Top Performers move around – it happens. But as the decision-maker, a top biller leaving you to join another company can have a devastating knock-on effect. And as if losing one top biller isn’t hard enough, often when one person goes, others follow.
You might like to think that this is out of your control or tell yourself “they weren’t that good anyway,” but it’s important that you accept some of the responsibility for your top billers leaving because you do have the power to do something about it.
So, what are some of the lesser-known hard truths about why top billers leave your company?
Not Enough Money
This appears to be, across the board, the top reason why salespeople leave their job. If they are not being properly compensated for their work, it gives them little incentive to stay. Sales is all about generating revenue and is the backbone of any company's survival.
It is important to note, however, that compensation does not come just in the form of their paychecks or commission. While those things are certainly of great importance to your salespeople, so is ample opportunity for bonuses, raises and promotions once they have proven their worth and success.
Their Time Is Important
Don’t be that leader who turns up twenty minutes late for scheduled meetings. This might just seem like business to you, but try to think of it from your employee's point of view: they won’t commit themselves to any other tasks while they’re waiting around for you, so this is twenty minutes of their day completely wasted. You don’t appreciate waiting around for people, so you shouldn’t expect others to do it either.
You also have to respect that your team do have lives outside of work. This can be a hard pill to swallow, but it will make a difference to morale in the office. We all know sales isn’t a 9-5 job, but people who love their job and your business will work outside of core hours when necessary without you even having to ask.
Lack of Recognition
Recognition is of greater importance to salespeople than possibly any other job. If your sales team feel they are not getting the acknowledgment they deserve, statistics show 11% of your team will leave.
So search for ways to show your team, you value them, and they will continue to value you as a leader.
Lack of Challenge
Salespeople thrive off of challenge — it is in their nature to have drive, which is made up of three non teachable traits:
Need for Achievement
Competitiveness
Optimism
Without that second component, Competitiveness, your salespeople will get bored and sales will tank.
Outdated Strategies
You need to innovate to stay competitive in sales, and your team will want to have some freedom to experiment and try out new strategies. But if you’re assigning them old-school cold calling targets and KPIs, you’re holding them back.
It’s far more productive to teach your team about making valuable connections with clients. Think about long-term strategies like building a personal brand, social selling, and investing in decent marketing.
Great salespeople want to be at the forefront of the industry, so you need to adapt if you want to hold onto them. Have you ever asked your team what metrics they believe really matter nowadays? I bet it would make for an interesting discussion and you might be surprised by what they have to say!
Too Much Time Wasted on Non-Sales Work
Studies show nearly 65% of core sales team's time is focused not on sales, but rather on other non-money-making duties? These duties include meetings, CRM data entering and more.
Your team may be getting frustrated if they are not able to spend their time and their skill doing what they came here to do: sell.
Burnout
Sales work is hard work. And if you are overworking your employees, they will burn out quicker than you can say “prospect.”
In fact, employees who are overworked are 31% more probable to start looking for jobs elsewhere than their coworkers whose workloads are normal.
Give your salespeople the right amount of work that gives your company the results it needs, without sacrificing the happiness of your employees.
You never ask what they think
You might think you’re the one who needs to have all the answers and that you’re the only one who knows what’s best for your business.
However, this is the kind of attitude that gets in the way of businesses growing – and it’s the kind of attitude that makes the sales team feel disempowered and want to leave.
Your team will be bursting with ideas and great insights into the business (and the industry more broadly) that you don’t get to see.
They’re your key to keeping your finger on the pulse - show them you value that by asking for their opinion. "Strategy Days" are a great way to implement this.
They Don’t Have Enough Time To Spend On Self-Development
If you want a better ROI from your team but don’t provide the training, you can forget the ROI. I’ve heard so many sales professionals say that their training on the job has been practically non-existent but investing in your staff isn’t a ‘nice to have,’ it is a must!
Providing training and development doesn’t just mean your team has more skills, it also means your best staff are less likely to leave. Personal development opportunities are the second most important factor for candidates when choosing a job, so why would it be any less important to the employees already working in your business? Your team needs to have the feeling they’re progressing and if they think they can’t progress with you, they’ll find somewhere else they can.
Making your company a great place to work will keep your top billers loyal and futureproof your company.