- As a sales manager, it's crucial to regularly evaluate
and discuss progress with your reps to help them
maximize performance and prevent bad habits
from becoming part of their routine.
So how do you give effective feedback to your reps?
Weekly one on ones, along with team meetings
are the best way to stay up to date
on your reps' performance.
When getting feedback, you should always start
by pointing out the positives.
Great employees care about what their bosses think
of their work.
Feedback should be a constructive experience
for reps to be heard, recognized and grow.
You can ask questions to understand
what processes your reps follow,
as well as what issues they face on the job.
Some questions you can ask are,
what is the biggest obstacle you face to selling new deals?
This question reveals operational issues
your reps might face and what roadblocks stand in their way.
Another question, name one part of your process
that is working well and one that is not.
Give your reps a chance to point out something
that is holding them back, and a chance to highlight
what's working well for them.
If a rep describes an obstacle like it can't be overcome,
it might be an issue with that rep
or there might be a broader morale problem
affecting the whole team.
Either way, you should take immediate action to solve it.
Another question.
What are your best and worst sales opportunities?
This question lets you know
where your sales reps are focusing their efforts.
As a manager, you need to know that your reps are aligned
with the overall strategy.
Here's a good question.
Name one accomplishment that you're proud of.
This will help you understand what's important to your reps,
and give them a chance to talk about it.
Remember that effective feedback is always objective.
All feedback should be free of individual opinions,
personal feelings or hearsay.
It's also specific and only addresses the issue at hand
and it should be constructive.
Also, always discuss the how.
Don't just complain to your reps
about why they're not doing well enough.
When your spouse or a close friend complains
about something, they might not want a solution.
They might just want empathy.
But your reps are not your spouse or your buddy.
Give your reps actionable steps on how to do something
and explain the value and what you hope
the results would be.
Help them visualize with real examples
what they'll accomplish with the actionable points
that you give them.
It'll make them feel more motivated
to implement your feedback in their selling process.
Feedback should also be timely.
Negative behaviors should be called out
before they spread across the entire team.
You'll never regret addressing problems in real time
as you've seen them.
Giving positive feedback with specific suggestions
of things your reps can change to improve performance
is relatively important.
It's even more important and more difficult
to address issues like low performance,
or a bad attitude towards customers or coworkers.
In those situations, be proactive
and address them right away
before they become a bigger problem.
And don't forget, set clear deadlines
for your reps to implement your feedback.
This makes it easier to set goals
and keep track of improvements.
Now, drop a feedback plan for your team,
including a meeting schedule, and three key questions
to ask your reps during feedback sessions.
By doing this, you'll lead your reps to being their best.