5 Tips to Recruit and Retain Top Solar Sales Talent
Once you make a hire, you need to make sure you have the systems in place to retain employees. Employee turnover is costly; it isn’t sustainable to constantly recruit, interview, onboard and train talent month after month.
Once you make a hire, you need to make sure you have the systems in place to retain employees. Employee turnover is costly; it isn’t sustainable to constantly recruit, interview, onboard and train talent month after month. Some researchers estimate the average cost to onboard a new employee to be around $4,700 which can add up if turnover is consistent. Attracting talent with programs and incentives that meet their needs will help you in the long run.
In this blog post, we walk through ways to recruit top sales talent and programs you can implement to retain that top talent.
Recruit with Confidence
Recruiting top sales talent can be challenging. Luckily, there are tools and resources available to help small and medium sized businesses set up a talent pool, conduct interviews, and hire the right talent.
If you’re struggling to build a pool of qualified candidates, try leveraging the networks of current employees. You can also work with local colleges, universities, and trade programs to promote your business at job fairs and on job boards. These solutions, in addition to posting the open job on online job boards, can help you build a pool of candidates.
Once you narrow down your candidate pool, you can conduct interviews to find the right match for an open role. Tailor your interview questions to the role to ensure you find the right sales representatives for your business.
Attracting and Retaining Top Talent
You found a great sales person to join your team and now it’s time to prepare their offer. If you’ve struggled to get sales reps to accept a role, you may want to take a look at what your company offers sales reps to keep them motivated to sell.
You should also consider what kind of coaching and training resources you provide. For new employees coming out of college, they’ll need more hands-on coaching to get up to speed. Career-switchers may need help understanding the nuances of your industry. Let’s dive into our suggestions to attract, retain, and coach top talent:
Advances on Commissions
Offering your sales team a commission on a sale is one thing, but giving them an advance on their commission can take your team to a whole new level. You can pay a sales rep a percentage of their commission at a certain point in the sales cycle. It not only rewards them for completing a sale, but motivates them to get the sale to a certain stage, resulting in a positive customer experience.
However, advances can put constraints on cash flow. That’s why Sunlight is proud to partner with Everee, a company that helps businesses pay sales rep advances. Everee helps ease the operational and cash flow burden of paying advances. It’s a streamlined solution you can use to meet the need of top sales talent.
Sales Incentive Program
In addition to advances on commissions, you can motivate your sales team with a sales incentive program. Sales incentive programs can add an element of gamification to make selling more fun for your team and inspire friendly competition.
At Sunlight, we have our Sunlight Rewards® program. Sunlight Rewards® is a free loyalty program that rewards sales reps for selling Sunlight.
Essentially, sales reps receive points when they sell a Sunlight loan. Those points are deposited into a rep’s individual account and they can cash those points in to get all sorts of awesome prizes. The prizes aren’t just t-shirts; some redeemed prizes include a trip to Mexico, a luxury laptop, brand-name golf balls, someone even used their points to go to the Super Bowl!
Sales Training and Coaching
Providing a robust training and coaching program can be a huge draw for new talent and a reason to stay for current employees. Employees want to feel like their managers are invested in their success and their careers. Consider setting up bi-weekly check-ins with sales; ask them to come prepared with challenges they’re facing and be ready to find solutions together. You can also set up shadowing programs where more experienced sales people can show new talent the ropes.
Motivating your sales team takes creativity, but with the right systems you can recruit, attract and retain the best sales reps. To learn more about the exclusive programs Sunlight offers to motivate sales reps, fill out the form below.