What you teach your new employees not to do during sales on-boarding is even more important than what you teach them to do. Recently hired agents must be taught what tactics are ineffective and would actually discourage sales. Effective sales performance management (SPM) professionals should train their representatives to avoid negative actions that would hurt the business. 

Some of the worst behaviors are intuitive and seem like they would help complete a new deal. However, most of these actions are based on the general laziness of some salespeople. Trainers must teach their representatives to be active and avoid falling into bad habits. 

Waiting for customers to initiate contact
Sales is supposed to be a proactive exercise. Agents cannot sit and wait for customers to call for assistance and purchase goods. Sure, every business generates its fair share of inbound leads, but vendors cannot rely on inquiries from consumers. 

During on-boarding, teach your representatives how to find and qualify prospects. Every agent should be able to create interest in their company's goods or services and follow through on those leads. Leaving the decision in the customers hand is a bad practice that every representative should avoid – consumers don't want to be hounded, but they need to be pushed into making purchases. 

Selling too much 
That said, over aggression can be as negative as the hands-off approach. Representatives that are too pushy and force themselves onto potential buyers will alienate those consumers before the deal is completed. Kristin Zhivago, the author of "Roadmap to Revenue," recently told Inc. Magazine that she didn't buy software because the salesperson was too forceful

"I thought this software might be very useful for both me and my clients so I asked for a demo, and they sent their super-salesperson to do it," Zhivago said. 

Trainers should teach their on-boarding employees how to balance patience and aggression. Veteran salespeople are the best resource for this lesson – these contributors have mastered the art of guiding buyers to the end of a deal without being overbearing. 

Extended pitches
Time is money in sales, especially when it comes to pitches. Consumers do not want to listen to listen presentations about new products or services – they want basic information like the price. Entrepreneur Magazine writes that representatives should be taught how to keep meetings brief. Managers should train their employees to only focus on certain aspects of an item or service to avoided long-winded presentations.