Turnover sends a very clear signal that something is wrong somewhere in your sales organization. Keeping your top people means being alert for organizational snags and snafus that may drive them out the door. It also means being sensitive to their hopes and dreams, needs and desires, and managing your sales force in a manner that lets them achieve their own goals. In this chapter, you will find many concrete methods to improve your retention rate, and reduce the high cost of replacing the sales professionals who are your lifeblood. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems that turnover is on the rise.
Some turnover is positive.
A healthy company will promote qualified achievers into higher slots. But most terminations are due to poor performance. Obviously, sales executives are struggling to find and keep good salespeople. A number of factors appear to influence the termination rate. If quotas are unattainable, the sales force won't stay motivated past the initial burst of activity.