The Comprehensive 90 Day Orientation for New Salespeople

Yesterday I spoke to the Distributors for Billington Wines in Washington DC.  One attendee asked about my comprehensive guidelines for on boarding new salespeople during the first 90 Days.  I believe that most companies set their new salespeople up for failure.  I believe you should prepare your new salespeople for success.  While I have probably posted about this subject on various occasions, I’ll try to get it all in here.

Answer These Questions for your New Salespeople:

What are all of the problems we solve?
How many applications are there for our products/services?
Why are we better?
How are we different?
What is our brand promise?
How do we position ourselves in the marketplace?
Who are our customers?
What are their titles?
How do we get to them?
Why will they see me?
What does the first call sound like?
What is our sales process?
How do I navigate the process?
What are the questions I should be asking?
What kind of resistance should I expect?
How should I handle the resistance?
What kind of objections will I hear?
How do I handle those objections?
What does our competition say about us?
How do we sell against our competitors?
What are their strengths and weaknesses?
How do they sell against us?
How do you want me presenting our solutions?
How are our prices compared with the competition?
How do we justify our prices?

What are the expectations for me during the first week, month, quarter, year?
How will I be measured?
How will I be held accountable?
What if I don’t measure up?
What if I over achieve?

What is our organizational structure?
Who can I go to for help?
What kind of help can I expect?
How do I get the help?

Can you build a 90 Day Orientation Program for New Salespeople?