On this episode of Sales Management Mastery, we are going to give you 10 tips on how to criticize your sales reps, constructively.

If you are a sales manager who avoids correcting employees, then this is definitely a show for you.  I don’t think that this is something that comes naturally to most people unless you really enjoy confrontation.  If you have a “power” type gene in your motivational profile, then maybe this does come easy for you.

 If you don’t know what you’re motivational profiles are, they categorize your sales people into 5 different buckets and we give you tips on how to motivate each one individually using our motivational questionnaire which is for our paid members at Sales Management Mastery Academy.

Unless you are a power type sales manager, then chances are you probably don’t like confrontation a whole lot.

In this show, we will teach you how to criticize your sales reps, and do it constructively and get your point across and raise their level of motivation based on that interaction.

Turning criticism into a win-win situation, takes a lot of tact, a lot of finesse, and it takes a lot of practice. 

Some people have this trait more than others.   If you don’t have it then doesn’t mean that you can’t learn it, and if you do have it, it means that you can improve on it and get better at it.

Improving work related behaviors hinges on you as the sales manager staying very “neutral” and putting the focus on the problems and causes and not on the person themselves. 

By simply reciting the fault, mistake and relaying back to them, it will not be helpful to you and it will put them on the defensive and the whole meeting and interaction will end up losing its teeth.

You lose credibility and you lose a fair amount of deposits from that trust account.
If you are dealing with a “people” type sales person, then you have to be very careful about how you criticize.

For all groups, you do have to be careful on how you criticize.

We are going to give you 10 quick tips on how to do it.

1. Deal with the problem in a private meeting.This is common sense to most people. But many people don’t do it because they don’t have time, or maybe they work in a cubicle type of environment where all of your meetings are out in the open. However, if you are going to criticize someone, pull them into a private session, into an office with four walls and a door and go through your discussion in private.  If you criticize a worker in front of their peers it results in a lot of excuses instead of solutions.  It also allies other workers with the employee being criticized.  You don’t want some kind of mutiny going on within your sales force.  This probably doesn’t occur a lot of if you have sales people that work on the road or that work from home, but just remember to deal with the problems in private.
2. Offer suggestions and avoid opinions and facts.Let’s not forget that human beings, and especially sales people, are creature with emotions. They are not computers working through elaborate change.
   They are people with emotions.  So instead of saying, “your reports this week are boring”, or “your reports this week lacks any sort of detail for me to tell what you did this week”, you might want to say something like, “I wonder if you give me more detail in your report that it might be a better indicator of how your week went and then maybe I can help you more effectively with some of the accounts that you are trying to land”.  You don’t want to insult the person, say something like “I wonder if” or “May I make a suggestion?” instead of just blurting out what you want them to do, soften up that suggestion.
3. Praise first.Start with a positive statement about how the salesperson’s performance issue is and use that as a transition point to the issue that you want to address. Let’s use our sales report example again, “Your comments on your sales report on page 2 were right on target and it is my understanding that the return rate on that sale is going to be about 20%?  Isn’t that correct, not 40% right?”  Instead of saying “but it is my understanding”, or “but the return rate”.  All they hear is what comes after the “but”.  Your comments on the sales report on page 2 of the sales report were right on and it is my understanding that the ROI was about 20% and you had said that it was 40%”.  Just clarify and soften up your criticism by not negating the positive part of your comment by saying the word “but”, because all that they hear is what comes after that word “but”.
4. Avoid “should” and “ought”.These terms make you sound like a parent and invite a defensive response.  When you are talking to somebody don’t say, “You really should go out and get 20 to 30 more prospects”.  Instead say, “Wouldn’t you agree that going out and prospecting 20 or 30 more prospects would fill your pipeline and would result in getting more prospects”.  Soften it up here.  We are talking about semantics more than anything, you are still getting your point across but you are softening up your criticism.  Sales people are very emotional, there are ups and down, sales is a very difficult job.  Offer your solutions instead of outright criticism.
5. If a grievance is raised, then follow up on it.Let’s say the sales person raises a legitimate concern.  You need follow up with regards to this initial problem.  Assume personal responsibility and actually follow up on it. This is effective in curbing performance problems and also helps in establishing trust and putting more deposits in the trust account.  If you assure your sales person that you will review and report what you find back to them, then it will improve relations with them, improve their attitude and maybe even correct that behavior problem.  Make sure that you do follow up at all times.
6. Review your goal before the meeting.What is your objective of the meeting?  Have an objective before you pull them into a meeting and talk to them about a grievance.
   If your objective is vague, then you will have a hard time communicating that with an employee. Establish standards of goals and be specific. If you are talking about 10 sales calls, don’t talk about a “bunch of sales calls” talk about specific numbers.  If you want to obtain 120% of your goal, talk about that.  If you need 25 sales calls on Tuesdays, talk about that.  Be very specific and review that goal before the meeting and you will be assured a much more effective outcome.
7. Diffuse hot button issues.Deal with specific behaviors without using any type of label.  If lowered sales productivity is the problem, don’t imply that the person is just lazy.  Don’t insult them.  To ease tension, recall maybe someone from your past who had a similar issue and was able to turn it around.  I once had a sales person that was last in the country and turned it around to become number one in the country. Probably used that analogy too much, but it is a way to diffuse the tension.  Say, “Other people have been able to turn it around, and you will too!”
8. Be objective.Ask non-threatening, open-ended questions and get to the root of the problem.  Discuss a range of possible causes.  Maybe the thing that you thought was the problem really isn’t the problem after all.  Engage in a conversation with them.  Ask them what they think.  Partner with the sales person to a certain degree so that you can both find a solution.
9. A lot of sales people feel suffocated and limited by their sales managers who are so eager to help them success, but don’t allow them to fail.Allow your salespeople the freedom to try their own ideas. They may fail a bit, but if they do, it is okay.  Unless it is going against company policy, or is something illegal. Let’s not forget that we would all be sitting in candle light right now if it wasn’t for the fact that Thomas Edison tried 5000 different filaments before he found the right one to light the incandescent light bulb.  That is 4, 999 times that he failed before he got to a solution.  Jointly work towards that solution and allow your salespeople to try different things and fail and don’t be so hyper-focused on success only that failure isn’t an option.
10. Be patient. The problem may take more than 1 meeting, or one week, or 1 quarter.  You must keep in mind your sales figures and your fiscal calendar, but it might take a couple of times to talk about the issue. Don’t think that once you’ve talked about it, then it is done.  Agree on a course of action. You may need a follow up conversation.  We will meet next Friday to talk about this issue.  Always have a goal in mind and realize that it may not be a one and down, you may have multiple meetings before solving the issue.

To review:

1. Deal with the problem in a private meeting
2. Offer suggestions
3. Always praise first and avoid “buts”
4. Avoid “should” and “ought to”
5. If a grievance is raised make sure that you follow up
6. Review your goal before the meeting
7. Diffuse hot button issues and don’t insult them
8. Be objective and open to other solutions
9. Allow for failure and for them to try new things.
10. Be patient, it may take more than 1 meeting to solve the particular issue

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