“Its a 90% Sales On-boarding pass mark for bloody good reason!”
Well, that might depend entirely on both ones perspective, and/or the objective(s) in mind.
What if the objectives were to;
Minimise the impact of a bad hire
Reduce the length of time (Sales RAMP) to sales productivity
And what if the perspective were to;
Create a standard and culture of great performance, instead of inconsistent and mediocrity
And/or to provide the best possible platform for learning and development when it comes to assessing the knowledge, skill and attitude of a new/existing sales recruit
Some experts suggest that the cost goes an awful lot further, however. Hiring guru Bradford Smart estimates the cost of a ‘mis-hire’ to be anywhere from four times annual salary for supervisors all the way up to 15 times annual salary for vice presidents and executives
Here’s an eye-opening example from his most recent book:
SALES REPRESENTATIVE
Hiring Costs £13,982
Compensation £89,842
Maintenance £8,330
Severance £14,875
Opportunity Costs £148,745
Disruption Costs £59,498
TOTAL COST £335,272
Im therefore going to state my position quite clearly, 90% is my minimum without compromise and heres why…
Well, first, why not? Why wouldn't I want my companies sales team to be anything other that the best… the best in its understanding (or as I like to call it KSA) ‘Knowledge’ of the market, its own company, its values, ethos, vision, its products or services and not least the domain expertise in how to sell and help customers buy?
Secondly, the ‘Skill,' and/or competencies in how to translate this knowledge into action thats both reliable and repeatable.
And then thirdly, ‘Attitude,' do they even want to. Just because they appear to have all the knowledge and skill to do the role, does not mean to say they will or want to do whats required, therefore intervention is required.
You see in my experience over the last 30 years, its the overlapping of these 3 elements (KNOWLEDGE, SKILL and ATTITUDE = KSA) that demonstrate great habits, behaviours and most importantly translate in to high level sales performance.
