Clients Say...

"Working with Optimal Sales Search changed my mind about the true partnership you can have with the right sales recruiter. We have hired several high-level sales people with their help. The results have helped build our company. One of the people we hired from Optimal Sales Search has been our number one sales rep for two years!"

VP Sales, $60M Firm

Caring for Top Sales Talent

With turnover costing more than you want to calculate, keeping top salespeople happy makes business sense. Consider the following strategies when leading your sales team.

Strategy #1: Give top salespeople new mountains to climb. Achievers love new challenges. They want to stay with the organization, but need to explore new terrain. If you can give them fresh problems to solve, more responsibility and additional roads to explore, your chances of extending their tenure with your firm will increase.

Strategy #2: Understand the drivers that motivate your salespeople. Current research concludes that Gen X and Gen Y are more likely to be in need of praise than prior generations. Executive leadership must create opportunities for them to develop new skills and take the time to understand what is driving their career objectives. Here are the most common motivators for sales professionals: compensation, public recognition, incentives, purpose, autonomy to make decisions and leadership development.

Strategy #3: Give your top sales performers a piece of the action. If you include your top sales reps in the decision making process, seek their input on new initiatives and employ their good ideas, they are more likely to feel integral to the team. When your reps believe that they have shaped company policy, actively directed change or facilitated even minor improvements, they feel significant.

Strategy #4: Open communication and consistency. One of the top complaints of many sales reps is their lack of accessibility to their sales manager. Unreturned phone calls and emails don’t go unnoticed. Your rep might not confront you directly, but they notice the behavior. If you aren’t engaged, chances are they can easily become detached from your mission.    

Strategy #5: Set a higher standard for the group. Be willing to consistently exemplify the behavior you want your sales team to embrace. Creating and maintaining a sales force that holds everyone accountable for bringing in new business and carrying their share of the group quota is a great way to build a winning team. Hiring and developing a peer group of high achievers is one of the fastest ways to raise the level of the entire sales force and will yield meaningful progress towards your revenue goals.

 

Copyright © Optimal Sales Search. Optimal Sales Search recruits sales professionals at the mid, senior and executive levels for ambitious Technology and High-Value Service firms. Visit our website at www.OptimalSalesSearch.com for sales hiring tips, articles and checklists that can help you hire better sales talent, faster.