High-performing salespeople are valuable assets for any organization. Sales reps exceeding the figures of their peers are naturally sought after and may be subject to poaching from other companies.
Even if they’re earning a substantial salary and commissions, they may have reason to leave their employer if they receive an offer elsewhere. Here are some common reasons why top salespeople consider alternative positions and how to avoid having it happen to your company.
Inefficient Onboarding
Once you’ve recruited a salesperson from your competition or another business sector, make them feel immediately appreciated and at home within your organization. Without providing satisfactory, well-defined tools from day one, you risk unsettling or even losing your new employee before they can show you why you hired them.
Provide business cards, a smartphone, ready-to-use computer equipment, sales training programs and formal introductions to key management. This shows the levels of value and respect the company has for the salesperson.
Trust Issues at an Existing Company
Every employee within company departments should trust their leadership. This is especially vital for top salespeople to maintain their commitment to your organization. If you display integrity, empathy and transparency, you’ll encourage your employees to collaborate by feeling more psychologically secure. You’ll receive valuable feedback when they vocalize concerns and express opinions without fear of judgment from leadership.
Without the leadership’s confidence and trust, a high-performing salesperson may not feel confident to voice opinions and might consider alternatives where they feel more secure.
Existing Compensation Shortfalls
One of the newest trends in company recruitment is how technological advancements and regulatory changes reveal pay disparities between new and existing employees. When an employer offers higher compensation to secure new talent in a similar role, existing salespeople – especially high-performing ones – could feel undervalued and disgruntled.
A recent study found that, since 2022, there’s been a 9% increase in compensation-related issues in certain industries, and it stands to reason these insights apply across the board, given the state of the economy.
Poor Work-Life Balance
You might employ a salesperson who beats existing sales figures monthly but, to do so, works an incredible amount of overtime. Ultimately, life beyond the rep’s work will suffer, and problems like burnout could occur.
A World Economic Forum study shows that high performers feel they can’t accomplish everything during regular hours. This workaholic mindset can lead to burnout. Ultimately, they could end up looking elsewhere for a position where they can earn, find time for their families and pursue hobbies and other self-improvement methods.
Efficient Sales Support Structures
A top salesperson is only as good as the support structures the represented company has in place. When sales reps have to spend vast amounts of time completing non-sales-related activities, including list-building, advanced customer relations management (CRM) and data capturing, they spend reduced periods selling and earning commissions.
Without effective CRM software in sales team structures, a company could lose its top salespeople to organizations that do, as the reps could work harder on directly earning commissions.
Product and Service Issues
Your salespeople serve one primary purpose – to sell your company’s products or services. However, they must also understand clients’ needs to provide feedback to your company, which helps with customer retention and future loyalty.
Sometimes, clients contact a salesperson directly regarding after-sales service and product issues that need attention. Your salesperson should not be responsible for these issues; That’s a job for customer service representatives. If you expect your salespeople to deal with these problems further, they could leave your company and go somewhere without that expectation.
Noncompetitive Pricing
When marketing a product or service, you’ll analyze your competition’s pricing structures to align yourself favorably in a competitive market. It’s essential to keep doing so to stay abreast of market changes, especially concerning new or existing products or services that undercut your prices but provide similar value.
All salespeople want a fair opportunity to make sales, and the top ones could quickly look elsewhere to earn an income if your company can’t keep up.
Poor or Indecisive Executive Sales Strategies
Top salespeople who don’t believe in the company and its sales strategies will invariably switch jobs. Suppose your operation constantly changes methods or completely adjusts its direction. A superstar sales rep may lose confidence in your ability to provide a suitable blueprint for selling, and they need reliable strategic executive decisions to capably do their jobs.
Without this blueprint and confidence – notably in reliable customer segmentation – their desire to sell your product can falter.
Unfair Treatment
Treating all your salespeople the same way may seem like a suitable strategy, but this may backfire over time. Offering the same basic salary to a rep who constantly exceeds sales targets and another who hardly does so could be deemed unfair.
The best way to achieve fair treatment is to consider your salespeople as individuals and compensate them accordingly. If you understand your sales team’s respective motivations, you will know how to treat each and inspire their best.
Look After Each Member of Your Sales Force
From the moment new salespeople with records as high achievers walk through your company door for the first time, do all you can to welcome them and provide them with the relevant tools and insights to do their jobs well.
Paying attention to the other parts of your business enhances their chances of settling in and enjoying long and productive careers in your employ. At the same time, focus on motivating and improving your current staff’s performance – another star may already exist within your sales force.
