Sales Manager Evaluation Sheet. How is a sales manager evaluated? What do we risk if we make a mistake at the interview stage and take the wrong manager

The profit of the company depends, among other things, on the efficiency of the sales department. This means that it is necessary to analyze the work in order to obtain reliable information about the activity, evaluate the marketing plan, and determine whether employees are competent.

What indicators should be taken into account? What is more important - quantitative or qualitative parameters? This and much more will be discussed in this article.

Features of sales monitoring

An accurate analysis of the functioning of the sales department involves the processing of both quantitative and qualitative indicators. At the same time, it is necessary to consider the work of the department as a whole, as well as the activities and competencies of each employee individually.

Of great importance is the systematic and regularity of analytical work. Of course, if the level of sales is stable and only goes up, then the study can be carried out less frequently, but this does not mean that it should not be carried out at all.

If the specifics of the business is such that this direction is associated with constant changes in the market for products or services, the introduction of innovations, then one cannot doze off here, and the analysis of the work and efficiency of the department should be carried out even more often.

To reveal the full picture, it is necessary to evaluate quantitative and qualitative indicators.

Quantitative indicators

Here the research goes in several directions:

• orders;
• contacts with buyers and clients;
• sales of products.

Revealed:

• sales volumes of the department (in general);
• sales volume specifically for each employee;
• volume of orders for a certain period;
• the number of new buyers and customers;
• the level of sales of products or the provision of services to new customers, buyers.

Be sure to examine the number of contacts with consumers, the number of contacts per actual and per potential customer. It also collects data on the number of lost and regular customers, reveals information in numbers on the number of customers with whom it was not possible to establish cooperation or conclude a deal during the reporting period. It would be nice to reveal the figures for the average check of purchases of one client.

Information must be entered into tables, it is desirable to make uniform forms so that the reports are unified and easy to process.

Qualitative indicators

This level is already determined by the method of observation, some figures are also analyzed so that, by comparing everything, it is possible to draw some conclusions.

Directions of monitoring:

• The employee understands all the needs of the client (the ability to find a common language with the client, the right approaches to various categories of consumers is revealed).
• Experience and skills (what methods of providing information to buyers and clients are used by employees, how it works with objections, how it completes an already established contact - ideally this should end with a sale).
• Awareness and competence of employees in their field of sales (the level of knowledge about their products, about the goods and services of competitors, the ability to demonstrate and present goods of services in a favorable light, attractive to buyers).
• Organization of work (organization of work for the day, planning and development of routes in time, the ability to conduct introspection, identify their own shortcomings and the ability to correct them and exclude them from activities).

You can draw up a certain model of competencies that a sales employee should have, where there may be such provisions:

• preparation for contact with the client;
• skills to identify customer needs;
• product demonstration and presentation skills;
• ability to provide value, benefits and competitive advantages;
• ability to work with excuses, refusals, objections, doubts from customers;
• skills to form the required level of customer loyalty;
• the ability to talk about competitors.

The assessment of these competencies can be carried out by points (the scale must be developed in advance).

The results of the analysis of these indicators can be presented in different versions. Here are the main ones:

• High quantitative achievements and low qualitative ones (conclusion: more attention should be paid to training employees, improving their skills, familiarizing themselves with the main goals and activities of the company).
• Low quantitative achievements and high quality ones (it is necessary to adjust the work with establishing contacts, determine priority areas for product sales, analyze the reasons for the decline in sales).
• All indicators are low (conversations with staff, professional retraining of employees, training, if they do not want to learn and improve their level, they are dismissed and recruited new ones).
• All indicators are high (bonuses, encouragement, praise, promotion).

Monitoring: main stages

All of the above procedures economic analysis are carried out in stages. At a certain stage, specific data are studied, and here one cannot do without numbers. What points should be paid attention to?

• Data collection (in order to conduct an analysis, you need to collect reliable and accurate data, which will be the key to obtaining an accurate result).
• Quantitative indicators of the company's activity is a study of the growth rate of income, profit in general, as well as by groups of goods. Do not forget about the products that are offered on credit, here you also need to evaluate performance indicators.
• It is important to evaluate the profitability of sales. It is necessary to determine the profitability for each group of goods, which will make it possible to identify the most profitable, and then pay special attention to its implementation. Also, this analysis makes it possible to find out which product will be the most unprofitable and, accordingly, remove it or change something in the offer. Properly performed analysis of profitability of sales will reveal competitive advantages companies, firms, which is very important for the subsequent development.
• Do not forget about the assessment of the critical volume of sales. The indicator provides information on how much goods the company must sell at a minimum in order to cover the costs incurred. In practice, this is done when launching sales of a new type of product or service.

A correct and timely assessment of the effectiveness of the sales department allows you to identify all the shortcomings in the company's work, positive aspects, adjust the main areas of activity and identify new ones.

Hello, friends! Have you ever thought that almost any area of ​​business is sales. Every minute of its existence, any company strives to increase profits. This is achieved through the sale of goods, services, products, information - you can sell everything! To evaluate the effectiveness of sales, you must use the KPI for the sales manager. It is on the effectiveness of the work of managers that depends on how successfully and quickly the company is increasing its momentum.

Today I will tell:

• why implement KPI system for managers;
• what indicators should be assessed in the first place;
• how to organize the effective work of the sales department;
• how to control the results;
• how to evaluate the results obtained.

What is KPI in sales department

KPI are key performance indicators that are designed to serve the achievement of the strategic goals of the organization.

This system is very effective and has been used in the West for a long time. It came to us, like everything else, relatively recently, but has already managed to gain great popularity due to the impressive results achieved from its use.

This mechanism can be applied to various divisions organizations such as HR department, quality control department, development department and so on. We will talk about KPI for salespeople.

First of all, we note that the most global indicator is the money that a manager brings to his company. However, not all so simple. This fundamental factor can be made up of various key indicators. Below we will consider the most important of them.

Why implement a KPI system for a sales manager

Sales managers are not a position where you can just sit out working hours and not worry about wages. This profession requires great dynamics from a person, speed of decision-making and does not tolerate laziness at all.

Implementation of the system allows:

1. motivate the employee to achieve the set goals;
2. establish the relationship between the formed plan and the real state of affairs at each moment of time;
3. see the results of your work.

The most important KPIs for a sales manager

The specialist must be evaluated according to various key indicators. Below I will list the most significant of them.

No. 1 Profit brought to the company

As noted above, profit is the most key and important factor in evaluating the work of a manager.

It is worth examining this concept in more detail.

If you have read an article about KPIs in online marketing, you should remember that profit does not equal revenue.

Profit= Revenue received - (Product cost + Any additional costs)

At the same time, from the same revenue, the profit can be completely different.

For example: one employee managed to sell products for the same amount as another. At the same time, the first one spent 20% less money on additional costs. It is logical that the company received a large profit. Therefore, the KPI of the first employee is also higher.

#2 Average deal value

It is also called the average check. The indicator directly affects the enrichment of the company.

Two employees can make the same number of transactions per month. Average check one will be an order of magnitude higher than the other. Thus, there is no need to talk about the same efficiency - after all, the income from the sale of one of the managers will be greater.

Average cost is best measured when a sufficiently large number of trades have taken place. Then the picture will be more accurate.

#3 Number of attracted potential customers

The KPI system for sales managers also includes such an indicator as expanding the customer base. Attracting potential customers and working with them plays an important role in the process of selling products.

Performance is taken into account. That is: the first - the contact must take place, the second - the contact must have a result.

The indicator will consist of the number of effective contacts and the actual replenishment of the base of potential customers.

#4 Converting Leads into Buyers

Example: You've interviewed 1,000 potential customers and presented them with a sales proposal. 54 customers agreed to purchase and asked to be invoiced. Then the conversion is: 54/1000 * 100% = 5.4%.

A specialist with a higher percentage has a higher indicator.

#5 Accounts receivable

Selling is not all a manager needs to know. It is very important to receive payment from the client.

In practice, things with payment do not always go as smoothly as you want. Therefore, the employee must competently and timely contact the client, diplomatically, but persistently forcing him to pay.

When the reporting period approaches, this factor is seriously taken into account. After all, the company does not benefit from unpaid bills.

#6 Number of Repeat Trades

It takes into account repeat business with existing customers.

Everyone knows that old customers are more loyal, easier to sell and more willing to spend large sums.

Working with the existing customer base should be no less a priority than finding new customers. Therefore, this KPI is also of great importance.

Organization of an effective sales department

If a Chief's KPI of the sales team is high, then most likely, he will be able to contribute to the improvement of key indicators in his subordinates.

In addition to the fact that sellers should be selected energetic, ambitious and stress-resistant, you should properly organize the workflow.

Within the department, a regulated schedule and certain rules must be observed.

Managers must be fluent in sales scripts and repeat them daily. If the employee of the department does not know the scripts, then it is not worth allowing him to the phone until the scripts are learned.

A person needs to understand that the time spent on studying is directly proportional to the decrease in his personal income. The more profit the manager was able to bring to the firm, the stronger he will grow. wage in the current month.

In addition, the actions (or inactions) of the employee must be recorded and monitored. It is not enough to simply report the calls made. The result for each of them should be displayed.

In the control process are simply irreplaceable CRM systems which are increasingly used in enterprises.

Every day at a certain time, the manager must send a report on the work done.

The system of adaptation of the sales manager should occupy a special place in the company. Newly hired employees can be good professionals, but a new place of work always has its own nuances that you should get used to. The faster the company manages to adapt a new specialist, the faster he will bring her profit.

KPIs for sales managers should also be calculated and evaluated along with the indicators of managers.

Examples of KPIs for a sales manager could be sales revenue, new channel sales, external customer satisfaction, and more.

Remember, each manager may have his own sales plan, but the KPI requirement should be the same for everyone.

Do not set a key indicator of less than 10%.

And one more piece of advice in conclusion. To motivate an employee to work more productively, introduce him to the formula according to which his salary is calculated.

Bonus Formula= Salary (main part) + % of turnover *(KPI1*KPI1 weight + KPI2*KPI2 weight + KPI2*KPI2 weight);

Each indicator has its own weight.

Example: KPI1 – fulfillment of the sales plan has a weight equal to 50%

Sales less than 50% = 0

from 51-89% = 0.5

The plan was completed by 60%,

then the weight of KPI1*KPI1 = 50% *0.5.

Knowing the weight of each key indicator and the percentage of completion, you can easily calculate the amount of bonuses.

Seeing clearly how much you can get by working efficiently, the employee will have a good incentive.

On this optimistic note, I will end today's post.

Implement KPI for the sales manager and let everyone benefit from it.

Effective sales management of any company is impossible without constant and comprehensive attention to the work of sales managers. The success of salespeople is one of the main components of good company sales. However, in modern companies it is not uncommon for sales managers to be left to their own devices. No one sets them any tasks (except, perhaps, the fulfillment of a certain sales plan), no one controls how efficiently their work is organized, no one gives them feedback about the quality of their work. Of course, this speaks, first of all, of the low level of management of the sales department, on the one hand, and the weak support from the company's personnel service, on the other. The task of the head of the sales department is to clearly set tasks for sales managers and monitor their implementation. The task of the personnel service is to provide the head of the sales department with methodological support, tools for working with personnel. One of these sales management tools is a comprehensive assessment of sales managers in terms of quantitative and qualitative indicators, which will be discussed in this article.

To begin with, let's remember what the essence of the term "assessment" is.

Evaluation is the process of determining the effectiveness of employees' activities to achieve goals, which allows obtaining information for making further management decisions.

The concept of evaluation includes the study of an employee in a number of ways:

• performance results;
• features of behavior;
• performance official duties;
• level of competence;
• personal characteristics.

Thus, a comprehensive assessment is an assessment of all the listed parameters. However, that's not all. The complexity of evaluating sales managers also lies in the fact that all of the above parameters are evaluated from several positions: "from the inside" (by managers, managers) and "from the outside" (by the company's clients and, if necessary, involved experts), using various methods.

In addition, to ensure the complexity of the assessment, it should be carried out both in terms of quantitative and qualitative indicators. Consider what quantitative and qualitative indicators are suitable for evaluating sales managers:

• consolidated sales volume of the manager (total sales volume for a certain period, the assessment period must correspond to the planning period);
• sales volume segmented on various grounds (by groups of goods (services), by customer groups, by sales territory, by payment terms);
• sales dynamics for a certain period (month, quarter, year);
• increase (or decrease) in the number of clients - a general indicator and indicators for individual groups of clients;
• expansion of customer orders - sales dynamics to regular customers;
• average price (size) of the transaction;
• accounts receivable, including overdue receivables;
• indicators of participation in the shares of the company; the number of products sold, for which sales tasks have been set (for example, as part of the "product of the month" promotion or promotions for the sale of "hanging" goods) and others.

Please note that the assessment indicators directly follow from the company's goals for the current period, as well as from the employee's job responsibilities. Therefore, in order to select adequate (but not excessive, as this makes the assessment heavy and does not work well) quantitative indicators, it is necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of the company's goals and the goals of the department that follow from them. And also take into account the indicators recorded in normative documents relating to the activities of a sales manager (job descriptions, standards, work regulations).

Obviously, the assessment of sales managers in terms of quantitative indicators is an assessment “from the inside”. It can be carried out by the head of the sales department, it can be fully automated within the framework of the implemented CRM - system (Customer Relationship Management - customer relationship management). The evaluation method will be the analysis of all of the above indicators.

Regarding quantitative indicators, it is important to remember the following: total sales, as well as some other indicators, depend not only on sales managers, but also on the work of the entire company as a whole. A simple example that is typical for many companies: The client sends a fax with some request for the sales department, the secretary receives it and ... forgets to send ... or ... it is received by the one who was closest to the fax and ... leaves it on the table, and the secretary who comes decides that someone forgot it the document ... therefore, it (the document) is of no value and ... throws it away. Therefore, this alone (sales volume) or another quantitative indicator is clearly not enough for a comprehensive assessment of managers. On the other hand, the number of indicators greater than 5 drastically reduces the value of the evaluation procedure itself, since it takes too much time to calculate and analyze it, and feedback on the results of the evaluation is only useful when it is provided promptly.

If the fulfillment of quantitative indicators to a greater extent affects the economic results of the company, then the fulfillment of qualitative indicators also affects the image of the company, its reputation. For example, a sales manager shows good results in terms of quantitative indicators, but at the same time is constantly late for meetings and forgets to complete documents on time. Clients tolerate this (for the time being), this does not affect the volume of their purchases, but satisfaction with working with this manager is gradually falling. Accordingly, the attitude towards the manager is transferred to the attitude towards the whole company.

Also, the evaluation by qualitative indicators makes it possible to assess the potential of a manager, possible ways of his professional and career development. In addition, there are also relationships in the team, with colleagues in the department and employees of other departments. It also makes sense to evaluate it, since the effectiveness of communications, loyalty to the company, the desire to solve problems, and not look for excuses, also directly affects the activities of the entire company as a whole.

Consider the qualitative indicators by which it makes sense to evaluate sales managers:

1. Competencies (business, professional quality). Competency assessment allows you to identify strengths and weak sides employees, select the necessary training programs for them, determine the prospects for further development.
2. Satisfaction of customers with the activities of the sales manager. Customer satisfaction assessment is necessary for timely corrective actions, for correcting the behavior of the manager, as well as for developing comprehensive programs to increase customer loyalty.
3. Awareness of customers about new products and changes in the company. Informing the client directly affects the volume of his purchases. It often happens that a client would gladly buy certain goods (and buys them elsewhere), but simply does not suspect such a possibility.
4. The level of performance discipline. By performance discipline, we mean the absence of being late for work and meetings, the absence of leaving work ahead of time, and the fulfillment of assignments on time. The discipline of the manager directly affects the image of the company. In one company, a senior manager allowed himself to come to work when it was convenient for him. As a result, in order to contact him, customers had to call the company 2-3 times, wasting time and nerves. Failure to complete orders on time can lead to a decrease in the company's reputation and to direct losses. Often we have to observe something like the following situation. The company receives a request from a client. The head of the department promises the client that the manager will contact him, find out all the details, and within three days prepare offer. Then the leader gives the manager the appropriate assignment. The manager does not call the client, but sends a commercial offer a week later. Naturally, by this time, the client, without waiting for a call, decides that the company is not interested in this and turns to another place where his request is fulfilled more accurately. As a result, the client is lost.
5. Compliance with the rules, norms and procedures of the company (fixed in corporate documents, as well as reporting and service interoperability standards). Regulatory documents are developed in order to increase the efficiency of work and interaction between company departments. Due to the inconsistency of actions in companies, duplication of functions quite often occurs, or vice versa, some important types of work are not done at all. In order to increase work productivity, which directly affects the cost of products or services, various regulations and standards are being developed. If the manager does not consider it necessary to follow them, then he thereby harms the company, since his actions reduce the productivity of the entire company, and also corrupt the atmosphere in the team. When someone does not follow the rules (quite often pointedly), it provokes other workers to do the same.
6. Loyalty of the sales manager to the company. Loyalty almost always affects the work of an employee. A loyal employee tries to do his job as best as possible, strives to achieve results, and not just “serve” the allotted time at work, is not indifferent to problems, tries to creatively approach their solution, and in general is rooting for the cause. All this, of course, affects the results of his work. Loyalty of an employee is influenced by many factors: satisfaction with one's work, its content, a sense of fair remuneration, relationships in the team, trust in management, recognition of the employee's merits, and much more. Most of these factors are modifiable, so it is important to monitor them in order to notice symptoms of trouble in time and take action.
7. Features of employee motivation. It is important for the head of the department to know what are stimulating factors for his subordinates, and what does not affect the results of work in any way. And for different employees it can be completely different factors. For some, the main thing is money, all other incentives are simply not perceived. For someone, money is important, but only if the team has a good atmosphere and its merits are appreciated. And for someone it is very important to gain experience and make a career. And it is very important for the manager to understand what each of his employees “breathes”, because only then he will be able to somehow influence them. Therefore, the assessment of the characteristics of motivation is important as a tool for personnel management in the case of building a motivation system, and for career development, and in general for improving the efficiency of the department.
8. Cooperation, establishing productive relationships with other departments. The head of the department needs to understand how his employees are able and willing to establish good relationships with other departments. It is not uncommon for sales managers to perceive themselves as some kind of elite unit, in front of which everyone must "walk on their hind legs." Other departments have to put up with it. But if such a situation has developed, sooner or later the moment will come when the sales department (or some of its employees) will need help and assistance. And then other departments will repay past grievances in full.

To assess quality indicators, internal reserves can be involved, as a rule, the assessment can be carried out by the head of the sales department, heads and managers of "related" departments. However, the external evaluation is no less interesting. External evaluation can be carried out by the company's clients, as well as by invited experts. It makes sense to involve external experts to assess such parameters as the satisfaction of the sales manager with the activities in the company; level of competence development; features of motivation; structure of relationships with colleagues; general loyalty.

Consider the main methods for assessing quality indicators.

• Personality questionnaires allow for assessment a large number employees and obtain in a quantitative and descriptive form the results of the assessment of both personality traits and competencies, which is especially important for large companies. Quantitative results allow you to compare employees among themselves on certain qualities. This assessment method is most appropriate for conducting annual certification, where it is necessary to assess the level of competence of employees and outline a professional development plan for them. Questionnaires are appropriate to use to form a reserve for leadership positions, as well as when holding internal competitions for a certain position
• Ability tests allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of a person in a certain type of activity (analysis of numerical, verbal, technical information, speed of reaction, attention to detail). The advantages of this method are the speed of implementation (from 10 minutes), the possibility of evaluating a large number of employees and obtaining quantitative results. The reliability of the forecast in this case depends on the accuracy of determining the key abilities required for a particular position and the choice of tests for their assessment.
• Professional tests are developed for a specific position and test key knowledge and skills for it. They can be created by the immediate supervisor to evaluate the employees of their department, as well as external experts from consulting companies, specialized specialists from other organizations.
• The competency interview is a structured conversation aimed at obtaining detailed description real work situations that a person has encountered in his professional activity. The advantage of this method lies in the fact that interview questions are easily "adjusted" to the set of competencies required for assessment. An example of questions and possible answers is provided in the Appendix (inset).
• 360-degree assessment is the acquisition of data about a person’s actions in real work situations and about the qualities he shows from people who interact with him (from bosses, colleagues, subcontractors, subordinates, clients). Obtaining information from different sources makes this method quite reliable.
• Profile business cases are an example of a typical work situation in which key qualities and competencies for a given position should be manifested and evaluated. A business case is a task with many unknowns: it contains information that the assessee must study and make a specific decision; there are actors who are also involved in this situation (the subject must interact with them). The role of additional heroes in a business case can be played by work colleagues or employees of the HR department. The accuracy of the choice of a typical work situation and a professionally created business case determine the reliability of the forecast when using this method.
• An assessment center is a combination of various listed methods for assessing not individual competencies, but a set of them, as a key one for a given group of positions or for the company as a whole. This method is considered one of the most predictive, since a person in many situations is evaluated by several specialists. Its accuracy is primarily determined by how correctly the key competencies, as well as the quality of the cases developed for their assessment and the professionalism of the assessors.
• Evaluation by KPI (Key Performance Indicators) is the most formalized method for evaluating the performance of employees. This method makes sense to use in large and highly developed companies (those companies where management by objectives is implemented, company goals are developed, plans are drawn up and reports are prepared both at the level of the company as a whole and for each department and specialist). It requires a well-developed methodology for identifying KPIs and, preferably, automation of the assessment. In order for this type of assessment to really work not only for monitoring results, but also for improving the efficiency of employees, it must, on the one hand, take into account the strategic goals of the company, and on the other hand, be clear and understandable for each employee.
• Customer surveys. A survey of customer satisfaction with cooperation with the company shows, among other things, how competently the manager builds relationships with customers, whether he knows his needs, whether he informs about new products in time, whether he tries to expand cooperation. Customer surveys are best entrusted to an adjacent division of the company (for example, the marketing department) or outsourced experts. Also, the head of the sales department can from time to time selectively call the clients of his subordinates and informally find out their opinion about cooperation with the company and a specific manager.
• Mystery Shopper. Quality assessment method services and external communications of the company. This method allows you to evaluate the quality of the work of sales personnel and is a process in which the controller, under the guise of a buyer, makes a purchase of goods. The agent, on the basis of a pre-compiled report template, generates a contact card in hot pursuit, subjectively evaluates the most significant characteristics and expresses his private opinion. The SQI (Service Quality Index) methodology used for this makes it possible to compare the quality of customer service in any organizations operating in the market using a single set of key factors. consumer goods and services. The quality of service is evaluated according to the following criteria:
  • appearance (shop, salon)
  • convenience of obtaining information
  • appearance of store employees
  • establishing contact (client meeting)
  • identification of needs
  • product presentation
  • answers to questions and objections
  • end contact
  • time expenditure
  • attitude towards the client
  • subjective assessment of the sales floor employee

What can be the subject of evaluation by the Mystery Shopper method for sales managers:

Subject of assessment	What is assessed
telephone communication	The level of corporate culture, the availability of communication standards, the ability of employees to use telephone communication techniques are measured
Internet - communication	As a rule, the information content and speed of responses to visitor requests left on a web page or sent by e-mail are measured.
Checking sellers for honesty	Suppose the company's management suspects that one of the employees is dishonest, but do not know how to catch him at the "scene of the crime."
Sales promotions	For example, a "mystery shopper" asks the seller for a certain type of product, without specifying a specific trademark, and fixes what the seller will offer him. If he recommends a brand promoted as part of the promotion, the "mystery shopper" reveals himself and gives the seller a prize (cash, gift).
Competitor analysis	Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of your company in relation to competing companies. One application form is used. The evaluation parameters can be: the level of service, prices, assortment and availability of goods in the warehouse, the system for working with wholesale buyers, the convenience of making a purchase, the quality of sales staff, etc. Data on competitors are compared with data on the company, and based on this information, a conclusion is made about the reserves for the development of sales managers

All this complex of works is focused on:

• Evaluation of the company's personnel in terms of compliance with regulations, their implementation and viability.
• Assessment of the level of competence and awareness of personnel.
• An assessment of how sales managers ensure the desired image of the company (including if agents visit not only "their own" but also competing companies, forming a comparative profile of the main players in the local market).
• Evaluation of the integrity of employees.

So, why do we need a comprehensive assessment of sales managers? In addition to the most common assessment goals (such as current motivation of salespeople, career advancement, training referral), the results of a comprehensive assessment of sales managers allow:

• Assess the level of professionalism of employees, outline comprehensive measures to improve it. For example, the Program for the Development of the Professionalism of Sales Managers may include: conducting general training of the department, personal coaching with some employees and supervision with others, appointing mentors, introducing the necessary regulation, improving forms of control, holding round tables to exchange views.
• Redistribute the human resources of the sales department depending on the complexity of the tasks and, accordingly, the required skill level.
• Make adjustments to the system of motivation for sales managers, based on an understanding of the situation in the team, the motives of employees and the goals of the company.
• Make adjustments to training programs, bring them closer to the specifics of the work of the department and the characteristics of specific managers.
• Develop special employee loyalty programs.
• Outline measures to improve performance discipline.
• identify flaws in organizational structure company and horizontal communications.
• Identify managerial problems hindering the development of the company.

It is very important to understand that the set of quantitative and qualitative indicators in each case will be different. There is no standard set of indicators that can be used in any company. Each company has its own characteristics, its own goals and objectives, its own problems, and the evaluation of sales managers, respectively, in each company pursues its own goals. The set of indicators depends on the objectives of the assessment and therefore each company should develop it for itself. Naturally, some blanks can be used for this. Let's take a look at some of the most common assessment goals and which indicators and methods for assessing them are more appropriate based on them.

The goal is to move up the career ladder. There are two options here:

Option one.

We make the "best" salesperson "frightened" or "leading" in order to fix his status, increase the size of the fixed part of the salary, which should be evidence of recognition of his achievements. In this case, quantitative performance indicators are more important. Special attention you need to pay attention to the stability of sales dynamics, the absence of overdue receivables. Of the qualitative indicators, it makes sense to evaluate the sales manager's loyalty to the organization, the structure of his motivation, since the step taken is motivational. However, even if all the indicators suit you, take your time, talk to the manager about the conditions on which you are ready to promote him in the position, especially to increase his “fixing”. Perhaps this will be an increase in sales (either aggregate or by separate category product, or for a selected customer sector), perhaps it will be working with illiquid assets on conditions that are interesting for the manager and for the company - that is, some additional functions that will “pay off” the new appointment. It is possible to stipulate some intermediate results, in which the position is first changed, and then, after reaching certain indicators, the salary.

The second option is under the career development goal.

We want to determine which of the sales managers can become the head of the sales department. In this case, more interesting for us will be qualitative indicators - competencies, and the priority will be managerial competencies, the level of their development. These competencies should be assessed internal forces(for example, as part of a 360-degree assessment), and with the involvement of external resources: independent experts, less often - clients. At the same time, quantitative indicators can be at a stable average level, which will indicate that the employee understands the goals, objectives, and priorities of the company's work in the field of sales. Having assessed the managerial potential, do not forget that a good leader must be cultivated. It is necessary to put in front of him, and preferably together with him, a system of goals for the entire sales department, teach him to delegate individual tasks. Otherwise, the company may suffer from the “loss” of a stable salesperson without getting a worthy leader. Unfortunately, very often in companies the appointment of a leader from the best sellers is practiced. Why "Unfortunately? You cannot think that the most successful sales manager can become a good leader. It is important to look at and evaluate managerial competencies, and not professional ones. As a result, even if a specialist has a good motivation for professional growth, he remains for a very long time just a “manager - the best seller”, often (due to the desire to prove that he is worthy of the title of leader) pulling out the department only through his own sales. It is unlikely that this is the result that the company wants to get as a result career advancement employee.

The goal is to plan training for sales staff.

Quite often, sales managers attribute insufficient sales to the lack of proper qualifications of managers. To solve the problem, they order sales training and say: “We need to teach them how to sell competently, as a result of training, sales should increase by at least 20%. This phrase, in printed form, looks more than naive. However, such statements are heard all the time. Even if really low sales are the result of unprofessional salespeople, nevertheless, all sales problems in the company cannot be solved by training alone. Managers return to their familiar environment, and if they are not controlled and stimulated, they quickly (if not immediately) return to their usual way of acting. That is, after the training, they already know how and what to do, and if you ask them about it, they will answer more or less correctly. But knowing does not mean doing. Changing your habits is very difficult, you need to make a lot of effort for this. But most often, the reason for low sales is not only, and sometimes not so much, in the professionalism of managers. There are many factors, without changing which, one should not hope for a significant increase in sales. This includes the positioning of the company in the market, and the choice of the target client, and well-built distribution channels, and the demand for the product, and taking into account the needs of customers and interesting working conditions for them, and sufficient advertising support, etc. etc. Thus, there is no direct relationship between a single training session and sales growth. At a minimum, you need to launch a whole cycle of seminars, which will consider the company's marketing policy, target customer groups, sales organization technology, the interaction of all departments within the sales business process, and at the very end of this cycle there will be a series of training seminars dedicated to work technologies with clients, including skills effective sales. So, in the course of evaluation, we must find out: "What to teach." As part of the answer to this question, it is important for us to assess the competence of the sales manager, his understanding of the sales technology, sales standards that are accepted in the company.

The term "competence" is used quite often in this article. For example, it makes sense to give some of the competencies of a sales manager.

Result Oriented, Achievement. The ability to be responsible for the implementation of decisions, the ability to set new ambitious goals after achieving the previous ones. Task and relationship oriented behavior.

Flexibility. The ability to quickly and adequately respond to emergency situations, see and identify the problem, find ways to solve it, assemble a team for implementation, and evaluate the results.

Ability to learn, self-learning. Learning, receptivity to new methods and technologies, the ability to apply new things in practice. The ability to introspection. Willingness to analyze one's achievements and shortcomings, look at familiar things with different eyes, wisely use someone else's experience.

Influence, persuasion. The ability to defend one's own opinion. Logic in conducting constructive conversations. Knowledge of influence techniques. The ability to identify and use the motives of people. The ability to ask the right questions and determine the degree of awareness and emotional state of the partner.

Ability to listen to others and receive feedback. The ability to create channels of two-way communication - to abstract from one's opinions and thoughts, to concentrate on the words of the interlocutor. Good auditory and visual memory. Ability to use different types of feedback. Ability to effectively encourage and criticize others.

Presentation and negotiation skills. Ability to determine the goals and objectives of the presentation, the interests of the audience. Building a spectacular introduction, connecting phrases, main body and end of the presentation. Possession of persuasion strategies and public speaking skills. Knowledge of the stages of an effective negotiation process. The ability to determine the interests of the participants, to choose the best alternative. Ability to discuss, offer, conduct positional bargaining. Mastery of manipulation techniques and the ability to resist them.

Customer focus. Knowledge of customer service policies and standards. Orientation to the current and future needs of customers. Ability to behave correctly with different types of "difficult" clients. Ability to build partnerships with clients additional features and risks in relation to clients.

The competencies of a sales manager can also include: analytical skills, creativity, organizational skills, the ability to work in a team, etc. Accordingly, depending on what competencies need to be developed, a training program will be built. The evaluation methods here can be 360 ​​degrees, " Mystery shopper”, KPI assessment, competency interviews, professional tests.

The goal is to make adjustments to the motivation system sales managers, based on an understanding of the motives of employees and the goals of the company. To achieve this goal, both quantitative and qualitative indicators should be used as indicators, based on their current tasks facing the department.

For example, the department was tasked with increasing sales of its own brands, reducing the volume and terms of receivables, and increasing the share of regular customers in the sales structure.

• Accordingly, it makes sense to evaluate the following indicators:
• increase in total sales monthly;
• the share of sales by own brands is not below a certain level;
• monthly positive dynamics in terms of the share of own brands in the sales structure;
• the amount of receivables is not higher than a certain amount;
• average term of accounts receivable not more than a certain amount days;
• positive quarterly dynamics in terms of the share of regular customers in the sales structure;
• overall customer satisfaction (annual growth);
• structure of motivation of managers.

To assess the motivation of sales staff, you can use such methods as: personality questionnaires, questionnaires, interviews.

The goal is to evaluate the level of professionalism of employees, compare it with competitors. In this case, we need to develop a portrait of an “ideal” sales manager with a certain level of competencies and compare it with real portraits of employee competencies. To understand the competitiveness of personnel, it is necessary to include in the procedure for assessing the company's customers, its partners. Methods in this case can be 360 ​​degrees, professional tests, "Mystery Shopper", customer surveys.

The goal is to identify shortcomings in the organizational structure of the company, managerial problems hindering the development of the company. We have already said several times that the entire organization affects the volume of sales. Therefore, the analysis of sales, the decline or instability of indicators will be some "indicator" that there are problems in the organization. This may be a violation of the interaction of sales managers within the unit: pulling or "pushing" customers. Communication between the sales department and other departments (accounting, warehouse, production, marketing, etc.) may be disrupted. Among the management problems can be identified such as: the speed of decision-making (for example, on the system of discounts for a particular group of customers); lack of marketing policy; lack of customer service standards and others. Assessment methods that will help identify such problems are as follows: analysis of the sales business process (regulations, standards, orders, etc.); analysis of the organizational structure, regulations on subdivisions, job descriptions. The “Mystery Shopper” method will be effective, a certain Additional information can be obtained as part of training programs (for example, "Training in Sales Technology").

All of the above, as well as other evaluation purposes necessary for the company, can be used as the basis for regular (annual) certification of sales managers. Evaluation within the framework of any of the listed goals is not a single action to figure out “who is to blame” and “what to do”. A systematic comprehensive assessment of sales managers will allow the organization to respond flexibly to changes in the conditions of the external and internal environment, thereby increasing its level of competitiveness.

Summing up, we want to emphasize once again that the evaluation of sales managers only then gives the expected results when it is carried out precisely according to a set of indicators. For example, if we are talking about quantitative indicators, then the analysis of only the number of concluded contracts is not enough to draw a conclusion about the success of the seller. The same manager may have a large receivable, contracts may fall on "unpromising" customers or products that are not a priority, which does not contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization. Speaking of quality indicators, we can also face the fact that the seller has good performance on professional competencies, satisfaction and awareness of its clients. At the same time, his loyalty to the company is low and, if we do not take certain steps, then soon this specialist may leave the organization and at the same time either “take away” customers or otherwise “annoy” the unloved company.

How often do you evaluate sales managers? Quantitatively - monthly, quarterly, annually. In terms of quality - no more than once every six months. Many managers believe that the very possibility of conducting an assessment disciplines sales managers and stabilizes the sales themselves. In some ways, this is true, however, the assessment should be carried out only with clear goals and methods appropriately selected for this goal. It is in this case that the main objectives of the assessment will be achieved, and the overall tone of the department will remain at a high level, and the costs of the assessment will pay off.

Annex (inset)

Competencies	Security question	Desired Answer
General competencies
Focus on working with people	What do you like about the profession?	The employee should mention that he enjoys interacting with people.
The desire to understand the other person	The client avoids eye contact with you. State the reasons for this behaviour.	This may depend on the nature of the person. Maybe he is tired, he is tired, uninteresting, he is hiding something, he is embarrassed, etc.
Responsibility, success orientation	Why do some sellers have good sales volume, regular customers and so on, while others are doing much worse?	It is important that the manager starts by explaining the reasons for success. He should indicate such qualities that contribute to success as: determination, persuasion, communication skills, etc. It’s bad when the seller starts talking about luck, good territory or a successful customer base ...
Result Oriented	How is seller success measured?	The response must include quantitative indicators: sales volume, number of customers, etc.
Ability to make decisions independently and take reasonable risks	You are on a business trip. The client insists on changing the standard terms of the contract (at the same time, this is still beneficial for the company). You are trying to contact the manager, but it is not possible. Your actions.	I will accept the client's offer, as it is beneficial for the company.
Special competencies
Sales Skills	Name the methods of price justification.	There must be several. For example: - Reception "sandwich". .... And you will get all this for ... - Acceptance of qualitative justification. Match the price with the benefits of the product. - Acceptance of division. The price of the base model and the addition of options. Determining the price and time of operation. - Acceptance of multiplication. Demonstrates the client's savings in time mode. And others.
Analytic skills	In what situations is sales volume important, not marginal profit?	At the stage of promotion of a new product, capturing market share from competitors, as well as, if necessary, a quick sale of a “dying” product.
Presentation Skills	How do you decide what to talk about in a presentation?	It all depends on the audience. If we are talking about one client, we need to identify his needs by asking him questions, and build a product presentation based on the client's answers. If we are talking about a public presentation, we focus on anticipating needs (that is, we analyze the basic, typical needs of a given target group).

Authors: Sukhanova I.M., consultant of the company "AKSIMA: Consulting, Research, Training", Skriptunova E.A., CEO company "AKSIMA: Consulting, Research, Training"
Published in Sales Management, June 2007

The evaluation table is a tool that helps to find strengths and weaknesses in the work of sales managers. It shows what skills managers should work on.

We have prepared an evaluation table template that you can use yourself. To make managers' assessments objective, first adapt the template to your sales cycle, and only then put it into operation. We tell you how to do it.

Define call evaluation criteria

Call evaluation criteria help to evaluate all managers from the sales department equally. This makes the assessment objective and allows you to compare the results of different managers with each other.

Now there are 18 criteria in the template, ideally there should be 30-40

In the template, we use broad evaluation criteria: for example, literacy of speech, absence of pauses, working out objections. They allow you to evaluate any conversation. However, they have a drawback: they give too general an assessment. That is, you will see problems that may arise in any sales department, and some specific to your department - no.

To make the assessment specific, we refine the assessment criteria for each new project. They depend on the features of the product and the sales cycle.

Common Criteria Evaluation

Evaluation according to specific criteria

The more specific and detailed the criteria, the closer the assessment is to the truth, so we recommend that you modify the criteria from our template to suit your sales cycle.

To highlight specific criteria on client projects, we act as follows:

We listen to the calls of managers, to study their tactics.

We listen to a sample of calls to see what sales stages managers go through when talking with a client, what questions they ask, what they answer, how they present the product, where they make mistakes, and where they do everything right. For example:

Metal in the body is a serious contraindication for MRI, so the manager must warn the client about this in a conversation. If the manager does not do this, he can make an appointment with a person with metal in his body. This is a serious mistake, because the doctor will send such a patient home and he will leave angry. To make sure that managers do not make this mistake, we add the criterion “Specify contraindications” to the table.

Sometimes we brainstorm: together we take a few good conversations step by step. This is how we find ways to improve an already good conversation.

To see how fatigue affects the quality of conversations, we listen to each manager's morning, afternoon and evening calls.

We interview the head of the sales department and the owner, to find systematic errors that are not obvious after listening to conversations. For example:

Managers at the clinic should clarify whether clients have contraindications to procedures. If none of the managers ask about contraindications, then after listening to the calls, we will never know that they should do it. It turns out that managers make a gross mistake, but we do not know about it.

Together with the head of the sales department, we analyze several calls: we ask how they would answer the client’s questions, what would they do differently and what was the manager’s mistake. This helps to find hidden errors.

We study the company's website and internal training materials, to find what both managers and executives miss. We can say that we are reinsured just in case. For example:

On one of the projects, we learned that the company only works with legal entities from internal instructions. In the calls of managers and in conversations with leaders, this topic somehow did not surface, but internal documents helped.

Most often, we pay attention to the section with questions and answers on the site and internal instructions of the company. Usually there is information that helps to overcome customer objections.

We repeat the whole process again several times, to make the criteria more precise.

Collecting a sufficiently detailed list of criteria at a time will not work. On projects, we first refine the table, use it for a while, and then refine it again according to the same algorithm.

Arrange criteria in the table

To formalize the criteria means that they need to be formulated, deciphered and grouped according to their meaning. This helps specialists evaluate them correctly, and managers quickly navigate the table.

Formulation and decoding criteria directly affect the quality of the assessment. If a specialist misunderstands the essence of the criterion, he can evaluate it in any way. Such an assessment cannot be trusted:

The table always has the criterion "Talking by name". If it is not deciphered, one specialist will understand it as "find out the name of the client", and the other - as "address by name several times in a conversation." As a result, according to the same criterion, different specialists will have a different assessment.

We try to describe each criterion in as much detail as possible so that specialists know what assessment and under what conditions should be set.

The transcript describes in detail in what situations what score should be put

Order of Criteria in the table is not accidental: they repeat the steps of the sale - as the stages of the conversation go, so do the blocks in the table. In this order, it is more convenient to fill in the table.

In our template, we have broken down the criteria into five blocks: call quality, identification of need, presentation, handling objections and closing the deal. We chose these blocks because they follow the steps of a sale and are versatile for any conversation. Depending on the project, we can add other blocks. For example, dialogue structure, promotions and customer focus.

The division of criteria into blocks does not affect the assessment itself, but it helps to quickly navigate the table. For example, if you need to see in general how successfully a manager closes a deal, or quickly find some specific criterion in the table.

In the template, these blocks are designed like this:

Fill in the evaluation table

Evaluation criteria and points for their implementation are the basis of the entire table. They show the strengths and weaknesses of managers.

When the criteria are defined, we proceed to filling in the evaluation table.

We divide the table into four blocks: technical fields, rated fields, unrated fields and comments. So it's easier to work with her.

In technical fields specialists record the parameters of the call: date, time and duration of the call, type of call, type of client and the name of the manager who made the call.

Call parameters are needed to sort calls and find them in the PBX. The simplest example: if you do not write down the names of managers, you cannot understand who has what grades.

In each cell, you need to set your own data format and always follow it. This will help to keep all the data in a single form.

Into fields with grade specialists put down scores according to the criteria, and using them, using formulas, they calculate the final grades.

For each criterion, we write a note with a transcript so that quality control specialists can quickly peep how to evaluate the criterion

Points are set as follows:

• If the criterion is met, put "1";
• If not done, put "0";
• If completed, but not completely, set "0.5". For example, if a manager asked for a customer's name at the beginning of the conversation, but did not contact him again, the criterion "greeting by corporate standard» not completed;
• If there was no situation in the conversation when the manager could fulfill the criterion, leave the field empty. For example, if the client had no objections in the conversation, the criterion "objection handling" is not evaluated.

The final grades are calculated automatically using the formula =SUM()/COUNTA().

To calculate the final scores, the formula =SUM()/COUNTA() must be set in each of these columns, and the range of cells must be indicated in brackets

In fields without evaluation we record details from conversations that are important for analysis but are not measured in points. What these details will be depends on the specifics of the project.

If, due to the nature of the project, it is impossible to complete the sale in a conversation on the phone, we change the column "Sale completed" to "Appointment in the office." It depends on the purpose of the call.

Most often in the fields without evaluation, we note:

• Whether the sale took place as a result of the conversation. This is how we evaluate the performance of each manager.
• Whether the client left his contact so that he can be contacted. This shows how well managers retain the client if they fail to close the deal right away.
• The type of objection the customer has. This is how we find popular objections and train managers to work with them.
• Questions asked by the client. So we see what is not clear to customers, and, accordingly, we can finalize the advertisement, website or scripts.

It is important that specialists fill in the fields without evaluation in a single format. If the same price objection is written in different ways, for example, “price” and “expensive”, the table will consider them as two different ones.

In the table, the price objection is written differently: “price” and “expensive”

In order for the table to correctly understand comments, you need to follow a single format: either always write “price”, or always write “expensive”.

Now the objection to the price is written in a single form

So that specialists do not get confused, we set up drop-down lists. Then they will be more comfortable and there will be fewer mistakes.

If the client has an objection that is not in the list, you can always add it

In comments we describe how the conversation went, what the manager did well and what he did wrong. This information will help the sales manager quickly get to the heart of the conversation without listening to it. The more detailed the comment, the faster the manager reacts to the same mistakes made by managers.

Leaving comments, inexperienced professionals often make the same mistake: they retell the call. It is not right. In the comment, you need to describe the manager's mistakes and support them with examples directly from the call.

The "pluses" of the call are described poorly, because they simply retell the call, and the "cons", on the contrary, are well

After filling out the sheet with the table looks like this:

Analyze the work of sales managers

We use pivot tables to analyze the work of managers. They automatically collect information from a table with ratings and group it into several separate tables according to different parameters: for example, by date or types of clients. Pivot tables visually reflect the work of the sales department.

Our template has six pivot tables. It is possible that not all of them will be useful to you, so you can remove or add what you need. Everything depends on the project.

For example, the clinic needs to keep track of what contraindications are most common in clients. Their quality control specialists will add the criterion "contraindications" to the evaluation table, and a table according to this criterion to the summary tables.

Here are the tables in our template:

Weekly Call Quality Scores Pivot Table shows the big picture: how the manager copes in general and at what stage of the sale he may have problems.

With the help of ratings for conversation blocks, you can understand why exactly the effectiveness of the entire conversation is reduced.

In this table, the manager looks at the final scores in general or for specific stages of the conversation. For example, manager Ekaterina is generally doing a good job: her final grade is - 77%. However, she has minor problems with the quality of communication and presentation. Therefore, the manager should look for problems in this block.

"Evaluation by criteria" shows how managers cope with the fulfillment of each criterion.

The average score for each criterion makes the assessment overly detailed, but sometimes this alone helps to find subtle problems

In this table, the manager sees the average scores for each criterion. In our example, it can be seen that the manager Vasily speaks illiterately and allows long pauses in the conversation. Thanks to the table, the manager immediately understands what Vasily needs to work on.

"Dynamics of estimates" shows the progress of managers: how fast they learn and whether they learn at all.

Thanks to the colors, it is immediately clear that the results of the manager Vasily are growing

Ideally, sales leaders review their mistakes with sales managers on a weekly basis. They can do it personally or, for example, conduct group seminars.

The table shows whether such training helps. If so, then every week the results of managers will grow. In our example, it can be seen that the results of manager Vasily increased in two weeks from 29% to 67%, which means that the training helped.

"Contacts of Lost Clients" shows whether managers remember to clarify contacts with customers who do not want to immediately buy a product.

If the manager clarified the contact, but the client refused - the manager is not to blame, he completed his task

If the client himself called, found out the necessary information and takes time to think, the manager should ask him for a phone number or email. This is necessary to remind the client about himself after a while. This table shows which of the managers clarified the client's contacts and how successful he was.

"The number of actual sales out of possible" shows how many deals the manager could close and how many he actually closed.

The table counts not only the number of sales, but the number of any other targeted actions call. For example, it can be used to track the number of appointments in the office

If the call is targeted, this is a possible sale. All that is needed is to conduct it correctly, so success depends on the actions of the manager. This table shows how many opportunities managers had and how many of them were completed with a sale. In our example, two managers, Vasily and Olga, have problems, because they did not close a single target deal.

"The number of objections raised and worked out" shows how successfully managers work with customer objections.

If there is no manager's name in the table, then his clients had no objections during the conversation

During a conversation, the client may not be satisfied with something: the price, delivery time or product quality. All of these are objections. To complete the transaction, the manager must work them out. The table shows how successfully managers cope with this.

Other pivot tables you need to do it individually for your project. For example, in a company it is impossible to close a deal during a call, so you need to make an appointment in the office. Then a table will come in handy that shows how many times managers offered to make an appointment and how many clients agreed to come.

Unfortunately, we cannot tell in one article how to set up such tables from scratch. In short, you need to completely fill out the evaluation table itself, and then create several pivot tables from it with different parameters.

Quality control in the sales department We will help you find and fix errors in the work of sales managers or call center operators

Subscribe to not miss the latest articles

New articles from the Academy and open vacancies every two weeks.

Today's realities of the labor market, on the one hand, inspire us that there are more than enough specialists in the field of sales who are looking for work, on the other hand, a considerable proportion of these specialists, unfortunately, are not effective “salespeople”. How to assess the competencies of a sales manager at the interview stage so as not to make a mistake when hiring a key specialist?

Let's look at the main criteria that should be carefully evaluated when deciding whether to hire a sales specialist.

The logic of building a career

Even at the stage of evaluating the resume, it is necessary to analyze professional experience candidate. If the candidate moved from sales to process activities ( financial management, engineering, technical support etc.), it is quite possible that his “salesman” competencies are very lame, or he is not sufficiently motivated to work in the field of sales, or, perhaps, he is process-oriented, which is unacceptable for a successful sales manager. It is necessary to find out the reasons for such a dramatic change in his career and draw the right conclusions.

It is also necessary to evaluate the dynamics of the candidate's career growth in accordance with age. If a candidate is over 40, and in his professional experience there are only positions of specialist managers, without managerial functions, it is worth considering: why did the candidate not reach a higher career level? Either he did not strive for career growth due to fear of responsibility, or his management did not mark him. professional achievements or he lacked management skills. It cannot be ruled out that the candidate is only interested in sales, and he deliberately did not move to a higher level. last reason should not be confused with the rigidity of the candidate, the fear of leaving the "comfort zone" - these are already negative signals when evaluating a candidate.

Frequency of transfers from Company to Company

For a sales manager, in my opinion, a discount should be made when assessing his stability in terms of choosing an employer. As a rule, a good "salesperson" is motivated by money, but, unfortunately, the motivation system for the sales department is not always transparent, understandable and fair. In conditions of inadequate motivation, the sales manager “burns out”, as a rule, after a year of work. There may be other objective reasons for changing employers, so it is important to thoroughly find out why the candidate changed jobs.

It happens that candidates are cunning, not voicing the real reasons for leaving, it is quite difficult to check this. Therefore, it is important to create a trusting atmosphere during the interview. It is not a fact that even after that the candidate will talk about everything in good faith, but the chances that he will be more open will increase significantly.

Presentation Skills

This issue requires careful and comprehensive consideration. On the one hand, if a candidate can correctly position himself, of course, it is a plus. But you need to understand that the candidate could simply carefully prepare for the interview, or visit a sufficient number of them before coming to you. In this case, an experienced recruiter will hear “learned phrases”, they, as a rule, are difficult to integrate into the structure of the narrative if the interview is conducted competently by the recruiter.

On the other hand, we must not forget that an interview is usually stressful for a candidate, in this regard, he cannot always show off a bright self-presentation.

Therefore, in the process of the candidate's answers, to a greater extent, attention should be paid to the structure and sequence of the narrative.

Numerous digressions, avoidance of answers, the manner of answering a question with a question, an overly long story full of numerous details should be considered as negative factors.

Company Level

This evaluation criterion should be considered in three directions:

• The number of the Company.

If the candidate worked in small organizations, it will be difficult for him to integrate into a large structure, since the level of communications, approvals and time frames in solving certain problems differ significantly.

• client level.

DMP (decision makers) on different levels- various. If a manager concludes a deal for a million rubles, one circle of people communicates with him, if for 30 million - a circle of people, firstly, it expands, and secondly, the level of negotiations becomes more complicated. Usually, large organizations focused on tangible financial results and attracting large key customers, so the “salespeople” are stronger and more experienced there.

Of course, there are exceptions, in which case it is necessary to analyze the sales volume of a candidate within a particular Company.

• Company mentality.

Yes, there is such a concept, it includes corporate culture, Company policy, leadership style, organization of jobs.

For example, if a previous employer had an "office" system, it will be difficult for a candidate to adapt to the "open-space" format. Or, for example, if the candidate previously had a democratic leader, it will be almost impossible for him to adopt an authoritarian leadership style.

I recently interviewed a candidate who had left a major construction company due to the fact that profanity was constantly present in communication between colleagues.

Here it is important to provide an opportunity for the candidate to assess his strength: whether he will be able to reorganize and accept the "rules of the game" of the new employer. The main thing is to announce all the nuances to the candidate “at the entrance” so that there are no unpleasant surprises for him after he becomes an employee of the Company.

Adequate self-esteem

Basically, this criterion is expressed in the cost of the candidate, in the level of his salary expectations. If a sales manager wants to earn 35 thousand rubles, then this is not a sales manager. If a sales manager expects a monthly financial reward of 300 thousand rubles, this is either a good sales manager or an inadequate person.

How do you know if a candidate's self-assessment is adequate? It is important to find out two things:

1. How much the candidate earned at the previous job.

Perhaps his income was close to the amount indicated in his resume, then there are no questions, everything is quite understandable. Again: if the candidate does not embellish reality.

This can be checked by looking at the vacancies of the Company in which the candidate worked and the level of payment for these vacancies. Or ask the candidate for a certificate 2 - personal income tax, if his income at the previous place of work was official.

2. Whatever "fix" would be comfortable for him.

If a candidate names a salary that is close to his expected income level, this is a bad indicator. Any sales manager wants to earn, so he will tie his income to a percentage of sales. Of course, a low level of a fixed amount is not good, but during the interview process it is important to understand whether the candidate is salary-oriented or ready to tie his financial reward to the results achieved.

It is worth noting the following negative factor when evaluating a candidate: if a candidate announces the amount of his monthly expenses, this may indicate his infantilism and passive life position.

Confidence in your strength

A successful "salesperson" is full of self-confidence. He sold, sells and will continue to sell, as a rule, he does not have a negative sales experience, he is ready to cope with any non-standard situation, his luggage has everything that is necessary for effective sales.

A real "salesperson" will never prepare for failure in advance. This can be understood from the questions he asks. If they are of an organizational nature or relate to the specifics of the product, you can breathe freely: the candidate does not feel fear of the sales process itself.

An insecure candidate asks "guaranteeing" questions. He asks you if the customer base is provided, is it necessary to make “cold calls”, what will happen if he does not sell, who will teach him the specifics of selling this product - this means that he is either not quite competent or has a negative sales experience, and more precisely, "non-sales".

In short, if the candidate's questions boil down to external factors and possible failures - it is unlikely that a true seller is sitting in front of you.

Professional passion

Ask the candidate to talk about the most difficult transaction in his professional experience. He will talk about it in an interesting, “delicious” way, his eyes will burn, remembering the recent victory.

Another gambling seller, with a competent construction of a conversation on the part of the recruiter, he will begin to voice possible options search for customers, potential markets, ask about competitors.

It is as if he is already working here, he is, as it were, “trying on” the role of an employee, he already sees the goals set for himself and ways to achieve them.

Mixed reference

As we all know, internal reference is important for leaders, external for performers. For a sales manager, a “skew” in one direction or another threatens negative consequences for sales. If the reference is internal, he may not have enough flexibility when interacting with the client, it will not always be easy for him to make management decisions. If an external reference prevails, he will not be able to "squeeze" the client, he will follow his lead, he will not be able to express his position or enter into a constructive discussion.

We need a golden mean. If, nevertheless, a “skew” is traced, it is allowed towards the internal reference. People with an internal reference, as a rule, have leadership qualities, the ability to defend their own position, they are charismatic, stubborn and efficient. All of the above qualities successful manager sales are decisive.

Sales specifics

It should be clarified to what extent the candidate's professional experience will fit into the specifics of the new Company.

If a candidate worked in consulting, it is not certain that he will be able to effectively sell engineering equipment. And vice versa. A product and a service are psychologically different things. Both for the client and for the sales manager. Quite often in the summary of candidates there are organizations with different areas of activity. In this case, the risks of inefficient work in a new place are significantly reduced.

Or, if the candidate built distribution, it will be difficult for him to carry out direct sales, since the specifics are significantly different.

You can also note candidates with experience in FMCG (sales representatives working in the "fields"): the level of negotiations in this market is usually quite low.

B2B and B2C sales should not be strictly divided into levels of complexity: interaction with customers is at a decent level, in both areas there is an active search for customers, in addition, B2C sales have a relatively recent history, so the share of work in B2C sales in candidates’ resumes is usually , is small.

Cycle, dynamics and sales volumes

There is a different sales cycle, different sales dynamics and, of course, different sales volumes. All these indicators should be clarified and analyzed at the interview.

For example, in companies providing certification services, the sales cycle can be from 1 to 3 years, from negotiation to payment by the client.

A manager who knows how to lead a long sales cycle will easily cope with a short cycle, but on the contrary, it can be more difficult.

AT transport companies The dynamics of sales for the first six months is not high: the client “tests” the contractor to meet the deadlines, the safety of goods, and only after that begins full-fledged cooperation and gives tangible volumes.

The dynamics of sales should be taken into account to a greater extent during the period of adaptation of the sales manager: you should not set ambitious sales plans from the first month. Sales dynamics have little effect on professional experience.

Sales volumes need no explanation, I think, but it's important to understand that if your Company has millions in transactions, the decision to hire an employee with experience in selling low-value products and services is ill-advised.

Firstly, it is psychologically difficult to operate with large sums out of habit.

Secondly, let me remind you once again about the level of negotiations: depending on how much the client is ready to part with, the circle of decision-makers changes dramatically and the level of negotiations, respectively, too.

Motivators

The main motivator of a good “salesperson” is money.

We can talk as much as we want about interesting tasks, career prospects, etc.: the sales manager wants to make money.

He is ready to give all the best, stay after work, go on business trips, bring results, but for this he will expect a decent financial reward.

Therefore, it is very important that the Company has an adequate, transparent and understandable motivation system for sales managers.

There are examples when key sales people left the Company because they reached the financial "ceiling": they bring large clients, and their level of payment remains the same, because the motivation system has a number of conscious or unconscious flaws.

On the other hand, there are examples of financial managers reaching a "comfort zone" - a certain psychological "maximum", which is enough for them to have a completely comfortable existence. Such managers, consciously or unconsciously, reduce their activity, switch to process actions and become less effective.

The "ceiling" prevents strong "salespeople", "comfort zones" reach the "average".

Analyze the situation in the sales department and decide what motivation will work for you.