Sales Management-Cum-Development Evaluation (Checklist)

This article throws light upon the fifty things in the checklist of sales management-cum-development evaluation.

1. Have you taken a complete inventory of your manpower? Do you feel that you know your salesmen better as a result thereof?

2. Have you created an “Action Analyser” chart to evaluate your salesmen’s skills?

3. Have you established a “minimum expected” mark for your salesmen to reach?

4. Have you been able to pinpoint each of your salesmen’s weaknesses?

5. Have you set up any sort of educational or training programme to correct these shortcomings and do their job effectively? Does the programme include classroom instruction, in-the-field training and homework? Do you personally follow them up and make changes when needed?

6. Have you held personal interviews with each and every member of your sales team?

7. Do you show your sales crew appreciation for a job well done?

8. Is your door always open to your salesmen should they have a problem or need your advice?

9. Are you trying not to dominate your sales staff by delegating authority when it is appropriate?

10. Do you assist your salesmen when they need your support?

11. In your opinion, do you feel that your salesmen trust you?

12. Do you take disciplinary action against your salesmen when you feel that it is necessary?

13. Are you willing to take calculated risks when you know that a positive end-result could increase the effectiveness of your sales crew?

14. Have you developed a take-charge company sales presentation for your salesmen?

15. Did you seek the help and advice of your top-producing salesmen when you were developing your company’s sales presentation?

16. Have you developed an informative company sales manual? Do you constantly revise them?

17. Has every one of your salesmen had the opportunity to spend at least one day in six months “in the factory” watching his product being manufactured?

18. Do you subscribe to all of the trade journals and other various publications which pertain to your industry?

19. Do you make it a practice to distribute promotional literature and copies of company ‘ads’ to all of your salesmen?

20. Have you explained to your salesmen how they can use your company’s ‘ads’ to add power to their sales presentations?

21. Do you show your salesmen product knowledge films?

22. Have you brought any of your salesmen to industry conventions and/or company sponsored shows?

23. Have you given your men the opportunity to go out into the field with one of your company’s top servicemen or trouble-shooters?

24. Do you continually update your company’s sales presentation so as to make it as fresh and as strong as it possibly can at all times?

25. Do you distribute policy-change notices to all of your salesmen and keep them up-to- date on what is going on around them?

26. Have you any suggestion box? What kind of incentives have you established to get your men to submit suggestions?

27. What incentives have you offered your top-class salesmen in order to get them to teach and guide your new recruits?

28. Do you get out into the field to observe your men in action? How often?

29. Do you know the three most important motivational forces? Are you capitalizing on each of these motivational forces?

30. Have you attempted to increase your knowledge of word power? Are you using the principles of word power as a tool to motivate your salesmen?

31. Are you appealing to the five senses when you communicate?

32. Do you know what each one of your salesmen wishes to accomplish in the way of earnings, position, etc.? Have you ever asked them to write down their goals on paper?

33. Have you worked together with each of your men to set ‘sales’ goals? Does each of your men clearly understand exactly what you expect from him? Have you run at least three sales contests during the year? Have you made your ‘contest-prizes’ different and worth working hard to obtain? Have you created a year-round sales bonus contest of plan?

34. Have you taken any steps to help your salesmen organize their time more effectively? Have you taken any steps to organise your own time more effectively?

35. Do you continually analyse your salesmen’s sales activities and achievements? When a man’s sales volume starts to drop do you take immediate steps to try to get him back on the right track?

36. Are you familiar with each one of your salesmen’s family situation? Are you willing to help a man with a problem off the job as well as on the job in order to clear his thinking and get him working harder?

37. Do you give suggestive ideas to your salesmen rather than ordering them around?

38. Are you constantly trying to find new ways for your men to obtain ‘live leads’? When you come across a ‘live lead’ do you always make certain that you distribute these leads equally?

39. Do you try to impress upon your men the importance of handling complaints carefully and as quickly as possible? Do you help a man with a complaint he is having before it mushrooms into a disaster?

40. Are you concentrating on getting your salesmen to capitalize on their strong points?

41. Do you keep up with industry developments and trends?

42. Do you know who your main competitors are? Do you help your salesmen overcome these competitors by playing up certain unique features your product has in your company sales story?

43. Do you spot check your salesmen’s orders from time to time to make certain that they are writing clean orders? If a man is not writing clean business do you put your fool down at once? Do you take immediate steps to correct your salesmen’s bad habits as soon as they come to your attention? Do you call review meetings often enough in order to-develop steps which can help your salesmen improve themselves? During your review meetings do you give your salesmen an equal opportunity to speak and express their views?

44. Do you tell your salesmen that you have confidence in them and believe that they can accomplish the goals they set?

45. Have you adopted any other forms of communication, such as “Action Now” memos, to reduce the number of hours spent in sales meetings and increase the number of hours your salesmen have to sell?

46. Do you always know exactly what you want to accomplish before you call a sales meeting? Do you know the subjects to be covered at your sales meetings and who will present each subject? Do you double-check all of the small details that can ruin a sales meeting?

47. Do you always develop a list of phone numbers of the people who can help you should you run into problems such as equipment failures?

48. Do you try to use as many visual communications as possible?

49. Do you try to get your salesmen involved in your sales meetings? Do you follow up on your sales meetings and analyse the results?

50. In your honest opinion, do you feel that you are doing all that you possibly can to turn your sales crew into-a high-producing take-charge sales team?