[Ultimate Guide] How To Monitor The Performance Of Sales Staff

Monitoring performance has become a major part of our lives thanks to advances in technology. We monitor our physical activity with smartwatches, our energy use with smart meters and even our calorie intake with various apps. The idea is that this constant vigilance helps to hold us accountable, track our successes and reverse downward trends before they become major issues.?

And the same can be applied to our working lives. Sales managers need to know how to monitor the performance of sales staff to ensure reps continuously strive for success.??

But do you evaluate it collectively or individually? And how do you go about monitoring the performance in your sales team? This article explains more about the reasons and methods behind sales performance monitoring.??

Collective performance vs. individual performance

Many businesses focus on individual performance at work, but some experts believe that teamwork will play an evermore important role in business. There are a number of differences in the ways that collective performance and individual performance monitoring occur. Let’s look at them.?

Sales reps do not work in isolation and are susceptible to the influence of others on their team. Whilst the very basics of the job involve them making their own individual sales, how they interact with, support, and confer with their colleagues does have a bearing on their performance. This means that only monitoring individual performance might not be the most accurate representation of what is happening within your sales team.?

Why monitor your sales team's performance?

• Collective monitoring allows sales managers to both assess the performance of the team and ensure they keep an eye on the contribution made by the individuals as well. It helps to foster a culture of collaboration and unity as there are common goals for reps to meet together.?
• It encourages teamwork and knowledge sharing which helps develop the skills of the individuals within the group. Since everyone wants to be seen as contributing towards the collective, monitoring raises the bar for performance.?
• When an individual’s performance dips, it is not ideal, but only affects your department in a small way. If the entire team’s performance dips, it can lead to big problems, missing sales goals and sales targets. This could be disastrous for the company.?
• Monitoring can provide an early indicator that a strategy is not working, allowing you to change course accordingly.?

6 steps to monitor the performance of sales staff

1. Set goals and expectations

When you start your monitoring process, it is a good idea to discuss this with your team as you set the goals and expectations. It’s important to allow them to have their say over what they believe are the most important aspects of their work, what they feel is unimportant and where they believe there might be issues.??

After the discussion, your team will feel they are working to realistic expectations that they have approved themselves. You are sure you are not asking anything of them that is impossible to achieve or would cause resentment. In fact, they will feel motivated to attack the challenges they have set for themselves.??

2. Choose the right metrics

There is no point in measuring performance for the sake of it, so you have to choose the metrics that will help you make informed decisions over the future strategy for your sales team. This involves mixing up short- and long-term goals that keep the focus of your sales team as well as help them track their progress towards their targets.??

A long term goal keeps their minds concentrated even when the day-to-day world of sales enters a rough patch. Conversely, when a long-term goal seems too far away to be excited by, those short-term daily or weekly goals bring satisfaction and the dopamine hits that we all need to feel motivated at work.?

3. Coach your team, don’t micromanage

No one likes to feel constantly watched by a sales manager who is waiting to pounce on any misstep they might make. Think of your role as that of a football coach. You provide the strategy, the motivation, the tools that your team needs to deliver a great performance, but then you have to let them go out onto the pitch on their own.??

Your sales team takes your coaching on-board and integrates it into their working day. You have to give them the freedom to put your strategy into action without constantly micromanaging them. Allowing your reps freedom and room for growth is the way to create a positive working environment.??

4. Tool up for success

If you are going to monitor the performance of your sales team, you have to ensure they have all the tools they need to succeed. This means access to social selling, a CRM that is fit for purpose and, might we suggest, a tool like FullInfo, which makes prospecting a one-click process.?

Set your team up for success with the right tools and then you can be sure that you are monitoring their true performance and not their struggle against their lack of resources.?

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However, it is not just your team that needs access to the correct tools. You should also have a sales dashboard into which you can input the data you need to track your team’s goals. Being able to visualise progress makes it easier to spot trends and issues. It will keep you and other managers in the loop, allowing you to monitor the sales team’s performance.?

5. Follow up?

To return to the football analogy from above, you need to sit down for a half time and talk with your team. Make sure you catch up regularly to go over progress and performance. Share the knowledge you have accrued from your analysis, discuss problems and work out solutions.??

Meet with individual sales reps, too, to help them understand their contribution to the team and how they can improve their performance. This might be specific training that they need or other such tools.?

6. Be consistent

When you have multiple dashboards for separate projects, you need to remain consistent with certain metrics and KPIs in your CRM so everyone understands what is expected and knows how to work towards their targets.??

You should also commit to continuous monitoring. Only by consistently tracking your sales team’s performance can you discover the real trends and challenges that occur. If you dip in and dip out, you just find yourself with snapshots that are difficult to make sense of in any useful way.??

Reference table: Important sales metrics to track for sales leaders

These are the essential sales KPIs that you need to check to ensure your sales strategies are on track.?Metric

How to monitor sales performance remotely

When you are not working in the same location as your team, you need absolute clarity on the sales plan and the expectations. As you are not around for a quick consultation, you need to know you have set the parameters of the essential sales KPIs so that they are easy to understand and reps know where the benchmark is.??

Strong relationships with sales professionals are key to building the trust that is involved with leading a remote team. Make sure you check in with them on phone calls and video conferencing, and not just focus on work. Develop the type of personal relationship that creates a bond between colleagues. You might also suggest social meet-ups, either in person or on a video chat.??

As long as each team member has the tools and resources they need to perform their tasks, these measures should ensure your team can work remotely and you can monitor their performance using data captured in the CRM.?

FAQ

Should you review individual sales rep performance?

It is helpful to review the performance of individual sales reps to understand their contribution to the team effort in meeting the essential sales KPIs. You win and lose as a team and, although each member needs to be in top form, collective sales performance is key to meeting your sales target.??

How often should you review sales team performance?

Sales leaders should continually monitor the performance of their sales team and hold periodic reviews. Forbes says using quarterly revenue targets can see teams gain 31% higher returns, meaning reviews every three months make sense.??

Conclusion

Now that you know how to monitor the performance of sales staff, you can put some of these steps into action. It is so important to understand the progress you are making and how it relates to improved revenue and profit for the company. Choosing the right metrics to track will help you spot what you are doing right with your sales strategies and what you need to do to avoid issues like missing your sales target.?

FullInfo helps you cut the time needed to search for the contact details of those key prospects, allowing your team to spend more time selling to them. Try it for free today.??

References and Further Reading

• Sales monitoring Video
• Sales performance metrics
• Why does your business need a sales monitoring system?