The average turnover rate for B2B sales teams is up to 34%, more than double the national average across industries. Add to that the fact that 57% of sales reps expect to miss their quotas each year and you have a recipe for serious business underperformance.
But the real problem is that it can take months to properly onboard a new sales rep. As you get stuck in a vicious hiring circle, it gets harder and harder to get reps to meet their quotas. And that means your real issue starts with retention.
Nearly half of the average turnover rate in sales is attributed to voluntary departures. Resolving the issues that drive salespeople to leave your company can improve retention and lead to better business results. In the following three cases, equipping sales reps with intent data can help improve your retention rates.
1. The Money Problem
This challenge isn’t unique to the sales department. When employees are offered similar or higher-level positions with greater compensation, they’ll be tempted to leave your company. For sales, in particular, this includes issues with commission rates and overall compensation plans.
When salespeople miss their quotas, they miss out on many of the bonuses and commissions that make your compensation plan competitive. And while many of those sales reps may take missed quotas as an opportunity for self-reflection, there are plenty who will blame the support they received (or didn’t receive).
There’s plenty you can do to adjust the compensation plan to be more beneficial to sales reps. However, an easier approach is to empower your sales reps to perform better in the existing plan. Giving them access to third-party intent data can ensure they’re only reaching out to in-market prospects that are showing purchase intent signals, cutting out many of the inefficiencies that come with improper targeting. As sales outreach becomes more efficient, your reps will be more likely to hit their quotas, achieve bonuses and larger commissions, and think twice about leaving for a new opportunity.
2. Wasted Time on Non-Sales Activities
The traditional gap between sales and marketing has more of an impact on sales rep retention than you might think.
When sales and marketing exist in silos, information often gets lost in the transition from one group to the other. Data that marketing used to qualify a lead suddenly isn’t available when the sales rep starts to engage. As a result, salespeople waste their time searching for missing data and trying to fill in gaps in your CRM. Or, worse, they waste time pursuing a lead that isn’t actually in-market or prepared to have a conversation that could lead to a purchase.
Your salespeople want to spend their time selling. Intent data helps them do just that by creating common ground between sales and marketing. Because intent data helps marketers dig deeper on individual, in-market target accounts, sales reps can trust that they’re presented with real opportunities that will contribute to their quotas. Without that level of trust with the marketing team, your reps will be tempted to leave for companies that support more effective collaboration.
3. Unrealistic Expectations for Reps
There’s another angle to the sales quota problem—what if your quota is simply unrealistic? It’s easy to blame sales reps when they fall short of your expectations. However, a few miscalculations and you can end up setting the bar so high that even top performers can’t hit the quota.
This problem might crop up if you aren’t properly understanding your target market. Traditionally, total addressable market might have played a significant role in setting sales quotas. But planning around total addressable market leads to waste in both marketing and sales departments.
To set more realistic expectations, focus on total active demand instead. You want to set quotas based on the ideal accounts that are actually in the market for your solutions. Sales reps don’t want to be punished for insufficient demand. Rather, intent data helps you set quotas that judge sales reps only on their abilities to close deals.
Set Your Sales Reps Up for Success with Intent Data
Like employees in any other department, your sales reps want to feel that they have the full support of your organization. That means providing the tools and resources necessary to help them meet (and exceed) their quotas.
Giving sales reps the kinds of behavioral insights contained in purchase intent data will lead to greater efficiency, increased job satisfaction, and ultimately better retention rates.
