Survey Finds the Need for Professional Development and Better Pay are the Top Reasons Sales Reps Leave their Jobs

New Research from the Sales Management Association Uncovers Need for Better Sales Onboarding, Coaching, and Training Processes
Press
Apr 05, 2017
2 min read

San Jose, CA—April 5, 2017–– Xactly (NYSE: XTLY), a leading provider of cloud-based incentive solutions, today announced new research highlighting the need for businesses to increase their sales coaching, training, and development to lower rep turnover and raise performance. Conducted by the Sales Management Association and sponsored by Xactly, the survey found that inadequate professional development and better paying opportunities are the top two reasons that reps voluntarily leave jobs.

“The survey findings validate that you need more than compensation to attract, retain, and keep your sales reps performing successfully,” said Steve De Marco, VP Worldwide Sales and Alliances for Xactly Corporation. “While compensation remains a priority, today’s companies must also invest in the professional development of their salespeople to reduce sales turnover and get reps to productivity faster.”

In conjunction with the research findings, Xactly today also released an infographic about the causes and costs of sales turnover: “Can’t Keep Your Top Sales Reps? Is it You or Is it Them?”

“A large majority of companies are dissatisfied with their success rates for new salespeople,” said Bob Kelly, Chairman of the Sales Management Association. “However, by directly linking training and coaching to sales achievement, the survey also clearly reveals to management their best opportunity to improve performance and retention.”

Retention Increases Length of Rep Productivity

According to the survey, less than half of organizations are satisfied with their sales rep retention, and salespeople take, on average, 12 months to be successful. By retaining reps longer, organizations have a greater ability to increase and extend the productivity of their sales teams. Xactly’s own data software Xactly Insights™ is based on 12 years of anonymous and aggregated pay and performance analysis, and shows companies paying at the 75th percentile or higher have 50% less sales turnover.

Additional survey findings included:

  • 71% of salespeople who leave firms in a given year do so voluntarily
  • The two factors most important to retaining salespeople are: organizational culture; and coaching, training, and development
  • Organizations consider less than one out of five new sales hires added over the past 24 months to be successful
  • Firms that provide clear performance objectives and well-defined onboarding programs achieve sales objectives 8% more than firms that don’t
  • Firms effective at training, coaching, and development achieve sales objectives 17% more than non-effective firms

On-Demand Webinar Focuses on Survey Findings

The Sales Management Association and Xactly co-hosted a webinar to give organizations greater insight on the findings. The webinar also discusses how organizations can improve rep retention through the use of innovative onboarding, coaching, and training tools, including Xactly InspireTM software. View the webinar on-demand here.

See Xactly at CompCloud 2017: May 16-18 in San Francisco

Register today for CompCloud 2017, the premier incentive compensation and sales performance event of the year, #inspireamazing #xactlylovesme.

About Xactly

Headquartered in San Jose, California, Xactly (NYSE: XTLY) is a leading provider of enterprise-class, cloud-based, incentive compensation solutions for employee and sales performance management. Named a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Sales Performance Management software, Xactly addresses a critical business need to incentivize employees and align their behaviors with company goals. Our products allow organizations to make more strategic decisions, increase employee performance, improve margins, and mitigate risk.

Our core values are key to our success, and each day we’re committed to upholding them by delivering the best we can to our customers. To learn more about Xactly and the latest issues and trends in SPM software, follow us on TwitterFacebook, and subscribe to the Xactly blog.

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©2017 Xactly Corporation. All rights reserved. Xactly, the Xactly logo, Xactly Insights, and “Inspire Performance” are registered trademarks or trademarks of Xactly Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

PR CONTACT

Kristin Reeves

Blanc & Otus Public Relations

Tel: 415-856-5145

Email: kristin.reeves@blancandotus.com