In our Smart Managing course, we often hear managers say, “He is good.” What does it mean when a manager says he or she is good?

You have probably heard the story about the sales person who made 99 calls in one day to prospects. She said she would have made 100, but the last prospect wanted to know what she sold.

Quantity expectations versus quality probably underscores a common weakness of sales managers. They want quantity and assume quality. If one were to ask sales managers about the standards that they use to measure their people, the answers would probably be astounding. It is important to measure results, not effort. Who cares how many people are called? Successful results are what is important.

The person who really suffers by a lack of measurable standards is the sales person, not the manager. How can one tell if she or he is doing a good job without knowing the way the job is measured? When performance assessment is impacted by personal feelings, some people may be judged harshly while the failure of others is overlooked.

At Sales Concepts, we have seven assessed dimensions that we believe must be considered when measuring success. These seven are:

• Sales Ability/Persuasiveness
  
• Tenacity/Persistence
  
• Planning/Organization
  
• Gaining Commitment/Closing
  
• Negotiating/Selling Value
  
• Communication/People Skills
  
• Being Customer Oriented versus Self Oriented

Measuring these seven assessed dimensions is not easy. The manager must come up with questions that measure each of these dimensions and then decide how to measure the results. We can be of help if you would like.

8 Recommendations for the Manager ... by Don Sharp

Performance Appraisals ... by Sherrie Butler

Sales People Are Not Always What They Seem ... by Arlan Heiser

The Effective Leader-It Could Be You ... by Mark Duley

Advice to my Manager

Plan Successful Meetings ... by Don Sharp