Company needs profit to run and that profit comes from customers and to get customers, a company needs sales person,Thus the sales force play a crucial role in the existence of a company. If their performance is good , company will do good.and to maintain this level of efficiency, management is need. Yes! Their is a need to manage the sales force performance & this can be done by continuous evaluating and appraising their performance. Here are some factors that affect their performance & some methods to evaluate their perfomance that are mostly used now a days by many organization.
2. Contents :-
Sales force & its importance for a company.
Sales force performance.
Performance evaluation- purpose & reason.
Dimension of salesforce performance evaluation.
Sales force performance evaluation process
Determinants of sales force performance.
Criteria for the evaluation- qualitative & quantitative
Establishing standards
Monitoring & feedback system.
Conclusion.
3. Sales force & its importance :-
Sales force is the number of sales person employed by a company to :-
- promote its product .
- create customer.
- represent the company in the market.
- to generate profit for the company.
-to deal with customer query & so an..
4. Sales force performance :-
-work done by sales force.
-Impact of sales force onto the company ,on profit etc is the
result of sales force performance.
5. Performance evaluation :-
Evaluation is to measure the performance of sales persons.
A important process which enhances the way organization is managed &
provides recommendation for further improvements.
It is a critical function.
It constitutes ‘comparing objectives with results.
Provide feedback.
Take steps to further improvement.
Setting
objective
Actual
work done
Comparing
actual work
with
objectives
set
feedback
Steps to
improve
6. Purposes :-
It is vital for an organization to evaluate the performance of sales
force consistently & frequently, so that it would be able to close deal
quickly & move to the next one.
To monitor the performance & ensure that it is in alignment with
corporate goals & objectives.
To keep track on progress.
To take decision regarding compensation, promotion & transfer.
To determine the specific training & counselling needs of individual
sales people & the overall sales force.
To provide information for effective human resource plan.
7. To identify criteria that that can be used to recruit & select
sales people in the future.
To advise sales people of work expextations.
To motivate sales people.
To help sales people in setting career goal.
To enhance communication between sales person & sales
manager.
To improve sales person performance.
8. Dimension of sales force performance
evaluation :-
behavioral results
professional
development
profit
dimensions
9. Behavior:
Consists of criteria related to activities performed by
individual salespeople.
• Sales calls,
• customer complaints,
• required reports submitted,
• training meetings,
• letters and calls
Professional Development:
• Assess improvements in certain characteristics of salespeople that are
related to successful performance in the sales job
• Characteristics include - Attitude, product knowledge, initiative and
aggressiveness, communication skills, ethical behavior
10. Results:
Salespeople measured objectively based on results such as – sales, market
share, and accounts
A sales quota represents a reasonable sales objective for a territory, district,
region, or zone
Some research shows that rewards for achieving results have a negative
effect on performance and satisfaction
Profitability:
Salespeople have an impact on gross profits through the specific products
they sell and/or through the prices they negotiate for final sale.
Salespeople affect net profits by the expenses they incur in generating sales.
Criteria Examples : Net profit dollars
Gross margin per sale
Return on investment
Number of orders secured
Selling expenses versus budget
12. Determinants of sales force performance:-
Changing dynamics of the market have increased the pressure on
sales force.
Many studies were conducted to know the factor which will
influence sales force performance.
They are :
- internal factors
- external factors
13. Internal factors External factors
Motivation
Skill level
Job satisfaction
Role perception
Personal factors
Ego drive
empathy
Environmental factors
O9rganizational factors
- communication & work flow
- compensation system
Sales management ffunction
- sales force planning
- forecasting
- territory management
- compensation
- control
14. Criteria for sales force evaluation:-
Qualitative methods are :
-Personal observation by sales executives.
-Merit rating
-Customer opinion of salesmen.
Quantitative methods are :
-Analysis of sales record & reports.
-Comparison of salesman’s performance with quota.
-Ratio analysis.
-Profit & loss statement.
15. Establishing standards :-
Carrying out the sales force performance evaluation process by using the
outcome-based
behavior-based
professional development measure.
By establishing different types of goals & objectives.
for ex.- increasing sales by 5% each year ovr the next five year.
By developing the sales plan.
e.g. increase market share by 4%, reducing defections by 12% , increasing the
new customer base by 10% each year.- source: flying colours ltd.
By setting sales force performance standards
Allocate & efforts through sales quotas.
16. Salesperson
Monitoring & feedback system:-
(360 degree feedback system)
Salesperson is evaluated by
multiple raters.
It helps salespeople better
understand their ability to add
value to their organization and
their customers
Sales Manager
Evaluation
17. Conclusions :-
1. Most evaluate on an annual basis
2. Most combine input and output criteria which are evaluated using quantitative
and qualitative measures
3. When used, performance standards or quotas are set in collaboration with
salespeople
4. Many assign weights to different objectives and incorporate territory data.
5. Most use multiple sources of information
6. Most are conducted by the field sales manager who supervises the salesperson
7. Most provide a written copy of the review and personal discussion.
8. Helps salespeople better understand their ability to add value to their
organization and their customers