(888) 893-2165The sales team is arguably the heartbeat of a company. They are the people that can try to convince a client that it is worth purchasing their product or service, even when the need is not obvious.
Just how important is this? Well, it is important enough to have over 13.7 million jobs in the United States dedicated to it.
Like anything else, sales team training is required to get a new salesman in the best shape possible to make sales for your company. However, there is something called a ramp-up period.
What is a ramp-up? What do companies do with a ramp sales team to transition them to the veterans?
This is your guide.
What Is a Ramp-Up Period?
Before we can talk about how this period can impact a sales team, you need to understand exactly what this is. Essentially, a ramp-up period is the time it takes for a new member of the sales team to match the veterans in productivity.
Unless somebody has years of experience with another company in sales, they are likely going to need time to adjust to being on your sales team. This includes learning your company culture, learning the format of your sales, learning about your expectations, and then meeting those expectations.
The ramp-up period is typically the training time that new members of the sales team have to figure out if they are going to be a good fit or not. If they are a good fit, then they eventually become part of the normal sales team. If they are not a good fit, then they may have to go find another form of employment.
Most experienced companies will expect new salesmen to go through this period. However, they cannot and will not wait around forever for them to catch up to the rest of the team.
That is where the ramp-up period comes into play.
Typical Ramp-Up Period
A lot of companies have an onboarding process that allows new members of their staff to adjust to the company culture and job responsibilities smoothly. Sometimes, this goes a step further with companies offering a trial period before giving an employee a full-time position.
The average trial period is up to 90 days. So, if you assume that the ramp-up period can equate to the training and trial period, a manager should know in about three months if a new salesman is right for them.
How do you determine when this ramp-up period is over? You have to determine when a salesman catches up to the veterans. We will discuss different options for that below.
Sales Period
One way you can determine the ramp-up period is by having an idea of what a typical sales period is. This applies to salesmen that focus more on longer-term sales.
Let’s say that you are a car dealership and you have a salesman working the floor. If you determine that you need three months to train a new salesman, you have to add that up with the typical sales period to get the total ramp-up period.
For a car company, we can say it will take a month to sell a car. By these numbers, a new salesman should be caught up to the veterans about four months after they get hired. After this time, a manager can get a better idea of if they are a good fit for the team.
Meeting the Quota
Another way that you can determine the ramp-up period is by going by the sales quota. This works for companies that have a defined quota plus inconsistent times to close a sale.
It can be like a paper company from a decade ago that you saw in a TV show like The Office. Here, you are trying to determine how long it will take a new salesman to match the typical quota for paper sold that the veteran salesman can make.
The only problem with this option is that you may have a more difficult time getting a consistent answer here. The reason is that depending on what client someone gets assigned, you could have certain advantages or disadvantages.
However, it can be safe to assume that if you have a set quota for each quarter in this format, add 60-90 days for that for a new salesman.
Factor in Prior Experience
Finally, some companies may be more willing to factor in prior sales experience. You could be a company that hires more salesmen with prior experience than the average company.
As a result, you may have different expectations for certain new salesmen on your team.
If you think about it, a truly talented salesman should be able to adapt to selling a new product with little challenge. This is especially the case if the two companies have similar sales policies.
So, in this format, you may expect a salesman with prior experience to catch up to veterans on your team in half of the time that someone completely new to the business would take.
Get Through the Ramp-Up Period
These are some of the biggest things that you need to know about the ramp-up period. As an employer, you have to understand that it is going to take some time for a new employee to catch up to the veterans.
Your job is to determine how much time it is going to take. You have to factor in the typical training period, expected quota, prior sales experience, and what your sales cycle is.
Do you want to know more about calculating sales ramp-up time? Book a meeting with us here.
