When it comes to hiring new individuals in the building industry, it’s essential to invest adequate resources into onboarding and training. This is especially true when it comes to bringing new sales representatives into your organization.
However, since onboarding standards can vary significantly from one company to the next, how do you know if you’re giving your sales reps the training they need to be successful in the building industry? Here are four essential steps you can take to ensure you maximize the effectiveness of your onboarding processes.
Provide Product Overview Training
Product overviews are a definite necessity when fully onboarding a new sales representative. While it may not be necessary to go over every detail of every product in the first few weeks of employment, providing the general history of your product categories and the assortment that makes them up will give your representatives grounding in their new position. It’s important for sales reps to understand where your products stand competitively in the market, the solutions they provide to your customers, and how the company differentiates itself from the rest.
Develop a Customer Mapping Process
By mapping the ways your product goes to market and the different buying cycles associated with your categories, you’re able to put your sales reps in the customer’s buying shoes. This fresh perspective helps to identify with your customer base and answer essential questions about your product lines. A great way to put this action in the building industry is by encouraging your representatives to meet with your local contractors and distributors to learn about their business needs and how your products can address any challenges they currently face.
Encourage Deeper Product Adoption
Once your sales representatives have a basic understanding of your business and customers, the next step is to take a deeper dive into the features and benefits of your product lines. Successful sales representatives are brand ambassadors and believe wholeheartedly in the benefits their products bring to the market. To establish this type of confidence, more than just basic product knowledge training is necessary. Reps should be encouraged to tour your manufacturing facility and get a detailed understanding of every aspect of your product. This will give them the information required to market your products down the road confidently.
Explain Your Brand Messaging
For your reps to be active, it’s essential they can provide a consistent brand messaging story to your list of customers. To do this, sales reps should know the story behind your company, including how it was started and what the company goals and values are. This insight allows them to sell the company vision as a whole rather than just individual products. When your sales reps have a clear picture of what your company stands for, they will have a compelling story to tell their customers and maximize their sales opportunities.
Spending the time to properly onboard your sales reps can provide many short – and long-term benefits for your organization. By following these four essential steps when training your new hires, you’ll be able to maximize new sales opportunities while getting the most out of your hiring investment. To learn more, contact us today.
