FEEDBACK

It’s no surprise that the first few weeks of a salesperson’s new job are critical. If you are going to be an effective manager and coach for your new hire, you need to invest the time in soliciting feedback early and often.

Feedback is not a one-way street. It should be flowing in both directions. You should be proactively asking questions of your new salesperson on how he or she feels things are going, how the onboarding process is working (you do have one, right???), and if there are any issues to address, in order to encourage your new hire to give you feedback.

You should be giving feedback as well. Let the person know how you think things are going, what you are observing and hearing, and any issues or concerns you have. The most important part of feedback is remembering to ask for it! In your meetings with your new salesperson, ask several specific questions each time and take notes.

Here are some questions that you can ask to find out the information you need to ensure the salesperson gets off to a great start:

What’s been going well? What are the highlights of your experiences so far? Why?

What do you need to learn to improve? What help do you need to become successful in this job?

Are we delivering on what we promised?

What do you like about the job so far?

What do you like about the company?

What are the things that you don’t like or feel could be improved? 

What have you found to be the most frustrating aspect of the job?

What have you found to be the most rewarding?

Compare your job to what we explained it would be like – how is it accurate or different?

Have we met the expectations you had for this job?  If not, which ones have we not met?

Whom have you found to be the most helpful when you have questions?

Am I being clear in setting expectations and goals for you? 

Is there anything I am not doing that I could be doing better to help you?

Is there anything I am doing that you wish I wouldn’t do?

Am I giving you the feedback that you need?  How could I improve upon that?

Do you feel that you fit in and are an important part of the sales team?

How well do you get along with co-workers?

Have you had any uncomfortable situations or conflicts with co-workers or clients?

Do you look forward to coming to work or do you have concerns that are bothering you?

Are there any things that you would change about your job if you could?  What are they and why?