- Before we begin this course,
it's a good idea to get on the same page
as it pertains to management style and philosophy.
Each of us has developed
our own methods of managing our teams
or if we're new to a leadership position,
establishing a foundation of techniques to use.
I've always believed that the most effective approach
is to gather the best practices
from a variety of people and sources.
I then customize it to fit
my personality and management style.
There are so many great books on management,
seminars you can take
and also courses right here in the library for you to watch.
This holds true for performance measurement
and reporting too.
There's not perfect plan for each of us to follow
or a format that works for every organization.
What you need to do is develop the process
that works best for you and the company,
and frankly, most importantly,
for each salesperson you work with.
For me, I've looked at performance management
in three broad categories,
coaching and training, personal objectives, and financial.
So with this course, everything you may hear
may not be exactly how you want to follow it for yourself,
but it's my hope that it triggers you to think more,
evaluate how you're handling performance measurement now,
and enhance your existing reporting
and evaluation methods.
However, performance measurement should be a process
focused on improving each individual and our sales teams.
It must be viewed positively
and be a part of our overall coaching
and training responsibilities, too.
The terminology for this course is straightforward,
but here are three that I want to define in greater detail.
Sales performance management is the ongoing process
of communication between a sales manager and their reports.
It should occur throughout the year,
in support of accomplishing
the strategic objectives of the organization.
It involves monitoring and guiding the staff
to improve their ability to sell products or services.
Sales performance measurement is the regular review
and analysis of outcomes and results
focused on the key performance indicators or KPIs.
The KPIs are measurable values
that demonstrate how effectively a sales person
and sales department is achieving their critical objectives.
Sales performance reporting is the
collecting of sales information,
leads and opportunity updates, forecasts,
and actual results for distribution
to various stake holders, as determined by management.
Over the past number of years,
the tools that we have at our disposal,
to evaluate sales performance and report on it,
have improved dramatically.
Account tracking systems,
along with revenue and expense reports,
continue to become much more user friendly and detailed.
However, even with the best systems,
it does come back to you as a leader,
and how you're using these tools.
All of this enhanced information, now available,
must be used to develop, coach, and train sales teams
with the objective of improving everyone's performance.