Recently I read a post on Linkedin that stated “Research has shown that it costs more than $200,000 to replace a salesperson and up five months to fill an open sales position”…
I personally find these figures “challenging” I imagine it comes from the cost of recruitment, trainings on boarding etc, so I’m sure the cost is high just not 200k.
However let’s just take a moment and consider them, what do you think the impact of this process is on the rest of your team, who have to sit through this knowing their is a strong possibility that the new hire won’t work out, won’t hit the targets and the entire process will have to start over and again?
While they sit there receiving what? Nothing actually, just getting on with their work, how valued do you think these guys feel watching this costly waste of time evolve? In reality they are possibly becoming less and less engaged by the hour.
So let’s revisit this figure of $200k and reduce the cost to say 10%, giving us a budget of $20k, not unrealistic for even a small company.
As VOS we speak to a lot of business’s and we frequently hear “there is no budget for developing people” but they are normally desperate to recruit new sales “superstars”, amazingly they always have the budget for this.
On most occasions they will fail, then when they pause and look back at the bigger picture they have lost most of their team.
We believe that’s a big mistake, many businesses claim that people are their greatest asset, but the lack of a development budget signifies that they’re not putting their money where their mouth is.
So let’s go back to my 10% figure, what would happen if you invested this amount in your team?
We know from experience when we train sales teams, the business will enjoy a spike, salespeople will typically take one or two things away from our sessions, use them and in the short term increase business, and then just go back to their old ways, creating peaks and troughs in your sales figures, the “feel good” factor from sales training is usually short-lived, hence it needs to be ongoing rather than a one-off.
However, in this instance we are going to focus on the rest of the team, the so-called non-productive element.
From experience where we have conducted pieces of training with all departments (non-sales and marketing) the impact has been incredible, the “feel good” factor is considerable and has true longevity, the fact that the company was prepared to invest in these “non producing” guys were so welcomed and appreciated.
There is a fairly common mentality among company chiefs that non-volume generating departments don’t need training, they don’t produce they aren’t client-facing, so why bother? ing unwanted areas of stress from daily routines.
The increase in productivity was dramatic, the morale boost amazing and
retention rates went through the ceiling, leaving was no longer an option.
There is a fairly common mentality among company chiefs that non volume generating departments don’t need training, they don’t produce they aren’t client facing, so why bother?
An important point to remember here is that all employees regardless of department or role can have a significant impact on the increase or decrease in your sales revenues.
So back to my title, recruit or retrain?
Which option would give your business the best ROI, spend $200k trying to find your next sales superstar, or invest 10% of it $20k in training your support staff?
Developing your staff and training them well is fundamental to developing your business, why expect engagement from them, if you are not prepared to invest in them.
Stop wasting your $200k and making them sit repetitively through this process.
Training is a true win-win for the employees and the employer, it makes people feel good in their jobs and they will never leave, remember every one of your employees should be valued and they most definitely all contribute to the growth and success of your company.
As Richard Branson famously said:
“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to”.
Contact us and we’ll be delighted to discuss the potential returns on your business for your investment of $20k.