A Method For The Assessment Of The Sales Team
Regularly assessing whether the sales team requires support in the form of sales training is vital to sales success
. Indeed, experienced sales managers find it inconceivable that any sales manager would attempt to manage their sales department without such information. Regular assessments that identify gaps in performance and working behaviour can pick up changes in performance that are the early indicators of a need to re-train the sales person.
In practice, there are various different methods that can be used, each with different advantages and disadvantages. If you use an assessment system based on indicators such as turnover in pounds or market share, for example, there is the danger that the figures are often influenced by other determinants which your salespeople cannot control. This can then jeopardise the assessment as a whole.
Effective assessment systems are neutral. It should be carried out on a regular basis, so that the assessment is not based on individual snapshots, and it must take into consideration every area in which the salespeople are able to prove their abilities. Areas to include are product knowledge, self and work organisation, selling techniques and development of personal traits. Finally, a proper assessment system should only test things that can be measured, counted, observed and described and, whatever system is used, it must be fully understood by every salesperson.
Assessment systems that fulfill the above criteria should also evaluate each individual criteria according to its importance to the company's success i.e important factors have a greater influence and less important factors are accorded less influence in the overall assessment process.
E. Gnuschke, a sales expert, has developed an approach to testing which meets these requirements. Details of his approach to sales force evaluation to objectively determine sales training needs are described below.
The first step in the process is to set the test criteria. These criteria should be selected so that they are appropriate to your company. A few examples are provided below to give you a starting point for developing your own company-specific test criteria.
Product knowledge: Can the sales person describe the uses of the products they sell and put forward a financial justification for purchase? Does the salesperson know the references for most product categories in small, medium-sized and large companies?
Work organisation: Does the salesperson work out a travel itinerary which allows him to visit as many clients in as little time as possible? Does the salesperson have different systems of acquiring new clients?
Sales technique: Does the salesperson lead the sales discussion? Can routine customer objections be countered by the sales person?
Personality development: What steps does the sales person take to improve their personal presentation to customers? Is the sales person honest and reliable?
Once you have identified the assessment criteria you will need to expand the check list. To do this you will have to formulate all the criteria you have set down in every area in a way that is appropriate for every salesperson. You also need to incorporate particular 'emphases'.
For example "I know the advantages and disadvantages of our XY machine uses perfectly (1), almost perfectly (2), more or less (3), half and half (4), in individual cases (5), really not at all (6)."
The test should not put any pressure on your salespeople to give the "right" answer: If the assessment is going to be useful it must be an honest evaluation.
In order to evaluate the individual criteria according to their importance to the company's success, it is best to use a multiplier where, for example, a multiplier of 3 used for very important criteria, 2 for important criteria, and 1 for less important criteria. Thus for a given criteria the total score awarded would be the salespersons assessment of their ability (1 to 6) multiplied by the multiplier (3 to 1).
The next step is to fill in the check list. To do this, you should meet with each sales person individually and work through all the assessment questions. The salesperson should assess him/her self and you should discuss their assessment and agree the final score. If you cannot decide on a classification, go with the salesperson's assessment. After the check list has been completed you should make time to observe the salesperson. Jointly completeing the assessment with your sales person and then going out on site visits to observe them and encouraging discussion will allow you to identify genuine weak points in their performance.
After the assessment, decide the measures the sales person should or could take to work on the weaknessess identified. You will find it beneficial to re-do the assessment at regular intervals.
Carrying out an assessment system like this on your salespeople can only succeed if the salesperson being tested has faith in the test and is not afraid of negative consequences. Great tact and diplomacy are required when dealing with the test results. The test should not be used as a means of putting pressure on the salesperson; it should be solely used as a way of increasing the salesperson's ability and success by identifying any sales training needs.
by: Richard Stone
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