If you work in sales, chances are, your CRM or funnel system is a fairy tale - stuck in the past with very little connection with the reality of the world.
Handovers in sales teams are especially difficult. It is not the fault of organisations or individual employees. Nor is it that the sales team does not want to do handover to the new team members.
So:
Why are handovers in sales such a pain?
1. Because sales is a personal thing. A client is dealing with a person, not a company. All salespeople use their personal charm and knowledge to create great solutions for clients. Sales Team member A is not replaceable with Sales Team member B. One does not write everything. Because one cannot. For instance, I know that the CIO at Firm A values cost cutting above all else. The CIO at Firm B loves Ayn Rand. These are not things that matter to a formal sales process. This is one individual interacting with another individual.
2. A lot of communication (and commitment) in sales is oral and undocumented. Whether we like it or not, this is what it is.
3. There is sometimes a gap between the exit of one team member and the joining of the replacement. So, the handover time is either too short or nonexistent.
4. Some clients will leave with the salesperson. That is how it is.
How to make handovers work?
First things first, handovers and takeovers are a function of two things:
A. Person to person (and their time and personality overlap)
B. Documentation maturity.
A is a function of how nice the two individuals are, how well they get along, and how much time they have with each other.
But B is a function of organisational process maturity. An organisation with a culture of process documentation and audits at the right time will find that much of its pain of transitions and audits will vanish.
But in sales, A is as important as B.
What do we do then, to ensure smooth handovers in sales?
Enter: The Magic of Shadow
This solution requires:
A. A camaraderie within the team
B. A small reporting span for sales leaders - no more than 4-5 people per sales leaders. Not a pack of 15-20 sales professionals reporting to one.
What we need to ensure is adequate information redundancy (i.e., the information should be with more than one person so that if one person is not available, another person should know whats going on).
The format is that once a week, the sales leaders take individual calls on which the events of the week are discussed. The sales leaders are free to take notes etc. But they are the redundancy/backup. This is because in sales, it would be unfair for people to be backups of each other, given the intense competition in sales.
Being the information back up of their team is on the KRAs of the sales leader. They are required to meet with clients and potential clients at least once every 5 visits by the team member. That is why a small span of control is vital for this model to work.
When a team member resigns...
If a replacement is ready, they are immediately assigned to shadow the outgoing team member. If the replacement is not ready, the sales leader can take a call and assign another colleague or act as a shadow themselves. The latter option is not the best idea but sometimes one may not have a choice.
This shadow remains with the outgoing team member till their last working day.
Signing off on Knowledge Transfer
One week before exit, there is a joint meeting which includes the outgoing team member, the sales leader, and the shadow. This is the formal KT sign off meeting. In this meeting, the process is as under:
A. The shadow goes over the list of clients being managed by the outgoing team member and specifically lists:
i. The Scope of work
ii. Important client stakeholders
iii. Current stage
iv. Other competitors in fray and their relative standing
v. Timeline of decision and delivery
vi. Internally, who are our stakeholders for delivery of order
B. The sales leader compares this information with their own notes to ensure that:
i. All clients in the team member's charter are covered.
ii. All details are covered and are accurate.
iii. In case of some clients, the sales lead can ask additional questions to ensure that the shadow knows everything that they should know.
If the sales leader is convinced that handover has happened, they can sign off on the process.
If the shadow falters on any information, the person who is penalised is not the shadow but the outgoing employee. Their exit checklist can only begin with this handover signoff.
Once this signoff as per the checklist is given, the outgoing employee and the sales leader cannot then question the shadow on why they did not ask the outgoing employee x or y. The responsibility for signoff therefore is with the original backup - the sales leader.
If the Signoff fails
If the first signoff at T-7 fails, a second sign off is scheduled anytime from T-3 to T-0 day, based on everyone's convenience.
The second sign off is the final signoff.
The same checklist is followed this time too.
If the sign off is cleared, the outgoing team member can begin their exit checklist and other exit formalities.
If the sign off is not cleared, the exit formalities cannot begin.
No sensible employee will want their exit formalities to be delayed. This process ensures that everyone is invested in ensuring a smooth and complete handover.
When the replacement joins
When the replacement team member joins, they then work alongside the shadow for 1 month or more, and then the sign off process with the sales leader is repeated once again. Only after the handover sign off can the team member holding additional responsibility get off.
But, shadowing is extra work!
Yes, and this should not be ignored. The performance management framework needs to reward employees who act as shadows while a replacement is being hired. This can be in regular KRAs, or be noted as "Exceptional Contribution" based on how frequent this is. Sales is a stressful role as it is, and any extra work deserves to be acknowledged and rewarded in a structured framework.
Other linkages with PMS
The other linkages that need to be established with the formal performance management system are:
A. Sales Leader - Ensuring smooth handovers should be the KRA of the sales leader. Zero tolerance for client loss due to team attrition needs to be laid out.
B. Incoming Employee - If the replacement is a new hire,their "Time to Productivity" and rampup roadmap should be in their KRAs. If process documentation and shadowing is in place, this rampup should not exceed 40-60 days.
