Strategies to make sure you don’t lose your top sales talent

We all want to make sure we hold onto the top talent at our businesses! Yet, this can be easier said than done, especially in today’s climate. So, let’s take a look at some ways you can keep the best talent at your company?

Invest in sales training

Sales training can truly help get the most out of any salesperson, but that still doesn’t stop there from being a gulf between the top and average performers. It’s estimated that somewhere in the region of 8% of salespeople makeup about 80% of the sales at a company. No organization can afford to lose these leaders. But if the competitors are offering a better pay package, can you even afford to compete? 

The reality is that not all sales staff are driven by money – many will value the success they’re currently enjoying with your organization. There’s a risk in moving to a new environment; it does not guarantee success. What often drives sales staff are new ventures and new ways to challenge themselves. They also thrive with new tools and technology, such as AI sales automation from People AI and other types of the latest tech. 

By properly managing top sales staff with challenging goals and activities, you can help keep them engaged in your organization. Not only that, but you can undercut competitors by offering other advantages such as more time off, which is helpful if they’re a parent or feeling overworked, or other benefits in the workplace. 

Finally, a sales coach can really help retain your top talent. Bland in-house training can often leave top performers feeling like they know it all, but a coach with experience in sales can help them become better. If your top performers still feel like they have more to learn at your organization with coaching, they’ll be less likely to look elsewhere.

Reward your employees with sales awards 

Whether you are in the retail or the wholesale industries, selling to the customer is crucial to keep your business going. No sales quite simply mean no income. But as you know, there is more to it than that. Not only do you need to make sales, but you need to make a minimum number in order to keep your cash flow. After all, you rely on money coming in to be able to finance the purchase, or manufacturing, of the products that you sell. If your sales fall too far, it interrupts the cash flow and causes a certain amount of panic. This is one of the reasons that you set sales goals. The question, however, is how do you encourage your sales team to meet these targets? Bonuses are one way of achieving this, but this can work out very expensive and therefore not conducive to your business. An alternative is to invest in awards for those who meet or exceed their targets. 

You can do this on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis; much will depend on your sector, your staff and how much motivation they need. But remember, it will only work if you have set realistic and attainable goals in the first place.

Photo by Blake Wisz