How your sales induction impacts on sales mindset!

How your sales induction impacts on sales mindset!

Most companies have a sales induction for new recruits. Mostly they focus on learning about the company, the services/products and the skills required to make sales.

Most of the ones I review when working with clients have missed any form of relationship building, getting to know the person behind the role and most importantly…mindset development.

Its an indication of whether an organisation focuses on the numbers only…or on the people that deliver the numbers!

So here are my thoughts on what’s missing in most sales inductions…all of which are really easy additions:

Make them feel welcome and important

If you tell them to come in for 9am on the first day…be ready for them

Starting a new job is a big deal. Your new recruit is excited and wants to be a huge success for themselves and for you. Imagine the thought process when you are late to greet them…have I made a mistake?…is this an indication of how they treat their staff?

I could go on because the list is enormous. How you greet them cements their decision to join you was a good one. Block out your diary to do the initial meet and greet and to make them feel they are important and valued.

Make sure they are taken care of

There will be a number of people who are involved in the sales induction process. Make sure that everyone takes responsibility for their part in taking care of the new recruit and their learning journey.

It’s crucial that you agree what the key learnings are and that these are effectively communicated. When each person has completed their session with your new recruit, they personally take them and introduce them to the next person taking care of them. This is a great way to make them feel part of the team and to build collaborative relationships.

Please, please, please DO NOT put them in front of a screen to do onboarding training all day with no human interaction. This is NOT the best way for your new recruit to learn.

Always make sure they have lunch with one of the sales team. Brief the sales person on what you would like them to do. For example, you might ask your best negotiator to share what they love most about negotiating with clients and to pass on their best tips. You might ask your most experienced sales person simply to check out how they are feeling about their learning journey. Don’t put them with the most convenient sales person just because they are there…especially if they are in The Valley!
Make it a strategic part of their induction.

Daily Check-ins

It’s so important to check in with your new recruit at the start and end of each day.

The start of the day is to check in with how they are doing, to get a feel for how much they are picking up…and to get them in the right mindset to maximise the day going forward. You can set them specific outcomes to give them increases focus. Use all your coaching skills to get under the surface as there could be a desire to say the right things so early in their career.

The end of day check-in will give you an indication of what they have taken in, what they enjoyed most and the challenges they experienced. It’s important to calm their ‘performance anxiety’ in the early days as this will get in the way of their development. Use your coaching skills to encourage, develop and support their journey. The way they close the day has an impact on the way they start the next day.

These check-ins are also an opportunity for you to get to know the person…their hopes and aspirations…their motivations…their values — all the things you need to know to lead and inspire them to high achievement.

As a sales leader, these things are easy to include in your sales induction programme and go a long way to your new recruit starting their career with you with a positive can-do mindset.

By simply focusing on their mindset, you have planted the seeds of great thinking and behaviour…and if they keep getting the same level of coaching and learning you will always have a high performing team.

Until next time,

Leigh 🙂

PS If you haven’t got a Sales Induction Programme that incorporates Sales Mindset then please get in touch. We have seen new recruits go straight to the top on month one because of our sales induction programmes!