I don’t know if there has ever been a study done to determine what the average rate of turnover is in sales in our industry. However, I am in touch with many club owners on a regular basis, and the best educated guess I can give you, is that the average sales rep lasts about six months in our industry.
I take my hat off to those clubs that can claim they have a much higher rate of retention with their sales people.
When we look at how much money is lost because of high turnover, it warrants a second look.
High Turnover Of Sales People And What It Affects:
• Retention. Members enjoy the familiarity of seeing the same people in the club on a regular basis. Sales people are in the trenches greeting members every day. When a member comes in and sees that their friend has moved on, it’s unsettling, especially when it happens on a regular basis. I believe there is a direct correlation to a club’s retention rate and the turnover rate of employees. A good retention rate begins with good employee relations.
• Moral. Employee morale is also affected when a sales team has high turnover. Employees will start to wonder if they are that expendable too. This is especially true when a rep leaves who has contributed heavily to the bottom line with a high number of sales.
• Sales. As a Regional Sales Manager for a club chain of 42 clubs, I asked the COO of our company, what the number one reason was that clubs did not hit their sales goals. He said the number one reason was because of a club’s inability to keep a good, well-trained sales team together. When a rep leaves and a new rep has to be hired, and trained, this can result in thousands of dollars in lost sales, and revenues, over a two- to three-month period.
I was as challenged as anyone to hire, train and retain good sales people. However, one of my key accomplishments with my former company was to have the lowest attrition rate of sales people. Here are some of the things I did to keep attrition low:
• Pay salary plus commission. I’ve never seen a sales team stick around very long with a commission only as a pay plan. Every area of the country has different pay scales. However, remember, you will get what you pay for. .
• Have an ongoing training program. One of the main reasons sales people fail is that they are not adequately trained. Have a 60-day training checklist in place and make sure that each assignment is checked off. Have the new rep consistently listening to industry-related sales training tapes and books during the beginning of their career with you. I suggest that you pay your new reps a higher salary during this 60-day period so they can focus on training.
• Foster an open door policy. It’s important for each sales rep to know they can come and speak with the owner or manager in a safe environment, whenever they want to.
• Attend sales meetings. Owners and managers can greatly improve their relationships with their sales team if they simply show them that they care. Attend sales meetings and encourage your sales reps to tell you what’s on their minds. Ask them what is gong on in the club that they disagree with and what would they do to change it. No one in the club knows how the public perceives your club better than your sales team.
• Hold sales people accountable for their daily activities. It helps them stay focused. I developed a system called the “Sales Success Management Scoreboard” that tracked every activity they did on a daily and month-to-date basis. If your sales people don’t have a system that tracks their daily activities, they will never reach their full potential.
• Give your sales people the tools they need to generate their own sales. When a sales person relies mainly on the club’s marketing to generate the majority of their sales, they generally don’t last long. I developed a system called “Power Prospecting.” It gives sales people scripts, letters and proposals to get companies and non-profit organizations to distribute the club’s trial memberships and club information. This empowers sales people to control their own destiny and income. It also creates an enormous amount of positive competition.
• Have a 60-day, 90-day and yearly review for your sales people. Do these in a timely manner and pay for performance when it is warranted.
• Have contests on a regular basis. I think the most underrated activity is having sales contests. They build immediate competition and they will give you a good bang for your buck.
• Take your sales team out to lunch often. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but your sales team will think it is.
• Coach “down stats” and praise “up stats” (assuming you are tracking activities). One of the things that all of us in sales love to get is recognition for a job well done. When an owner or manager goes out of their way to sincerely give a sales rep praise, it can be more effective than a bonus or a raise!
• Finally, treat sales people the way that you would want to be treated. I just saw a Lou Holtz training film. He has a very simple three-step standard for success:
1. Do the right thing
2. Do the best you can
3. Treat others as you would want to be treated.
Good luck in hiring, training, and ultimately, keeping the best!
Jim Martin is the President of Powerful Promotions. He can be contacted at 877.822.5577, or visitwww.powerfulpromotions.com.
