MANAGEMENT
Recruiting and Keeping Top Sales Talent HENRY CANADAY
Andre DeLeon is national sales manager for a large truck equipment manufacturer that sells to trailer dealers and trailer manufacturers. Andre manages a team of nine sales reps, each with their own territo- ries. He notes that one of his top priorities is keep- ing his team – because turnover costs money.
“One of the things I am most proud of,” he explained, “is that we have had zero turnover in the last two- and-a-half years since I came here. There is a huge cost of turnover in sales. It takes a long time to recover the momentum.”
So how did he make the transition
from losing reps to keeping them on board?
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TRAINING AND AUTONOMY “There are a number of things we do as a company to prevent turnover. First, we pay well for the industry. We pay base salary and a sliding-scale commission on sales. My top sales guy earns well over $100,000 a year. “Second, we offer them good train-
ing. We start with a two-day, back-to- back program on our sales method, which is very distinctive – and one
reason for our success. Then we follow that up with 12 weeks of phone calls – typically hour-and-a-half calls – to make sure they apply what they learn. “Third, we offer our reps a wide range of autonomy in their territories. I do not micromanage the guys. I have been micromanaged, and I know how much I resented it.”
TRUST AND RECOGNITION Besides training and autonomy, DeLeon believes in trust through technology. Trust – as in not using technology to look over the reps’ shoulders or sec- ond guess them. “We do use a CRM solution to keep up to date. And I assign special projects and ask for information back on them. Most of our calls are to existing accounts, and I have to manage the new account develop-
LIGHTSPRING /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
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