8 years ago
April 13, 2016

5 Steps to Retaining Great Sales Reps

Just use these five steps and you’ll be able to keep your great sales reps on your team.

Rhys Metler

5 Steps to Retaining Great Sales RepsIf you’ve hired some great sales reps, it’s obvious that you’re going to want to retain them. Great sales reps can drastically increase your revenue and allow for future growth. Low retention rates and a quick turnover can create disruptions in your sales organization and make your recruiting costs skyrocket.

Though some of your great sales reps might leave your company for reasons outside of your control, such as relocation or career changes, most reasons great sales reps move on to other companies can be avoided with some advanced planning on your end. You can control your retention rate. Just use these five steps and you’ll be able to keep your great sales reps on your team.

1. Leadership

Great sales reps need strong leadership. Your sales team relies on a leader they can trust, talk to, and follow. They want someone to guide them to success. Your sales manager will influence your team’s overall direction, motivation, and morale. Without effective leadership, your sales team could crumble—your reps could lose sense of their purpose at the company and want to jump ship for a company that has a more secure plan for the future.

2. Encouragement

Even great sales reps need continuous morale boosters. They need to be encouraged to do their best work and they need to feel motivated to do it. By providing your team with constant feedback and praise when the members deserve it, they’ll feel valued, listened to, and cared for.

No one wants to work for a demoralizing company that sucks the life right out of them. They want to work for someone who appreciates their hard work and rewards them for it. This can be through the form of incentives, parties, or even just a pat on the back to say good job. Whichever form of encouragement you choose, make sure it’s working to boost morale and make your employees feel like their hard work is not only noticed but valued, too.

3. Advancement and Development

Sales people often search for new jobs because their current company simply isn’t giving them opportunities for personal development. Providing your great sales reps with personal development options—such as seminars, paid courses, coaching, and training—is not only good for them but good for your company, too. Who wouldn’t want to have the most skilled and educated sales reps on the market?

Sales people also leave great positions because there’s no room for advancement. Being a sales rep is great, but many want to move up in the world of sales—they want to become leaders, managers, and directors. If you stifle their growth and don’t allow them to move up in the company, you’re going to lose them.

4. Team Atmosphere

Many people base their job happiness on their coworkers—you either love them or hate them. Although you can’t make all your employees get along, you can facilitate the creation of an open and honest team atmosphere where everyone feels connected, heard, and respected. Having a supportive team environment can make the difference between a great sales rep staying or leaving.

5. Compensation

The above four steps are important but you won’t be able to get away with giving poor compensation to your great sales reps. Low salaries are good when high turnover rates are OK, but eventually, your great sales reps will snag jobs with more competitive compensation if you’re not willing to dish out the cash.

You need to pay to retain your top earners. This could mean higher commissions, high salaries, or bigger bonuses. Money is an easy indicator of success, so providing your great sales reps with the remuneration they deserve can show them how much you appreciate them. After all, financial stability is important to all of us—we want to be able to support our families and ourselves without worrying about paying rent.

Rhys Metler

Rhys is a tenacious, top performing Senior Sales Recruiter with 15+ years of focused experience in the Digital Media, Mobile, Software, Technology and B2B verticals. He has a successful track record of headhunting top performing sales candidates for some of the most exciting brands in North America. He is a Certified Recruitment Specialist (CRS) and has expert experience in prospecting new business, client retention/renewals and managing top performing sales and recruitment teams. Rhys enjoys spending quality time with his wife, son, and daughters, BBQing on a hot summer day and tropical vacations.

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