My personal experience is that setting goals, objectives and doing performance reviews short shrift in most organizations. People dread the process, the extra work, and view it as outside the normal business planning an execution. And with respect to salespeople, a sales commission plan is already performance based so why burden them with more expectations. If this is your experience, you can stop reading now.
My view is quite the opposite – for three reasons. First, it always pays to think things through before you expend valuable resources. Second, team behaviors and attitudes are as important to manage as results. Third, salespeople need feedback, encouragement, and adjustment.
Sales Plans
Let us start with sales territory planning. One of my pet peeves is a salesperson who is just “winging it.” When a salesperson gets a number, they need to spend time thinking through and writing down the activities necessary to achieving it. The need to state their assumptions. They need to write Sales Action Plans. For mature organizations, staffed with pros, this is not a big revelation. But again, I have on many occasions worked in companies where salespeople do not plan, measure, or report on activities. While a CRM is helpful it is not sufficient. All seems fine when things are going well, but when the pipelines dry up there is no Plan B. A written sales plan provides fodder for discussion and setting goals and objectives for subsequent evaluation. Activity objectives should be documented, reviewed, and discussed quarterly. Does it take extra time and effort? Yes. But running and gunning is a risky alternative.
Demonstrated Attitudes and Behaviors
Next, let us address attitudes and behaviors. I tell my team that their attitude and behaviors account for 50% of their performance review. Is it possible to have a top performing salesperson who exhibits corrosive behavior and attitudes? Oh yeah. Despite their strong individual performance, could they be costing the company money in lost sales and other inefficiencies? Absolutely. Do top salespeople get fired for that reason? Rarely. Should they get fired? You bet.
I believe Culture eats Strategy for breakfast. I have examples where good salespeople, but bad actors were fired, and team’s attitude and productivity greatly improved as a result. Within the broader organization, salespeople may be viewed as “special” class. Asking those outside of sales for their feedback is a good normative step. Focusing on attitudes and behavior made my management job easier, and it is easier than setting other performance objectives.
Performance Review
Establishing a regular feedback routine is important. If you write weak goals and objectives feedback is harder. With salespeople goals and objectives can be and should be written simply – “In addition to achieving quota, you need to accomplish these 2 to 3 activities.” There should be a 10- to 30-minute check in April, July, October, and January. You might even create a scorecard and provide a grade – it makes it clear where the salesperson stands. There is nothing worse than getting to the end of the year and unloading on an employee for a full year of performance. Nobody’s memory is that good, and there should be no surprises at the end of year review.
So, I encourage you to take the extra time to commit to your employees. Your example of preparation and attention to them sets a performance bar for them. And believe me, things will run smoother. Do not wait for December and January. Start now.
