well. What’s going on?! The answer may be hiding in past setbacks, and it takes sales management skill to help them start performing to their potential.