What are Some Retention Strategies that Sales Organizations in Various Industries Have Been Using to Retain Sales Reps Aside from Compensation?

Abstract

[Excerpt] Management of sales organization views sales force retention as a critical objective. The total costs associated with the quit decision of a single salesperson (recruiting, training and opportunity costs of lost sales from unmanned positions) is in the $50,000-$75,000 range. Clearly, the adverse impact of salesforce turnover on both the profitability of the organization as well as the motivation level of the salesforce can be substantial. Therefore, it is urgent as well as crucial for sales organizations to develop retention strategies to incentivize sales representatives to stay with the company. The most crucial reason for voluntary turnover among salesforce is higher wages. Salary growth effects on turnover were greatest for high performers, that is, high salary growth significantly reduced turnover for high performing employees. However, besides salary, there are still a wide range of other strategies that companies can adopt to retain the salesforce.