Keys to Retaining Your Top Inside Sales Reps
Employee retention seemed to be a taboo subject when I worked at my old sales gigs. It was almost as if they hoped by not discussing it, the problem would go away. The unfortunate thing is they seemed to be conditioned to accept that attrition was inevitable with a team of people making cold calls all day. It wasn't uncommon to see about 50% of the new hires we brought in exit the organization after 6 months. Why? You've taken the time to interview, hire and train a rep and once they're at altitude they leave. We shouldn't be OK with that.
I've said it many times that making cold calls is certainly not glamorous, but it doesn't mean we can't get the most out of our Inside Sales Rep by continually challenging them. Why do we allow ourselves to get in the mind-set that if you get more than 1 year out of an Inside Sales Rep it's all gravy after that?
Don't get me wrong, most of the companies I worked for did everything they could to retain their staff. There were plenty of summer outings, winter balls, bowling parties, family picnics, ice cream socials... even the opportunity to make some very nice bonuses. At the end of the day though almost everyone still seemed relatively miserable.
While I didn't have the opportunity to do an exit interview with each and every person that left the organization, the general consensus from my colleagues was there was not enough focus on the culture and making the reps feel as if their opinion mattered.
We've been pretty fortunate that AG has seen a much higher retention rate than my previous employers. While I have my own thoughts as to why we've managed to retain our people I was curious to get my teams thoughts as well. I asked a couple of tenured top producers on my team this question:
"If you strip away the fancy outings, casual Fridays everyday, incentive programs and all other miscellaneous things we do here at AG, what REALLY motivates you want to be part of this organization?"
Outside of the obvious response of "money", it came down to 3 pretty basic things:
1) "We receive personalized feedback from our boss"
Be as real as you can be. Nobody, whether they're in sales or not, can stand hearing the canned managerial response which seem to be memorized from the employee handbook. Even if you can't give someone the answer they are looking for, at least give them an honest reason behind why a decision has been made (unless obviously your sharing proprietary info which could get you canned..then just tell them that)
2) "AG actually listens to my suggestions"
There is nothing worse than feeling you've come up with a good idea and it has been all but ignored by the management team. Make them feel as if they are part of the organization and put their suggestions to action if they make sense. This should help to keep the right people on your team engaged.
3) "AG sets challenging but realistic goals"
Pretty simple one here. Nothing de-motivates more than a goal that seems unattainable. You want your team to feel they are stretching each month to hit their number, but not to the point where they feel completely blown out after the month/quarter is through. Pay attention to the goals you are setting. Adding 20% more to a high performer's goal every month is probably not the answer. Eventually you'll most likely lose your best people if you approach it that way.
While there is not an exact science to retaining your people, it's always interesting to get their insight on the small things that make the difference for them. Don't get me wrong, I love ice cream socials but at that the end of the day that isn't what motivates your superstar Inside Sales Rep to come to work.