Talent Lifecycle ManagementFrom Hire to Retire

Build high-performing revenue teams with systematic approaches to hiring, onboarding, developing, and retaining top talent. Turn your people strategy into a competitive advantage.

Your talent strategy is your growth strategy.

In revenue organizations, talent is everything. Yet most companies treat hiring as reactive, onboarding as administrative, and development as optional. The result? Long ramp times, high turnover among top performers, and mediocre results from everyone else. Meanwhile, your competitors are building talent machines that consistently attract, develop, and retain A-players who drive predictable growth.

The Challenge

Slow time-to-productivity

New hires take 9-12 months to reach full productivity.
High regrettable attrition

Top performers leave while underperformers stay.
Expensive hiring mistakes

Wrong hires cost 3-5x salary in lost productivity and opportunity.

What You Need

Hiring for fit

Competency-based frameworks that identify future top performers.
Accelerated onboarding

Structured programs that cut ramp time in half.
Continuous development

Career paths and coaching that retain your best people.
Performance accountability

Systems that identify and address underperformance quickly.

Talent Lifecycle FAQs

Common questions about talent strategy and organizational development

What's the true cost of sales turnover?

Sales turnover costs 1.5-2x annual salary per departure when accounting for lost productivity during vacancy, recruiting and hiring costs, ramp time for replacement (6-12 months), training and onboarding investment, lost customer relationships, and team morale impact. For a $150K sales rep, turnover costs $225-300K. Organizations with 20%+ annual turnover are effectively running a recruiting treadmill that prevents growth momentum.

How do you reduce sales turnover?

Reducing turnover requires addressing root causes: ensure product-market fit (don't hire if your product isn't ready to sell), improve hiring selectivity (cultural and competency fit), provide clear career paths and growth opportunities, offer competitive compensation (base, variable, and equity), deliver strong onboarding and enablement, ensure managers coach effectively, and recognize/reward top performers. Most turnover is preventable-exit interviews reveal issues leadership already knows about.

What's the best way to hire sales talent?

Best practices include defining ideal candidate profiles based on top performer attributes, using structured interviews with role-plays and case studies, assessing both skills and cultural fit, involving multiple interviewers to reduce bias, checking references thoroughly (especially former managers), and piloting with contract-to-hire for unproven candidates. Common mistakes are over-indexing on industry experience (trainable) and under-indexing on learning agility and grit (harder to develop).

How long should sales onboarding take?

Comprehensive onboarding typically spans 30-90 days depending on sales complexity. Enterprise B2B requires longer (60-90 days) than SMB (30-45 days). Best practice is structured programs with clear milestones: Week 1-2 (company, product, tools), Week 3-4 (sales process, methodology), Week 5-8 (shadowing, role-plays, first customer interactions), Month 3+ (quota ramp with coaching support). Measure time to first deal and time to productivity, not just completion of training.

What's the right compensation structure for sales roles?

Typical B2B sales comp is 50/50 or 60/40 base-to-variable ratio, with OTE (on-target earnings) at market rates for role and geography. Enterprise sales often have higher base (60/40 or 70/30) due to longer sales cycles. SMB/high-velocity sales have higher variable (40/60 or 50/50) to drive urgency. Best practice is benchmarking against competitors and peer companies, ensuring accelerators for over-achievement, and reviewing comp plans annually.

How do you identify and develop high-potential talent?

Identifying high-potential employees requires looking beyond current performance to assess learning agility, strategic thinking, leadership potential, and cultural influence. Best practice is creating formal development programs including stretch assignments, mentorship, executive exposure, and leadership training. Common mistake is promoting top ICs to management without assessing management capability-not every great rep should become a manager.

What's the right quota-to-OTE ratio?

Industry standard is 4-5x quota-to-OTE ratio (rep with $150K OTE carries $600-750K quota). Ratios vary by business model and sales cycle. Enterprise with long cycles often have 3-4x ratios; high-velocity SMB can be 5-6x. Best practice is ensuring 60-70% of reps hit quota in good execution-if quota attainment is consistently below 50%, quotas are too aggressive and will drive turnover. If above 80%, you're leaving money on the table.

How do you performance-manage underperformers?

Performance management requires clear standards, documented feedback, improvement plans with measurable goals, coaching and support, and defined timelines (typically 30-90 days). Best practice is addressing performance issues early-most managers wait too long. If a rep isn't showing improvement after two quarters and intensive coaching, they're unlikely to turn it around. Quick, fair exits are better for everyone than prolonged underperformance.

What's the ideal manager-to-rep ratio?

Optimal ratio is 1:6 to 1:10 depending on sales complexity and manager experience. Enterprise sales benefits from smaller ratios (1:6-8) enabling deep coaching. Transactional sales supports larger ratios (1:8-10). Managers need 40%+ of time for coaching, development, and strategic work-not just admin and deal reviews. Too-large spans prevent effective coaching and development, limiting team performance.

From the Experts

Insights and perspectives from our team of talent and performance experts.

John Staples

Sr. Partner, Talent Practice Lead

The difference between good companies and great companies is the quality of their hiring and development systems.

Read CRO insights

Mike Hoffman

CEO, SBI Growth Advisory

Talent is your only sustainable competitive advantage-if you invest in building capability systematically.

View enablement resources

Tony Erickson

Sr. Partner, Partnerships

Great onboarding doesn't just accelerate ramp time-it shapes culture and sets performance standards.

Explore coaching services

Ready to Build a Talent Machine
That Drives Growth?

Speak with an Expert View Enablement Resources

Talent Lifecycle ManagementFrom Hire to Retire

Your talent strategy is your growth strategy.

The Challenge

What You Need

Our Talent Lifecycle Approach

Strategic Hiring

Accelerated Onboarding

Career Development

Related Resources

CRO Playbooks

Enablement Guides

Coaching & Training

Performance Management

Talent Lifecycle FAQs

What's the true cost of sales turnover?

How do you reduce sales turnover?

What's the best way to hire sales talent?

How long should sales onboarding take?

What's the right compensation structure for sales roles?

How do you identify and develop high-potential talent?

What's the right quota-to-OTE ratio?

How do you performance-manage underperformers?

What's the ideal manager-to-rep ratio?

From the Experts

John Staples

Mike Hoffman

Tony Erickson

Ready to Build a Talent Machine
That Drives Growth?

Welcome to the New SBI Digital Experience

Talent Lifecycle ManagementFrom Hire to Retire

Your talent strategy is your growth strategy.

The Challenge

What You Need

Our Talent Lifecycle Approach

Strategic Hiring

Accelerated Onboarding

Career Development

Related Resources

CRO Playbooks

Enablement Guides

Coaching & Training

Performance Management

Talent Lifecycle FAQs

What's the true cost of sales turnover?

How do you reduce sales turnover?

What's the best way to hire sales talent?

How long should sales onboarding take?

What's the right compensation structure for sales roles?

How do you identify and develop high-potential talent?

What's the right quota-to-OTE ratio?

How do you performance-manage underperformers?

What's the ideal manager-to-rep ratio?

From the Experts

John Staples

Mike Hoffman

Tony Erickson

Ready to Build a Talent Machine That Drives Growth?

Welcome to the New SBI Digital Experience

Ready to Build a Talent Machine
That Drives Growth?