3 Ways to Lose a Sales Rep

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At times, it can be impossible to tell when you’re at risk of losing a sales rep you’d really rather keep. Changes in career expectations, personal concerns and other variables are all outside of your control. This being said, many common risk factors for losing a rep are easily avoidable. Here are three that are perhaps the most prominent for VARs:

Asking the Rep to Handle “Everything”

When you’ve got a sales rep on your hands, it can be tempting to give them as many responsibilities as you can dole out. You can expect a rep to handle everything from prospecting to making the sale. However, as they fill their pipeline or support additional customers with account management activities, it’s not uncommon for them to become extremely overwhelmed.

Driving leads or growing existing customer accounts can be full-time jobs, making it next to impossible to devote the proper amount of time and energy to other activities, even traditional sales activities.

Consider the number of accounts your reps are supporting and the amount of prospecting you need. Don’t expect them to draft email lead-generation campaigns, write web content or create events. Identify the critical responsibilities you need from your sales rep and reassign or dump the others.

Letting Communication Fall by the Wayside

Communication is everything in sales. There’s simply no getting around this fact, and many people end up learning the hard way. One of the major misconceptions that come along with hiring a sales rep is that they know exactly what is expected of them and what to do to succeed. This usually isn’t the case.

You certainly don’t need to feel as if you have to babysit, but the lines of communication should always be left open. A weekly sales meeting can be extremely effective. It not only demonstrates the fact that you’re interested in their success, but helps to keep you and your reps on the same page. The bottom line is that reps who feel ignored are destined to leave, and this issue is easily avoidable.

Showing a Lack of Trust

The common misconception that “sales reps cannot be trusted” is one of the biggest problems in the industry, and can act as a major catalyst for a sales rep to leave. Sales may not be your primary skillset and your personal experiences with sales reps may reinforce that lack of trust. Remember that this is a member of your staff who you’ve carefully screened and excitedly hired. While any new hire can be risky, take the time to ensure that accountability and performance metrics are in place. Metrics allow you and the sales rep to assess their performance, review issues and identify a fix. The rest is up to them and requires your trust.

No one wants to lose a sales rep, especially when it can be avoided. By taking the above tips into consideration, you can rest easy knowing that you’re doing everything possible to keep your reps happy and motivated for success.

Kendra Lee is a top IT seller, prospect attraction expert, author of the award-winning book, “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the small and midmarket business (SMB) segment.