Reduce The Costs Of Sales Person Turnover

Build strategies to focus on minimising sales losses during the three critical phases of a sales person’s departure.

- Andris Zoltners, Pk Sinha & Sally Lorimer

Even the best sales forces can’t keep every good sales person. Loss of sales people to competitors occurs frequently in high-growth industries in which the demand for experienced sales people exceeds the supply, such as in fast-evolving technology markets.

Poaching of sales people also occurs when sales are driven largely by relationships. For example, wealth management companies frequently recruit advisors who have built a strong book of business at competitive firms.

FORMULATE 3 KEY STRATEGIES

Companies facing high sales force turnover situations can try to reduce undesirable loss of sales people, but they should also use another strategy, by taking steps to reduce the negative consequences on customers and the company when sales people leave, as some inevitably will.

These strategies focus on minimising sales loss during three critical phases surrounding a sales person’s departure – the withdrawal period, the vacancy period, and the hiring/orientation period.

1 Managing the Withdrawal Period

In the period from when sales people contemplate leaving until they actually depart, sales people often stop putting full effort into the job. Too frequently, departing sales people are distracted by their job search. Or worse, if a departing sales person plans to work for a competitor, the sales person might feel pressure to convince customers to defect. Minimising withdrawal period sales loss requires a proactive approach.

It starts with detecting the possibility that a sales person might leave as early as possible.

First-line sales managers are critical to this effort. By keeping in touch with their people, managers can identify and address emerging issues before they escalate to the point where sales people decide to leave.