How Do You Build Strong Mentoring Relationships in Sales?
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s a new generation of sales professionals begins to make its mark on the workplace, the need for effective mentoring has increased dramatically. As younger people begin to see sales as less of a career and their older counterparts come to it after shifting out of other fields, it’s a novice’s world–and getting the most out of these new professionals requires a large amount of effort up front. Many businesses have recognized this and have begun increasing spending in employee training after a temporary lull during the recession of the late 2000s. According to the 2014 Corporate Learning Handbook, spending on corporate training increased by 15% in 2013 and is trending steadily upward. Getting the most out of such training requires more than just throwing money at expensive seminars and continuing education programs. Most leading brands know this and have developed robust mentoring programs to extend the value of their training dollars even further with on-the-job clarification of lessons and comprehensive strengthening of new workers’ skills. It’s no coincidence that while on average, about half of companies overall have mentoring programs of some kind, more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies have crafted clear and compelling formal mentoring environments.
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Mentoring can require significant time and effort, however, so getting the most out of the time spent on it is critical to success. Not all companies take the time to make sure their formal mentoring programs work for the benefit of all involved, either because their leaders do not see the value or because they are inexperienced and not sure where to start. We touch on some of the research in industrial-organizational psychology and educational psychology that will help your sales team increase its commitment to your company, improve its overall results, and develop organically as a part of a more complex organization.
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