Creating Onboarding Success – The Welcome Letter

Congratulations, we are excited to welcome you to our team. Your official start date is Monday, August 6, 2018. You will spend your first two weeks in our home office in Raleigh, North Carolina where you will learn all about our products and technology.  We can’t wait to see you!

Truth be told, if you’re like the majority of new hires, while you are excited about your new role, you aren’t thrilled to spend the next two weeks being tested and quizzed on your product and technology knowledge, especially after the daily experience of death-by-Powerpoint style delivery from a sales trainer. This approach creates a room full of disengaged learners.

So why do organizations continue to focus on product training rather than taking a customer-centric approach to emphasize how their products help customers solve a problem or avoid a consequence. The answers may surprise you!

Creatures of Habit

Many sales organizations continue to do what they have always done, therefore they continue to get, what they always got – in the form of attrition, knowledge retention, and application. We can all agree that product knowledge is important in the sales process, however, it is more important to understand how our products, solutions, and/or services enable our customers to achieve their specific goals. Therefore we must reconsider how we onboard new employees with the focus on the customer.

Getting a Head Start

Chances are the new employee is sincerely excited about this new opportunity to become part of your organization for a number of reasons. One of the most compelling reasons is typically their passion for what your products actually does and how it makes a difference in the lives of others. Clearly articulating and building your story through your new hires presents the opportunity to convert them from ‘employees’ into brand ambassadors. They become the lifeblood of the organization sharing stories of impact, change and outcomes using the product, solution or service as the backdrop.  A world-class organization is hyper-focused on connecting their user/customer stories to outcomes as a result of purchasing and using a product. The same opportunity is present when you build your sales enablement program.

Let’s revisit our opening scenario for a moment. How would the following statement impact your next new hire class?

Congratulations, we are excited to welcome you to our team. On August 6, 2018, you will become part of our family and a rich culture of helping emerging leaders achieve greater results through coaching. While our product and service are world-class, we will focus on the success stories of our clients to help you learn about the impact of our solutions, products, and service. As a brand ambassador to the XYZ Enablement Company, we support your growth beyond the classroom with mentoring, self-paced learning and topnotch coaches to help your clients achieve and exceed their organizational goals.