YourSalesManagementGuru by Ken Thoreson, Acumen Management Group
			
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	Time for Salesperson Evaluations
    Last week, one  of my clients and I were discussing the end of the first quarter, salesperson performance  and the next steps in their business strategy.   The conversation led me to suggest the following steps for my client, but it would work just as  well for readers.
Step 1: Evaluate your team. Place  each of your team members into one of the following categories: 
  - Stars: How do we keep them?
- Learners: Have high potentials, but do we  have a plan to train?
- Solid Performers: How do we  maintain?
- Followers: Good for now, but what  about next year?
- Deadwood: Can we do better?
Step 2: Once you have classified  your team, the next step is to develop a plan to review each person and set a  learning path for them.  We recommend  that this becomes a formal procedure between the sales manager and each  salesperson, at least twice a year. We use a salesperson development tool  from our Sales Managers Tool Kit, which  is a library of 40-plus robust sales  management tools we have developed during our consulting practice.
The  salesperson development tool includes a revenue-versus-quota section, but just as  important is a section for the sales managers' evaluations regarding:
  - Skills/Strengths: What needs work, what items are good
- Development Plan: What actions are to be taken and their target dates/completion  dates
- Obstacles and plans to reduce  obstacles
This session  allows both individuals an opportunity to honestly discuss career aspirations,  personal goals and skill development. Using this approach along with the Salesperson's  Business Plan, the manager can fully coach the salesperson to the next  level. 
Building a  regular practice of "inspecting what  you expect,"  you will increase the professionalism of your  team and  drive performance. What  are your thoughts on improving the performance of your sales teams? 
 
	Posted by Ken Thoreson on March 30, 2015