If you are an business owner or a sales manager who is responsible for the success of your sales team, you know that it is necessary to constantly evaluate the team's performance. Your ongoing business success is determined by continuous training so that the team has the best tools and strategies available. When you evaluate your team's statistics, it's also a good idea to apply this simple ten question test to measure whether your team is undertrained and perhaps requires a little extra help. Every day you do your best, but is it enough?

1. Do members of your sales staff often lose more sales opportunities than they close?

2. Do you have a high turnover of your sales staff? (significant changes in under 2 years)

3. Is your repeat business lower than you would like it to be?

4- Could your customer satisfaction levels be higher?

5. Are your salespeople giving away profit margin too easily when trying to close a sale?

6. Do you wish your salespeople prospected and followed up more?

7. Do you wish your salespeople were more self reliant and required less supervision?

8. Have you noticed that many former selling techniques no longer work?

9. Do you notice high stress or even anger displayed by customers or salespeople?

10. Do you feel customers 'trust' your business less now than they did in the past?

Answering yes to even one of those questions suggests that some extra expertise might be required, but a significant number of yes answers might indicate a potential serious condition that is costing vital profit margins and precious customers. If there is an area in your sales team's performance that needs extra tools to get the job done for you, it's significantly more affordable to obtain those tools through additional training and professional development rather than replacing members of your team.

Before you do anything, have the likely expectations of your people in mind. They will tend to define a good manager as one who:

• Is positive and enthusiastic

• Has vision (sees the longer /broader view

• Achieves their own goals

• Is well organised

• Making good – objective – decisions

• Delegate appropriately

• Provides good – honest – feedback

• Is fair and has no favourites

• Is open-minded and curious

• Listens (and is available to listen)

• Knows and takes an interest in staff

• Encourages/supports staff development

• Communicates well

• Shows confidence and gives credit

• Keeps people informed

• Acknowledges own mistakes/weaknesses

• Shares experience

Similarly, people will have firm views on the type of manager they do not want. Those, for example, who:

• Put themselves before their people

• Fail to set clear objectives/priorities

• Don’t appear to care about the team (a loner)

• Are secretive (or late informing)

• Procrastinate

• Are unapproachable

• Are not honest, open and fair

• Fail to consider people’s feelings

• Let their personal workload prevent team maintenance

This list and the preceding one could easily be extended and will be influenced by factors that are especially important in your job, organisation or function.

Make it your business to discover what is most important to your people.

New Post – New Employer?

Throughout your planning and progress you need to tailor your approach depending on whether you are moving positions within your current company or moving to a new one.

• Existing employer. Keep in mind that people know you. Your position relative to others will – must – change. You have to create a suitable distance between you and others, and not allow existing relationships (and friendships) to dictate the way things work. At the same time you are (still) part of the team, and how this manifests itself needs consideration. Beware of being arrogant. Do not throw the baby out of with the bath water – old alliances can help.

• New employer. The learning curve you face is inevitably much steeper. Beware of acting (or even of giving a view) before you have sufficient facts.

Always match your approach to the actual circumstances and be realistic about the situation you are in

First Things First:

Day one as a manager: a great deal to consider if you are moving into a new situation. You should:

• See your new manager early on: confirm your role and priorities and set up communications procedure between you both, especially to make clear how you check things during the first few days.

• Arrange introductions to other key people: if your work involves contacts with others (another department, people on the same time level as you, etc), make sure you know them and begin to cultivate a relationship from the word go.

• Meet your own staff: (more of this anon).

Once again, remember that you only get one chance to make a good first impression – especially in a new environment. This may be a cliché, but it’s true. So, consider the details and get them right. For example:

• Be sure to arrive on time (or a touch early)

• Look the part (think about what you wear)

Meet The People:

Make a point of speaking to everyone on day one. If this is not possible (for example, someone may be away) set a time for an initial word. This can be informal (just a word at their desk) or in your office or meeting room. It needs to do various things.

• Act as a personal introduction

• Clarify, briefly, how you see their role (or how the other person sees it)

• Dispel any immediate fears the team member may have

• Answer any immediate questions (or say when they can and will be answered)

• Begin to show you as the kind of manager you want to be

Ask questions and canvas opinion from the team about how things are going, what might need change, challenges for the future, etc

I have always worked with the following formula:

Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success

Therefore, when measuring my teams, I always ensure that I benchmark against that criteria:

A simplified example might look something like this (although I have to admit that my own companies’ measurement system is much more rigorous):

Personal

• Self-organisation & planning

• Motivation and attitude

• Ability to work under pressure

• Team playing and interpersonal skills

• Personal presentation

• Communication (oral/written/listening)

• Flexibility

• Initiative

• Performance vs. objectives

Sales

• Account management

• Business development

• Opportunity assessment -qualification

• Negotiation skills

• Presentation skills

• Strategic work

• Pro-activity

• Forecasting

• Achievement of targets

And for those with supervisory responsibilities you could add:

• Delegating authority

• Decision making

• Motivating - i.e. Creating enthusiasm and confidence

• Appraising and assessing

• Selecting and recruiting

• Coaching and developing

• Creativity

• Planning and allocating resource

• Representing

Next you need to implement a grading or scoring system – I use the following:

E - Poor: Definitely below acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is consistently deficient.

D - Fair: Improvement is needed to meet acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is inconsistent.

C - Average: Meets acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is consistent.

B - Good: Above acceptable standards; performance usually exceeds job requirements.

A - Excellent: Outstanding; unquestionably above acceptable standards; performance consistently exceeds job requirements.

In addition I translate these marks into scores, because that provides me with an overall numerical total which is so much easier to use when making comparisons:

I.e. using the above measurement scale: A=5, B=4 etc

In fact, I allow myself further “latitude” by using + or -, which in effect provides me with not five levels of rating but fifteen!

So now I have: E- = 0, E = 1, E+ = 2, all the way up to A+ which is now the equivalent of 14

This makes it so much easier to avoid the two common mistakes in rating i.e.:

Firstly, a tendency to rate nearly everyone as “average” on every characteristic instead of being more critical in judgement. The evaluator should use the ends of the scale as well as the middle.

Secondly, the “halo effect,” i.e. a tendency to rate the same individual “excellent” on every characteristic or “poor” on every characteristic based on the overall picture one has of the person being evaluated. However, each person has strong and weak points and these should be indicated on the rating scales.

What Else Should An Effective Appraisal Include? Mine Include All Of These:

Performance versus Commercial Targets

Specific Objectives vs. Results Summary

Quarterly Performance Rating

Commercial Targets For The Next Twelve Months

Specific Objectives For The Next Twelve Months

Performance versus Commercial Targets:

In this section, I review performance against all commercial targets for example:

• Revenue achieved.

• Overall gross margin.

• CCT (Customer contact time) as a % of TWT (Total working time).

• New accounts opened.

• Revenue increases from existing accounts.

Specific Objectives vs. Results Summary:

Specific objectives are all those targets that are “non – commercial” for example:

• Increase product knowledge in x areas.

• Profile any key accounts.

• Improve presentation skills.

• Attend a “Key Account Management” course.

• Become more involved with the induction of new recruits

Quarterly Performance Rating:

I have always believed in frequent reviews and as a consequence, I hold QBR (Quarterly Business Review) meetings at the end of each quarter. The scoring system is identical to the annual appraisal and in fact the QBRs provide most of the information and data for the annual session.

Commercial Targets and Specific Objectives for the Next Twelve Months:

A good appraisal should always conclude with agreement from both parties on the targets and objectives for the next twelve months. These do not have to be set in stone and can be reviewed at the next QBR; however it is essential that every individual buys in to what is expected of them.

Target setting is a vitally important part of a manager’s function because if targets are set too high that will only act as a demotivator: Equally, if they are set too low, typically that is all that will be achieved.

In the same way the high jumper just clears the bar and does not leap a metre over the top, salespeople sell to expectation and have no inclination to burst through targets – unless of course, there is a significant incentive on offer! Although that begs the question of why they were not challenged with a higher target in the first place?

Finally, it is important that the manager uses the occasion to send the apraisee away feeling good about themselves, fully motivated and believing that all of the targets that have been agreed are indeed achievable – a motivational summary works wonders, even if there were areas of concern during the meeting, always focus on the highlights.

The recruiting industry has changed dramatically since the mid-90’s when the Internet began to catch fire as a networking tool. Prior to the advent of online job boards such as CareerBuilder and Monster, your local newspaper had a monopoly on “help-wanted” advertising going back pre-Industrial Revolution (I remember a few years back being quoted $450 to run a 3-line ad over the weekend--for $50 more I could add a black border around it). Resumes came to you via mail or fax and the ones that got your attention arrived on expensive paper with signed cover letters--the presentation gave you as much insight into the candidate as the resume itself did. As an independent recruiter you were only as good as your database of candidates (which for most recruiters consisted of a Rolodex of business cards or a drawer full of resumes). You actively sought out individuals to network with, collecting every resume thrown at you regardless of the positions you were working on at the time. "Got a cousin in advertising sales? Have him give me a call!"

I think employers were more willing to take risks with less qualified candidates then (let’s say, pre-1998) than they are now. Hiring managers and recruiters recognize that online resources can provide them with exponentially greater access to candidates today than in years past. It’s not that the talent pool is deeper, it’s just more accessible (and more public) than it’s ever been. So the same company that might have been willing to take a chance on a good candidate from a different industry ten years ago now wants someone whose experience matches their position as closely as possible. I am a big believer that the best candidates for a particular position are the ones who would be taking a step up in their career by accepting. They are inherently motivated because they’re improving their pay, adding to their responsibilities and increasing their exposure. But today employers want over-qualified candidates—people who are actually taking steps down in their careers or at the very least, making lateral moves. Most employers will not admit to consciously doing this, mind you; but they do. They want to know with as much certainty as possible that the candidates have “been there and done that.” They want people with track records that mirror the exact challenges and expectations of their opening, particularly if they’re working with a third party recruiter to fill the position. The employer feels they’re paying big bucks for the recruiter to minimize their risk; therefore they should deliver candidates that are tailor-made for their role.

As an independent recruiter, it is my job to provide the client with the candidate solution they want. Every client knows the type of person they’re looking for, even if they’re not always able to describe them in great detail before we begin the search. They may need to evaluate a couple candidates before they can put into words their exact preferences, particularly when it’s a new position. Keep in mind the candidate solution our firm provides is the one defined by the client, and in my opinion it’s not always the one that may be the best long-term employment solution. As I discussed in a previous article (“Remember: You’re hiring them to work for you, not to date you”), many hiring managers allow their own personal biases to influence they way they evaluate candidates (often referred to as “gut instincts”) resulting in bad hiring decisions. My job is to provide the client with candidates that have a documented track record of success. The majority of companies we work with want candidates either from their own industry or industries that are a close parallel. Drilling down even further, they want to know that the candidate’s daily, weekly and monthly activities overlap with the expectations of the new position. This is why having a thorough, well-defined resume is imperative for today’s job seeker looking to advance their career.

I believe the criticism that most resumes are long-winded, over-inflated exaggerations of unspectacular accomplishments is completely unwarranted. Coming from someone who looks at thousands of resumes a month, the average person is more likely to sell themselves short, thereby limiting their potential opportunities than they are to misrepresent themselves on paper. Over the next couple weeks I’m going to be breaking down the modern resume and showing you how to increase your exposure and open up new doors in your career.