How do you measure the consultative selling skills of an account manager?
The logical starting point is the results being delivered, but how do you know whether these accurately reflect the knowledge, skill, motivation and activity level of your sales team member? Account management is a team effort, and the results may reflect this. Or you may have a “striver” who is working hard to “learn the ropes” but is not yet to the standard required – how to handle this?
I believe that a good first-line sales manager is concerned about both the "outputs" their reports deliver, and the calibre of the "inputs" they are making to achieve these results.
In more academic speak, the manager-leader needs diagnostic standards against which to assess the quality of work and the effort of the team. Many of our clients use field accompaniment to “measure” these qualitative factors in their sales people.
The question is – “can you actually measure these skills and competencies?” And when it comes to a senior Key Account Manager who has managed a major client for some time, is it actually a little impertinent (!) to try...
What do you think?
Of course the inputs are harder to track than the quantified “outputs”, but that is not an argument for not attempting to do it! What is needed is a robust process and tools to take the subjectivity out of it, as far as possible.
A good start is a competency specification (against the position description) which has the added benefit of assisting you in recruitment, induction and performance management, as well as day-to-day monitoring and coaching. CLICK HERE.
The logical starting point is the results being delivered, but how do you know whether these accurately reflect the knowledge, skill, motivation and activity level of your sales team member? Account management is a team effort, and the results may reflect this. Or you may have a “striver” who is working hard to “learn the ropes” but is not yet to the standard required – how to handle this?
I believe that a good first-line sales manager is concerned about both the "outputs" their reports deliver, and the calibre of the "inputs" they are making to achieve these results.
In more academic speak, the manager-leader needs diagnostic standards against which to assess the quality of work and the effort of the team. Many of our clients use field accompaniment to “measure” these qualitative factors in their sales people.
The question is – “can you actually measure these skills and competencies?” And when it comes to a senior Key Account Manager who has managed a major client for some time, is it actually a little impertinent (!) to try...
What do you think?
Of course the inputs are harder to track than the quantified “outputs”, but that is not an argument for not attempting to do it! What is needed is a robust process and tools to take the subjectivity out of it, as far as possible.
A good start is a competency specification (against the position description) which has the added benefit of assisting you in recruitment, induction and performance management, as well as day-to-day monitoring and coaching. CLICK HERE.
